Where On Google Earth #257 (Geological) - Solved!

[reynardo]

I'm in shock - I actually managed to be first person to guess Felix Bossert's Shaving Stubble WOGE 256, with the karst region of the Li River in China. I've had so many postcards from there and my very first instinct was "sinkholes", but then I got distracted. Then he gave a few clues and ... whammo.

So here's the next one.

Click on the picture for the enlarged version. Be aware that I slid the scale up the picture, as otherwise you get the copyright info for the pic and I know some people use that as a clue. This just means that the background behind the scale doesn't quite match the surroundings - it's from about 50 metres further south.

There are three "Where on Google Earth" games running, and this is the geological one number 257. The rules for this one are here. Quite simply, identify this place (Long and Lat) and give a summary of the geological significance.

And I make no apologies for the very very close up picture. All I can say is that I am stunned this place hasn't been used yet (yes, I've checked the "previous winners" file). I am also invoking the Schott Rule, meaning for each previous geological one you've won, you have to wait an hour to answer this one. (One wonders if Ron Schott is still allowed to answer in under a week!). This entry was posted at 7:10:00 Sorry - something didn't click properly. That would have been 00:10:00 GMT on 26 January 2011.

People not on Live Journal - please sign your posts. And I'll be out at an Australia Day Shakespeare reading for a while, so please don't panic when I haven't answered immediately.

Comments

Simon Wellings wrote:

[(Anonymous)]

Just west of Lyme Regis, Dorset, England, 50.71, -2.95. These are lower Jurassic sediments of the Wessex basin. The area is full of lovely stratigraphy, growth faults, some basin reactivation. Nice Milankovitch cylcles in the Blue Lias (regular banding). Most spectacularly it is full of fossils, notably marine reptiles such as Ichthyosaurs. It is important in the history of Geology as Mary Anning was a 19th Century gal who first brought good 'dinosaur' fossils to the attention of 'scientists'. More detail later, I guess there is something about the specific point. Is it where the best fossils were found?

Re: Simon Wellings wrote:

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

Oh very nicely done, Simon!

I chose the location because it's a lovely point for the Blue Lias, and the landslips (as you can see in the middle of the picture) ensure a constant supply of fresh fossils. Mary Anning and William Smith are heroes of mine, and I am cursing that I've not made it to Lyme myself. That, and I want to see the place on the Cobb where Louisa Musgrove injured herself so badly, but that isn't quite the same significance :-) WOGE #258 is all yours!

Re: Simon Wellings wrote:

[(Anonymous)]

Lyme Regis is well worth a visit, but quite a way from you I guess.
Charmouth (just to the East) is well worth a visit, with a nice little museum and a fantastic fossil shop. I picked up some bits of ichthyosaur for not a lot of money.

In terms of collecting fossils yourself, the beach is pretty well picked over during the Summer months, so you're unlikely to find anything spectacular. I gather the professional collectors climb the land-slips and are around just after winter storms.

I'll put up the next WoGe this evening (I am on GMT)

Simon Wellings (don't know why I can't authenticate myself)

Re: Simon Wellings wrote:

[woge-felix.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

Simon: The rocks in your area is exactly the same like the Schwäbische Alp in south Germany. I went through the nice website of the Charmouth Heritage Center, and the things on display are more or less identical to what we find here. The only difference is, that we have no Cretaceous on top. So definetely a place to check out next time I leave Europe to the UK.

[woge-felix.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

If you are looking for a world class museum for fossils out of the Jurrasic go to this : Museum Holzmaden (http://www.urweltmuseum.de/website/museum/index-eng.htm) If you are in the area, tell me and we go for a beer.

WoGE #258 is now up

[(Anonymous)]

See it at http://metageologist.blogspot.com/
Simon Wellings