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Merry rigmas! 🎄 ⚒

A nice bit of local geology! Carboniferous ripple marks in the Marsdenian Holcombe Brook Grit. These are the fossilised remains of sediments on a shoreline or delta, just like you would find walking along any silty coast or estuary today. Only these are over 320million years old and now many miles in land and about 900ft above sea level. By measuring the dimensions and morphology of the ripples it's possible to identify the type of depositional environment they formed in: how deep or fast the flowing water was, the direction, or indeed if they’re wind blown ripples. ⚒

I hope that's custard creams they're bringing on board ⚒

Essential bedtime reading offshore

Great to be back at work for a while and feel some normality again!

Moody sky Oil platform on the horizon, taken from an oil rig. Platforms are fixed, semi-permanent structures, designed to stay for decades; they are propped up from the seabed by concrete or steel legs. Rigs are mobile and come in different formats; they move from location to location, drilling new wells or intervening on old ones. ⚒

Ah the days when we could all travel. A shot of the East Anglian coast on a return flight from Germany following a job. The greatest glaciation in the British Isles is known as the Anglian. From roughly 484,000-450,000 years ago ice sheets descended as far south as Suffolk in the east and Cornwall in the west, extending across the Irish and North seas. This creeping wall of ice deflected the flow of the Thames southwards and on to its current path. Originally, it flowed northwards past the town of Happisburgh, Norfolk - which lies roughly underneath where the plane wing crosses the coastline - 160 miles north of the present Thames estuary. The ancient river valley having long since been filled in by superficial deposits and smoothed over, giving East Anglia its flat appearance today. In fact, it may look level out of plane windows now, but the East Anglian landscape was much more varied, with many more buried valleys in the region – some up to 330ft (100m) deep. Think of glacial ice sheets as conveyor belts – grinding up rocks into sand, silt and clay as they scrape along, depositing those sediments where and when they terminate. Immense amounts of sediment were draped over what is now East Anglia during the many prehistoric ice ages, including boulders (known as erratics), some identified as having come from Norway! Top it off with the peats, marshes and fens of the Norfolk Broads and it's easy to see why this part of England is so level! ⚒

As a general rule of thumb, the further north and west you go in Britain the older and harder the rocks are. The main reason for this unexpectedly linear progression is down to the Atlantic Ocean. Before the crust split open to the west of the British Isles, Earth had a go at splitting the crust to the east. Magma welled up from the mantle, making the crust dome upwards, stretching and thinning it in the process. When this attempt at creating a new ocean between Britain and Scandinavia fizzled out, the heat and pressure lifting the crust vanished. The crust slumped, collapsing downwards, like a souffle taken out of the oven too soon (ergo North Sea). Meanwhile to the NW of the British Isles the crust was rising, splitting, spewing out the lava and volcanics that make up the Giant’s Causeway or Cuillins today. Altogether this meant to the SE, the British Isles was sinking, and to the NW rising, the crust tilted. Weathering over the last ~100 million years, and repeated glaciations of the last 2.5 million years scrapped off and gouged out the upper layers of these north westerly highlands, exposing older rocks below. When glaciers retreated that material was often dumped to the south east. Surface geology in NW became ever more old and craggy, and the SE younger and flatter. Today a line can be drawn from the River Exe to the River Tees, above that line terrain is great for reservoirs such as these at Haslingden Grane, south of the Tees-Exe Line flatter land offering fewer locations for dams and reservoirs means much more water needs to be sourced underground. (North of the Tees-Exe line the three highest peaks are 4411/4295/4252ft, south of it: 1394/1083/1066ft). Water stored on the surface has little time to dissolve minerals and usually isn’t direct contact with bedrock. Groundwater has often spent centuries percolating down through soil and rock, collecting dissolved minerals along the way – especially calcium, magnesium and sulphates. Thus, thanks to the Atlantic, if you live north of the Tees-Exe Line you are generally blessed with ‘soft water’ free of minerals that fur up your kettle, and south of it you’re stuck with often funny tasting ‘hard water’! ⚒

