basalt

Imaggeo On Monday: Blue Olivine in an unusual basalt

Bernardo Cesare September 28, 2020

Blue Olivine in an unusual basalt. Credit: Bernardo Cesare (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Blue Olivine set in a matrix of pyroxene, magnetite and plagioclase in a basalt collected by the photographer, Bernardo Cesare, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. Polarized light photomicrograph. Crossed polarizers and red tint plate. Width c. 2.7 mm. Who may have been throwing this stone a couple millennia ago? Description by Bernardo Cesare, after the description on imaggeo.egu.e ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Sunset on the Giant’s Causeway

Osip Kokin January 14, 2019

Sunset on The Giant's Causeway. Credit: Osip Kokin (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Pictured here is the Giant’s Causeway – a region of basalt columns, created 50-60 million years ago during the Paleogene. The typical polygonal form of the bedrocks, a product of active volcanic processes from the past, is well underlined by the sunset’s light; that’s why I took the photo in the late evening. The separate cracks are extended by weathering over time and are filled eluvi ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Giants Causeway

Laura Roberts-Artal November 30, 2015

Giants Causeway. Credit: Bernhard Aichner (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Since its discovery back in the late 1600s the origin of the spectacular polygonal columns of the Giants Causeway, located on a headland along the northern coast of Ireland, has been heavily debated. Early theories for its origin ranged from being sculpted by men with picks and chisels, to the action of giants, through to the force of nature. It wasn’t until 1771 that Demarest, a Frenchman, sugges ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: The most powerful waterfall in Europe

Sara Mynott July 14, 2014

On the menu this Monday is the opportunity to indulge in some incredible Icelandic geology. Take a look at a tremendous waterfall and the beautiful basalt it cuts through… Iceland is famous for its striking landscapes, from fiery volcanoes and fields of basalt to violent geysers and pools of the most fantastic blue. One of the country’s many geological gems is Dettifoss waterfall – a 100-met ...[Read More]