Porthmeor Rocks 2

These rocks are seen on the west side of The Island or St Ives Head in Cornwall, England. They form outcrops on the west side of Porthmeor Beach. I was fascinated by the sheer complexity of the colours, patterns and textures. As far as I can make out they belong to an un-named igneous intrusion (matagabbro or metamicrogabbro) composed of silica-poor magma which was later altered by low-grade metamorphism in the Devonian period between 359 and 416 million years ago.

The rock looks very different from that nearby which was featured in an earlier post. I was particularly drawn some outcrops which had an almost dark navy blue smooth surface but the majority of the rock surfaces were blue-grey and dirty yellow shades – some with smoother almost layered textures and others textured like lumpy porridge. The patterns were complex but included ancient splits and cracks that had been infilled with other materials of contrasting colours, giving paler or darker straight lines and angled cross lines – not to mention all the complicated later fracture patterns. There seemed to be large inclusions of other rock types too; this often occurs in granites. It is incredible that rocks of the same basic type can vary so much in their appearance within a few metres.