One of Sir Anthony Gormley's sculptures on Crosby Beach, on the edge of the West Lancs Plain. The coastline here has shifted greatly during the Quaternary (the last ~2.5m years). Successive glaciations over these last few million years caused what are known as eustatic sea level changes and isostatic rebound. During glaciations, thick ice sheets built up on land in the word’s higher latitudes, reducing the amount of free water left for the oceans, causing global sea levels to fall - what is now seabed was dry land. This is best seen slightly further up the coast between Hightown and Formby, where low tides expose 6,000 year old tree stumps, along with animal and even human footprints. The West Lancs Plain stretching from the coast here to as far inland as the ridge that forms Billinge and Parbold Hills, is underlain by many aeolian (windblown) sand deposits. When ice ages ended and those ice sheets melted, water found its way back in to the seas, raising sea levels. However, the weight of all that ice on the land actually pushed down the Earth’s crust, allowing the sea and beaches to come further inland than it does today, shifting the coastline further east. The village of Meols takes its name from the Viking word for sandbanks; hillocks seen today at Haskayne between Formby and Ormskirk are actually old sand dunes, like those seen today at Formby. Until 1977, these pure sand deposits fed the glass industry in St Helens, which sits at the southern edge of the West Lancs Plain. Today the sandy and peaty soils of the West Lancs Plain make it one of England’s largest potato growing areas, and it is possible to find ancient cockle shells in those fields. The Earth’s crust continues its isostatic rebound, bouncing back after being weighted down during the last glaciation that ended ~11,000 years ago, In Scotland the land is rising by around a centimetre a decade, and half that here in West Lancs, whereas the south of England is sinking relative to sea level – as the British Isles tilt back into position. ⚒

Plant a🌲 today! TSR Valstone is helping to plant trees in the Scottish Highlands and restore the ancient Caledonian Forest. We have a donation page with multi-award winning registered charity Trees For Life. You can donate £6 to plant at tree in our grove today! 👇 Once the largest temperate rainforest in Britain, the Caledonian Forest is now highly fragmented and covers approximately just 1% of its previous area, leading to a great loss in biodiversity. We've planted over 150 trees so far and by joining in and donating £6 to plant a tree you too can help rewild the Highlands! 🌳🌲 https://treesforlife.org.uk/plant-trees/grove/9162/ 🌳🌲 (active link in our bio)

Peat is one of the ways in which the botanical meets the geological. It forms anywhere plant/organic remains accumulate faster than they’re broken down, by living organisms such as microbes and fungi. Anything that inhibits or stops the rate of biological decay such as a cold or wet environment helps to ensure peat formation. Thus, the rain-soaked highlands of the UK, such as here on Gragareth, Lancashire County Council's highest point, or the waterlogged lowlands of East Anglia, are veritable hotbeds of peat formation. As plant matter accretes it acts like a sponge, retaining water, helping to keep conditions sodden and anaerobic - meaning more peatification. Plants evolved to thrive in these conditions, in particular Sphagnum moss. Sphagnum moss draws mineral ions out of bog water leaving free hydrogen ions behind creating a low pH, aka acidic conditions (pH=potential of Hydrogen (the scale is inverse, smaller numbers actually mean more Hydrogen ions, lemon juice is pH2.2, neutral water is 7.0)), further inhibiting decay - biology meets geochemistry. Sphagnum mosses make up a large component of peat bogs today. Peat builds up on average by 1mm a year and all this locked up organic matter makes peat one of the world's largest carbon sinks. Over time, millimetre by millimetre, sufficiently deep burial means geological processes take over - increased heat, lithostatic pressure, and low-grade metamorphism lead to coalification - water is removed and any biological processes at all become impossible. Peat becomes lignite becomes bituminous coal becomes anthracite, water content goes from 95% to 1%. Not likely that Gragareth will turn into coal though! ⚒

Two Years In Business Though not the best circumstances to celebrate in! Covid-19 is wreaking havoc around the world and the O&G industry is in turmoil once again, further affecting hundreds of thousands of families globally - uncertainty hanging over all of us. In the UK alone, the industry and supply chain supported over 300,000 jobs at the start of the year. Back in April, in the same week WTI futures traded negatively and Brent crude dipped below $16 (for the first time in over 20 years), industry body OGUK estimated 10% of the workforce could be lost. Whatever line of work you're employed in, in whatever industry, here's hoping we all see more stable times soon. Stay safe everyone, hopefully this time next year things will be much better!

