This unusual looking caterpillar is working his way across the Houjiashan Formation on the North China Craton. These rocks formed in the lower Cambrian, and are crossed with burrows formed by some of the earliest motile animals. (c) Geology for Global Development 2013
Friday Photo (84): Wildlife in the Field – Ostriches at the Craton Boundary
These wild ostriches (two female on the left hand side, one male on the right) are lined up alongside the boundary between the Congo and the Kalahari cratons in southern Namibia. The craton boundary is marked by a visible fault scarp. (c) Geology for Global Development 2013
Friday Photo (83): Wildlife in the Field – Giant Millipede Inspects Stromatolites
A giant millipede kindly provides a scale for a photo of some stromatolites in the Nama group, Namibia. Microbial communities grow upwards towards the light. Each growth phases is cemented by carbonate grains that stick to the sticky EPS substance that the communities produce, forming layered stromatolite columns. The stromatolites pictured above formed 550 million years ago – just as some o ...[Read More]
Friday Photo (82): Wildlife in the Field – Confused Sheep
Each morning when we arrived in the field, hoards of sheep* would come marching over sandstone ridges from miles around to congregate in front of our car. After spending a while thinking we may have established a new animal religion, we realised the poor animals mistook us for their farmer coming to feed them. *We acknowledge that sheep aren’t actually ‘wildlife’! (c) Geology for ...[Read More]