The striped and layered rocks that underlie the promontory at Cape Tribulation look like sedimentary strata. They were just that at one time in the past but they have been altered and partly metamorphosed into metasedimentary rocks. They belong to a group known as the Hodkingson Formation and are the result of transformations brought about as two tectonic plates of the earth’s crust collided, with one plate then sliding under the other (subduction), generating tremendous heat and pressure that altered existing sedimentary rocks, promoted magma movements below the crust (leading to intrusive igneous rocks), and stimulated surface volcanic activity (making extrusive igneous rocks).
Ninety degrees of rotation on some of these formations! What a great gnashing that was.
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Yes, the rock layers which had been originally been laid down horizontally have been subjected to earth movements that have rotated then through the full ninety degrees to a vertical orientation. A massive upheaval. When the rocks are viewed ‘end-on’ you can see that verticality. However, the rocks have been weathered and worn so that that a substantial amount of rock has been worn away, cutting diagonally downwards through the strata. This means that when the rocks are viewed from above or ‘side-on’, the strata appear as horizontal stripes.
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So beautiful pictures! 🙂 You catch the details so well, something I do not. It’s not easy to first see them, and then get them well on photo. I have always photographed the “whole” nature as it is, house, people, but the details you caught are so beautiful.
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Thank you, John. I like to examine the details of rocks because they not only have interesting patterns and textures but they also help me to understand something about the geology – the rock composition, age, and history.
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I love to shoot quarry, and have found a large one here nearby, just 25-30 km from where I live. I will drive there today to take panorama from the bottom, must do it on weekends, it´s sill active and forbidden to enter. 😀 30 meters deep, and you can see many different stones in the mountain.
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Your photographs of the quarry are magnificent! I have been following your posts with interest. I think the quarry would have great potential for some close-up rock pictures. What kind of stone is being quarried there?
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Thanks. 🙂
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I so love the name. There’s a FB page dedicated to uninviting names such as Lake Dreary, Dismal River, Misery Isle – that sort of thing. Cape Tribulation is a classy example… RH
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Cape Tribulation was named when Captain Cook’s vessel hit a reef off shore in June 1770. He was so fed up with the situation he found himself in that he named everything around him to reflect his mood, hence nearby Mount Sorrow and Weary Bay.
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