Industrial The view from the Catbells @ordnancesurvey trig point looking across the Newlands Valley towards Causey Pike. Quite pretty now but the landscape here has had a fairly brutal journey. The rocks were laid down in the Ordivician 488-444 million years ago. What is now the UK was then located in the southern hemisphere, split between two palaeocontinents at roughly the same latitudes that New Zealand now occupies. England and Wales (Avalonia) were separated from Scotland (Laurentia) by the Iapetus Ocean, which was slowly closing drawing the two land masses together. As the Iapetus’ crust was subducted and pushed into the mantle it melted, fuelling volcanism in the same way the Pacific Ocean crust subducting fuels the Pacific Ring of Fire. This led to an amassing of molten rock, which intruded deep into the crust, underneath what is now the Lake District in two major phases, at the end of the Ordovician and start of the Devonian. This mass of now solid igneous rock forms the Lake District Batholith, the molten rock that formed it had attendant hydrothermal fluids; during emplacement these heavily mineralised fluids were forced and squeezed into the surrounding and overlying rocks, thus forming the mineral veins that have been mined for centuries in this area. Despite looking peaceful now, the Newlands Valley was extensively industrialised for centuries, mined and quarried for lead, copper, silver and at Goldscope mine – gold. From the 1500s onwards, Goldscope yielded such large qu of gold that it was called ‘Gottesgab’ (God’s Gift) by the experienced German miners who were brought in to develop the it in the early days. The mine closed at the end of the 1800s, not because the gold ran out, but because it had gone so deep it had become uneconomic to keep it dry and cool enough to work in. The landscape we see today of fells and lakes was formed by repeated glaciations over the last few million years and the batholith itself from over 400m years ago is today exposed at places like Shap - the Shap Granite. ⚒

The things you find in your pocket! A very micaceous schist from the Caledonide Jæren Nappe Complex picked up on a quarantine walk near Stavanger Airport Hotel in April! This stone started out as mud minding its own business at the bottom of the Iapetus Ocean. Little did it know that this ocean was shrinking, as plate tectonics pushed the ancient continents of Laurentia and Baltica towards each other. When the two continents finally collided in the Caledonian Orogeny this now mudstone was crushed, compressed, deeply buried. Clay minerals in the rock were transformed by the heat and pressure involved, into mica crystals. The shiny silvery colour of this fabulised former mud is due to muscovite mica, the most common mica mineral, the darker and greenish colours are likely biotite mica. This rock was scraped off the basement ocean crust and thrust up onto Baltica, which now forms the Scandinavian and Russian parts of the European continent, folding and rippling like pushing a tablecloth across a table. Each of these thrusted folds is called a nappe, from the French word for a tablecloth! When one piece of crust or rock is thrust on top of another and stranded there it is known as allochthonous, one of the best sounding words to say in geology. That was all more than 400 million years ago, so it's been on some adventures since! Mica minerals such as these are mined and ground up to give your makeup that extra sparkle, so you could well be wearing half-billion year old seabed mud on your face! ⚒

Surpassed 500 followers! To celebrate, a photo of me staring into the abyss. Thor’s Cave is situated 260ft above the Manifold Valley in Derbyshire. The bed rock in these parts is Carboniferous in age (see our Chalk post from November). These calcium carbonate rocks are highly susceptible to dissolving (very slowly) by rainwater, which is (very slightly) acidic, as a result of atmospheric CO2 dissolving into it forming mild carbonic acid. High levels of industrial pollution supercharged this process, pumping nitrogen and sulphur compounds into the atmosphere, which form more potent nitric and sulphuric acids. However, Thor’s Cave formed long before this, when the River Manifold was not 260ft below, but flowing above it. Flowing water has cut deep down into the bedrock here, a process you can still see happening now in the valley, in parts the Manifold River disappears underground, draining into sinkholes leaving dry riverbed further downstream. These sinkholes form wherever there is a weakness, fissure, fracture, bedding plane, mineralogical variance - any exploitable point for flowing water to preferentially erode mechanically and chemically. What starts off 1mm across erodes and enlarges until it looks like Thor’s Cave. The round smooth shape of this particular cave shows that it once sat below the water table, the phreatic zone, with water flowing fully through it removing and smoothing the walls in a phreatic solution, thus forming the cave we see today – speleogenesis. Erosion never stops meaning the cave is now high and dry above flowing water, this kind of eroded landscape and its features are known by the name ‘karst’. Cheddar Gorge is another example of karst landforms in the UK.

