Eroded Gypsum at Knossos

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Once upon a time the ancient palace at Knossos on the island of Crete was made of smooth white blocks of gypsum with polished surfaces that gleamed in the sunlight. The effect of weathering over the centuries has stripped away the surface of the building blocks and created rough textures and patterns of sharp edged furrows where acid rain has dissolved the stone as it runs over and down the masonry. The gypsum blocks mimic a phenomenon called rillenkarren found on a larger scale in limestone landscapes all over the world. These erosion patterns in the landscape are known as karst topography. I previously photographed an example of karst topography with rillenkarren in the Queensland outback in Australia near the old mining town of Chillagoe.

A Stone Wall in Rethymnon

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Apologies for the quality of these pictures taken way back in 2009 with my first digital camera. I just came across the images as I was sorting my photo collection. I took them on a holiday to Rethymnon on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean. At the time, I thought the strange patterns in the stone walls of the old Venetian fortress were part of the rocks themselves. Locally the bedrock is described as crystalline limestone. Looking at the pattern and texture now, I am not so certain. It looks more like something that has been caused by the weathering process. I am thinking that maybe over the centuries since the construction of the wall, the limestone has dissolved in rain water and the calcium has recrystallized in this way between the large and small rocks that make up the wall. This has in a way reinforced the wall by further binding the elements together. I don’t know whether the walls were originally built as dry stone or whether they incorporated mortar. The crystal formation seems to be acting as a mortar now.

I have seen something similar to this phenomenon on my beloved Rhossili Beach on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales. I will fish out some photos for comparison.

Grasses 1-4

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Photographic images of dried grasses digitally rendered into black and white versions.

Fractured 1-3

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Natural fracture patterns in Jurassic rocks at Seatown in Dorset, England, re-coloured with digital wizardry.

On the Rocks at Fall Bay

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I am familiar with the commonly occurring horizontal stripes of rocky shore zonation where organisms are distributed between the tide levels according to their tolerance of exposure to air – but I  wonder what influences the distribution and arrangement of different species of seashore creatures to result in the irregular patchwork pattern as found on the intertidal rocks at Fall Bay in Gower. The sloping flat surfaces of the limestone strata can be covered with a complete encrusting layer of mussels, limpets, and barnacles, organised by colour, shape, and size to make a patterned carpet.

Seaweed Strands with Crinkled Kelp

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Thick mats of seaweed wash ashore on beaches along the Jurassic Coast. Dead seaweed is often automatically viewed as horrid, unsightly, and a nuisance – but if you pause and look, there is beauty in it. There are many types of seaweed to be discovered in the masses on this strandline. Their fronds intertwine in a kind of accidental natural weaving. Each species has its own characteristic shape, texture, and pattern. Their combined presence forms greater abstract designs of infinite variety, the individual fronds making strands or threads as in a tapestry. The puckered patterns of the crinkly Sugar Kelp stand out as the most decorative features of the assemblage. The colours change from deep olive brown to golden yellow and cream as the algae decompose. The textures range from leathery to satiny, from slimy to crispy depending on moisture content. Opaque and hardening on exposure to air; or translucent and soft when floating in shallow water rock pools.

Rock Texture & Pattern at Dog’s Bay

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The rocks at Dog’s Bay in Connemara, Ireland, are part of the Galway Batholith. In particular they are composed of the Errisbeg Townland Granite riven by faults and many dikes containing other younger intrusive igneous rocks. The juxtaposition of the different rock types is a phenomenon marked by contrasting, colours, textures, and patterns. The whole rocky terrain has been levelled off and smoothed by ice sheets and reflects many glaciation features.

Feely, M. Leake, B.E., Baxter, S. Hunt, J. and Mohr, P. A Geological Guide to the Granites of the Galway Batholith, Connemara, western Ireland.Geological Survey of Ireland, 2006.

Shallow Water Tidal Ripple Patterns 1-3

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Natural patterns in rippled water

Shallow Water Tidal Ripple Patterns 1-3 Photographs of natural patterns created by reflected sunlight on the crests of minor ripples in clear shallow seawater lapping with the incoming tide around the island of Burry Holms at the tip of the Gower Peninsula in South Wales. Here shown in negative format to highlight the intricacies of the natural designs.

Natural patterns in rippled water

Natural patterns in rippled water

Sand Ripples at Ventry Bay

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A wide and shallow river flows over the sandy beach at Ventry Bay on the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland. I do not know its name. Characteristic ripple marks are made in the wet sand around the margins of its wandering channels, showing the influence of the freshwater currents modified by the sea water tides. As you walk away from the fast flowing water, the overlapping ‘leaf’ patterns made by the river currents gradually transition into the parallel ridges of wave-induced ripples that are more typical of the intertidal shore .