Midnight

Why so high? Norway’s mountains are much taller and more rugged than Scotland’s, suggesting maybe unlike the Scottish Highlands they are young and have had less time to be worn down and smoothed off. Mountains tend to form when plate tectonics push continental masses together; like the Alps where Africa and Europe are colliding, or the Himalayas were India and Asia are colliding. But Scotland and Norway last experienced this at the same time, a period known as the Caledonian Orogeny. Back then, 400m years ago, Norway Greenland crashed together and so did Scotland and North America. So why is Norway’s highest mountain nearly 4000ft taller? When continents push together the crust thickens upwards and downwards. Ranges like the Alps have deep roots that reach into the mantle deeper than the surrounding continental crust. But underneath the mountains in Norway, the crust is actually thinner, around 10km. The crust beneath the Scottish Highlands is anything from 25-36km thick. This effectively holds down the crust in Scotland where as the crust in Norway is more buoyant and raised up, this is called isostatic rebound. So what caused the crust to thin in western Norway? The most likely candidate is the rifting that occurred when the Atlantic opened up just off the coast of Norway around 55m years ago, the crust here flexed upwards, lifting the mountains higher. Alternate theories include diapirism, the Iceland mantle plume lifting up the crust here, or even accelerated isostatic rebound due to greater weathering in northern latitudes. What ever the exact reason, whilst mountains raised up in Norway and Scotland 400m years ago, around 55m years ago the Norwegian mountains had a boost and started growing again! ⚒ #aeroplanewindow #geology #rockhound​ #geologyrocks​ #geologist​ #geologia​ #geopark​ #rockformations​ #earthscience​ #geologi​ #geological​ #geoscience​ #geologyporn​ #rocksrock #geología​ #geomorphology​ #geologists​ #petrology​ ​ #geologicalphenomenon #geologistlife​ #wellsitegeologist #norwegen #ig_norway #ig_norge #mountainlandscape #mountains #mountainscape #mountainphotography #mountainsphoto #mountainsphotography

Stopover Having a fleeting stay in Oslo on my way to the rig. This photo from a walkabout in the suburb of Vestli, when I was last here - ten years and one month ago 🤯 This was back when you could just aimlessly wander around exploring but right now we should all please try to do our bit and stay at home as much as possible. ⚒ #stayathome #whereinoslo #vestli #oslo #norway #norge #wellsitegeologist #geologist #inthewoods #forestfinds #oilfieldlife #offshorelife #mittoslo #geologistlife #oslove #oslogram @visitoslo #scandinavia #norgefoto #norge🇳🇴 #norwaytravel #suburbia #scandi #sneeuw #inspiredbyscandinavia #riglife #ilovescandinavia #nordicphotos #oilpatchlife #imagesofnorway #playground

Quarantine Venus twinkling next to the waxing Moon, as another day ends in Covid-19 Quarantine. Currently all people entering into Norway must isolate for 14 days upon arrival, including essential Key Workers, so won't be much geologising for a while! Not the worst view from an airport hotel though! ⚒ #geologistlife​ #wellsitegeologist​ #stavanger #rogaland #solalufthavn #solaairport #quarantinelife #quarantineandchill #norwegen #ig_norway #ig_norge #coronavirusnorway #coronanorway #lockdown2020 #planetvenus #waxingmoon #geoscientist​ #geoscientists​ #geologistonboard​ #oilfield #oilandgas #oilfieldlife​ #offshorelife #fifolife​ #oilandgaslife​ #oilpatchlife​ #petroleumindustry #oilchasers​ #northseaoil​ #northseatiger​

Glacial The West Pennine Moors rise up from the West Lancs Plain by virtue of their very hard Millstone Grit bedrock. This resisted the glaciations of the last few million years, leading to a series of well rounded, flat topped hills, separated by wooded valleys - perfectly captured in this photo, if I do say so myself! The Millstone Grit is a coarse, rough sandstone that stretches across much of North West England. It was laid down in the Carboniferous 326-313 million years ago. At this time the UK was positioned around the equator and this particular region was a large basin, begin fed by broad rivers that slowly filled it with sand and silt in massive deltas. Over the millions of years sea levels would rise and fall, submerging the deltas and laying down thick fine claystone, then exposing the land again to laydown new deltas and lobes. These cycles built up thousands of feet of sediment, that tightly compacted down. This compression squeezed out silica from the deposits, especially the clays as the pressure altered their constituent minerals. Over time the deposited sand grains began to accumulate silica around them, similar to how hailstones form, but without any bouncing around in clouds! The quartz grains grew in size, forming what are known as authigenic (formed in-situ) quartz overgrowths. This effectively welded the sand grains together, making the rock extremely hard. It's hardness lent it well to making millstones with which to grind grains and the like - thus the name! This hardness - and the pore space largely filled in by quartz overgrowth - meant it drains poorly, which lead to the accumulation of the peat bog moors we see today. ⚒ #winterhill #bolton #lancashire #rivingtonpike #explorelancashire @explorelancashire #moorland #lancashiremoors #lancashirewalks #lancashirecountryside #westpenninemoors #coloursofbritain #lancashirelife #mylancashire #theenglishnorth #holcombemoor #quaternary #glaciallandform #glacialgeology #peatland #peatlands #geologist​ #geologists​ #geological​ #geomorphology​ #earthscience​ #geologistlife​ #instageology #geologyeverywhere​ #instageology​ #geology

Loch Ness Great selection of rock types on the shores of Loch Ness! This region of Scotland is dominated by metamorphic and intrusive igneous rock; my igneous and metamorphic geology is a little rusty so if you can identify anything let me know in the comments! To my eye, there's pink and yellowish speckled felsic igneous rocks. The well rounded bird-egg-like one cut off at the bottom of the picture is a dominated by feldspar, making it a tonalite? Next to that, the largest pebble is a conglomerate, a rock consisting of preexisting pebbles and gravel that are held together in a matrix. You can see one such pebble poking out of its upper corner, for it to have held together so well it will have been lightly metamorphosed - baked by geothermal heat and pressure. The blackest smooth rocks are mostly metamorphosed mudstone (pelites). The red rocks are metamorphosed sandstone (quartzite), you can make out the former quartz-grain structure. Blue-grey migmatites with pale leucosome (pale) veins? The small particularly green pebbles could be Serpentine, and the small white ones are clearly vein quartz. Loch Ness sits in the Great Glen, an almost perfectly straight slice from Fort William to Inverness that is actually a strike slip fault. Crust north of the fault/loch moved westwards and the southside moved eastwards. The movement mostly ended around 400 million years ago, before the Atlantic opened, so the fault line actually carries on in Canada, crossing Newfoundland. The fault is no longer active, however, there are still some slight tremors associated with the it; so much so that the Kessock Bridge, which effectively straddles the fault line and carries the A9 out of Inverness, actually has seismic buffers built into its supports. Glaciation in the last few million years scoured out the fault leaving a string of perfectly aligned lochs, and made Loch Ness the deepest body of water in the UK. The illustrated map highlighting the Great Glen is a borrowed photo of the Great Polish Map of Scotland, a 160x130ft concrete relief map built in the 1970s in the village of Eddleston, near Peebles. Pebbles! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Polish_Map_of_Scotland ⚒

La Gomera Roque de Agando is a 590ft prominent volcanic plug on the island of La Gomera in the Canaries. Another volcanic plug you might have heard of is Edinburgh Rock. Volcanic plugs (AKA volcanic necks) form when lava cools and hardens inside a volcano, solidifying in shape. If you look closely you can see the onion-skin style layering of Roque de Agando, created by columnar joints forming as it cooled. The plug was originally sort of light bulb shaped, if you follow the curve of the columnar joints you can make out that they are curving round to the right of the photo. As the volcano was eroded away and the hardened plug exposed, one side collapsed leaving the half we see now. ⚒ #roquedeagando #losroques #lagomera #visitgomera #lagomeraisland #canaries #canaryislands #islascanarias #spain #españa #volcanicplug #volcanic #volcano #garonjay #garonjaynationalpark #igneous #igneousrock #geology #rockhound #geologyrocks​ #geologist​ #geologia #geopark​ #rockformations #earthscience​ #geologi #geological​ #geoscience #geología #geologyeverywhere​

Please plant a tree! 👇 New year, new decade, new trees! If you want to start the new year by planting new trees, we can help. TSR Valstone is helping plant trees in the Scottish Highlands, to restore the ancient Caledonian Forest. Last summer we established a corporate grove, where direct donations can be made by the company, clients and you to plant trees throughout the Scottish Highlands, restoring the Caledonian Forest for future generations! Click below to visit our donation page and select Add To Grove. One tree is just £6 and can be planted in anonymously or in your name, with a dedication if you choose. Please consider planting a tree today! 👇 . 🌳🌲 https://treesforlife.org.uk/plant-trees/grove/9162/ 🌲🌳 [active link in our bio] Once the largest temperate rainforest in Britain, the Caledonian Forest now covers ~2% of its previous area; small scattered remnants remain across the Scottish Highlands. This fragmentation has understandably led to fractured ecosystems and a great loss of biodiversity. Since 1993 Trees For Life have planted nearly two million native trees (including Scots Pine) across 44 main sites, simultaneously establishing numerous wildlife corridors to connect present patches. They have developed a respected reputation for forest restoration & management; and in species restoration - establishing 7 new red squirrel colonies as of 2020. With hundreds of volunteers they are clearing non-native species, fencing off seedlings and collecting & propagating wild seeds. Their long-term goal is to fully restore the Highland ecosystem, reversing longstanding land degradation and the declining biodiversity of native flora and fauna, including: red squirrels, crossbills, capercaillies, wildcats, pine martens, white-tailed eagles - plus reintroducing missing species, such as: beavers, wild boar, lynx and elk. By donating £6 to plant a tree you can help rewild the Highlands! 🌱 ⚒

Top 9 of 2019 Over 3k likes this year, not bad as our first ever post was only in late July! ⚒

Lesser Spotted Christmas Tree Not the usual Christmas tree you see offshore! Happy Christmas to you all from the North Sea! ⚒

Why? Photos from work in Oman. The Middle East holds almost half of the world's hydrocarbons, but why? Well, *very* basically: during the Mesozoic this part of the world sat further south on the equator. At this time all of the world's continents had drifted together to form the supercontinent Pangaea, it had a vaguely angular C-shape and the area that is now the Middle East lay in shallow seas in the centre. The shape of the Tethys, as this sea is known, was fantastic for funnelling sediments & nutrients together & collecting run off from the surrounding lands of Pangaea. When Pangaea began to split the seas were enriched even further from minerals released by the associated volcanism. This all supported a massive ecosystem of corals, bryozoa, crinoids, forams, molluscs & other marine creatures with calcareous shells & bones that deposited constantly for hundreds of millions of years, even today these carbonaceous sediments continue to build up in the Persian Gulf. The Middle East area thus has enormous thick limestone & dolomitic beds, great for holding oil & gas. During the boom times of warm & nutrient rich tropical water, trillions of algae & plankton lived and died in the Tethys, so much decaying matter was generated it used up all the oxygen in the water preventing total decay, leaving thick organic-rich sediments that become the source of oil & gas. As the continents continued to drift into their present locations these organic-rich sediments went through just the right amounts of burial, heat & pressure, to cook them into hydrocarbons. The carbonaceous beds and source rocks went through just the right amounts of deformation, fracturing & folding (ie creating Iran's Zagros Mountains) that when the hydrocarbons migrated out of the source rocks they were trapped & capped underground. Of course this area is now mainly empty desert, making it easy and cheap to get at that oil & gas! ⚒

Aeolian A feedback loop of stress and erosion causes some pretty cool contortions of rock in the world's arid climates. Erosion from wind and/or rain gradually removes grains from the rockface of an exposure of sandstone such as this, placing the weight of the rock on the remaining grains and causing them to more tightly interlock. These slight perturbations in strength and tension in the rock surface, coupled with any mineralised veins or fractures running through it, are exploited and accentuated by further weathering, creating a viscous cycle as the rock is selectively eroded away. Thus stress and strain in the rock shift unevenly, some areas become more compact and hard and others softer— eventually resulting in arches, pillars, mushroom shapes and other dramatic sculpted forms for us to admire. ⚒ #desertscape #desertscene #desertlandscape #naturescapes #rockformation #rockformations #rocksarecool #aeolian #erosion #winderosion #weathering #naturalformation #geological​ #geologicalphenomenon​ #geologicalwonders​ #geologicalformation​ #earthscience​ #instageology​ #sedimentaryrock #rocksrock #geologist​ #geology #arabiandesert #visitoman emptyquarter #experienceoman #wahibasands #desertphotography #inthedesert #wellsitegeologist #زمین_شناسی https://www.instagram.com/p/B2bnnPJnPOm/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Birling Gap It is chalk that gives the cliffs of Dover their famous colour. This chalk was laid down in the Cretaceous period, the name of which is derived from creta, Latin for “chalk”, it's usually to abbreviated K, from its German translation Kreide (chalk). The period lasted from 142-65 million years ago and was marked by lots of volcanism. All those volcanoes pumped carbon dioxide into the air, warming the planet, melting the ice caps, and raising sea levels. This meant there were far more shallow warm seas around the world. The abundant CO2 in the atmosphere supercharged the global carbon cycle, altering oceanic chemistry and the ratios of magnesium and calcium ions in sea water. Microscopic single cell marine plankton known as coccolithophores use sunlight to generate calcium carbonate plates (coccoliths) to protect themselves, imagine a football covered in paper plates! These phytoplankton boomed in population during the Cretaceous and the white cliffs of Dover are made from an unimaginable number of their fossilised remains. The cliffs are so white because that region of sea was far enough from land to not be dirtied by sediment and silt from river estuaries and deltas. Over 200 Coccolithophore species exist today and similar sediments are piling up in similar warm sea conditions on the seabed around the Bahamas. ⚒ #chalk #white #dover #whitecliffs #whitecliffsofdover #cretaceous #englishchannel #england #southdowns #rocks #stones #whiteonwhite #potd #capturingbritain #kent #uk #seaside #coast #flint #geology #rockhound​ #geologyrocks​ #geologist​ #geologia​ #rockformations​ #earthscience​ #geologi​ #geological​ #geoscience​ #geología​

Komezuka Which translates as the "rice mound" - in legend the local deity left a pile of rice on the ground, taking a pinch off the top to feed locals. In actuality this is a volcanic cone in the Aso Caldera, a monster depression caused when the Aso volcano collapsed in on itself during a cataclysmic volcanic eruption ~80,000 years ago. That was the fourth large Holocene eruption at Aso and the greatest- ash and pumice from Aso-san have been found across Japan. It has left behind a caldera with a circumference of 80 miles and crater walls up to 1000ft high (seen in the distant background of the first and fourth pics). Today more than 70,000 people call the caldera home. Komezuka is a cinder cone volcano within the caldera, it formed ~2000 years ago from a series of strombolian eruptions. This is a coughing and spluttering style of eruption, throwing up blebs of lava and ash that cool in various ways, shapes and sizes collectively known as tephra. The tephra piles up on the spot making a fairly perfect cone with a stereotypical crater at the summit. The current active crater in the caldera is on Mt. Naka, it has erupted several times since these photos were taken in 2012. The caldera is carpeted in beautiful green grasslands thanks to the centuries old Noyaki annual controlled burning that returns organic nutrients to the mineral rich volcanic soil and inhibits the growth of trees and shrubs. ⚒

Mercury No hope of seeing today’s transit of Mercury, thanks to a murky Lancashire sky - but I had much more luck during the last Transit back in May 2016! Armed with an old toothpaste tube box and an even older pair of binoculars I was able to see the tiny, slightly fuzzy speck of our closest neighbouring planet (*on average*) as it passed directly between Earth and the Sun! The orbits of Mercury and Earth have slightly different tilts, so they only line up twice a year, in May and November. However, as Mercury and Earth orbit at different speeds, they are not always in the right place at the right time. The next transit after today will be in November 2032, oh well! The cosmic ballet goes on 😜 ⚒ #solarsystem #astronomy #space #mercury #transit #mercurytransit #transitofmercury #mercury2019 #sun #instaspace #amateurastronomy #stargazing #eyesontheskies #skywatching #planettransits #planetmercury #solarobservation #curiosity_astronomy #solarphysics #astrophysics #geologistlife #geolife #geoscientist #wellsitegeologist #iamageologist​ #planetaryscience #simpsonsquotes

Ophiolitic Kynance Cove lies just past Lizard Point, the most southerly extreme of the British mainland. The Lizard Peninsula is made of oceanic crust that existed at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean's ancestor, the Rheic Ocean. As the ocean closed, the ancient continents of Gondwana and Laurussia slammed together to form Pangaea. The force of this collision squeezed the oceanic crust up, like a pip out of a grape, onto the continental crust bringing some of the underlying mantle with it. At nearby Coverack you can walk across the Moho, the line that defines where the the crust ends and mantle starts. The Moho usually lies three to six miles underneath ocean crust! Mantle minerals are used to high pressures and obviously very little water, so as they're uplifted to the surface they metamorphose into a rock known as Serpentinite named after the reptilian way its weathered surface looks. Kynance has great exposures of red and green serpetinite, these colours and weathered patterns make it a popular ornamental material. You can't journey to the centre of the Earth, but in Cornwall you can walk onto the Earth's mantle! ⚒ #ultramafic #obduction #orogeny #ophiolite #serpentinite #peridotite #metamorphism #metamorphic #kynancecove #kynance #kynancecovecornwall #lovecornwall #visitcornwall #lizardpeninsula #thelizard #kernowfornia #kernow #lovelycornwall #love_cornwall #geologyeverywhere #cornishgeology #pangaea #geologistsofinstagram #instageology #tectonic #structuralgeology #geologiaéfodapracaralho #geologic #metamorphicrock #fieldgeology @nationaltrust @lovecornwalluk

Glacial Landscapes Pic 1) The summit of Dùn Caan on Raasay, capped by an outlier of Palaeocene lava from volcanoes on Skye, which helped it withstand glaciation and stand proud today. It has steep flanks all round except for the NE side, the direction the ice moved towards here. Pic 2) Raised beaches on the eastern shore of Raasay clearly visible, causing steps in the landscape. The weight of the ice age ice sheets pushed down the earth's crust; glaciers melted faster than the crust could rebound (in parts of Scotland the crust is still rebounding up to 10cm a century), meaning what is now dry land was once inundated foreshore with sea cliffs behind. Uplift wasn't uniform meaning the 'beaches' now lean back slightly to the west. Pic 3) Telltale lumpy landslip landforms visible between Dùn Caan and Beinn na' Leac. Glaciation oversteepened the eastern side of the island meaning afterwards the beds rotationally slipped downwards - similar to nearby Storr/Quiraing on Skye. Pic 4) The SW-NE Screapadal Fault in the north of Raasay brought up the Lewisian Gneiss basement giving the north of the island a distinctively different, rugged landscape of exposed and ancient (~3 billion years old) bedrock. Pics 5&6) Loch na Mna and Loch na Meilich, two lochs sitting at the bottom of cliffs of granite that have been lifted up by a NNW-SSE fault, giving a very straight line. ⚒ #raasay #isleofraasay #duncaan #ruggedlandscape #innerhebrides #highlandsandislands #scotlandthebrave #scottishnature #isleofskye #scottishisles #igscotland #scottishgeology #geologyfieldtrip #geología #geologist #ecosse #escocia #schottland #scotshots #geologyrocks #hiddenscotland #unlimitedscotland #discoverscotland #geologicalwonders​ #geologistlife #rockformations​ #geological​ #geomorphology​ #glaciation #geoscience​

Metro Really impressed by the Stockholm tunnelbana! The stations are largely left with the roughly hewn bedrock exposed, often with concrete sprayed on and decorated. Certainly not something that could be done on the London Underground, where the local geology consists of sand, clay and chalk. Here the bedrock consists of the massive, fine grained Stockholm Granite, nicely exposed here at Kungsträdgården, terminus of the blue line. This granite formed almost two billion years ago during the Svecofennian Orogeny, a tectonic collision of landmasses that was part of the assembling of Columbia (aka Nuna). Columbia was a supercontinent, just like Pangaea, but much longer ago - complex life was only just starting out at that time, and it would be another billion and a half years before life colonised land 🤯 That this granite is still standing after all this time helps convey how hard it is! My igneous geology is a little rusty but the granite looked like a fairly standard, undeformed, mix of plagioclase/k feldspars, quartz and biotite, with a nice pegamite vein in the third picture. ⚒ @visitstockholm #stockholm_insta #kungsträdgården #kungstradgarden #kungsträgården #subwaystation #metrostation #stockholmmetro #tunnelbana #tunnelbanan #stockholmslokaltrafik #stockholmtravel #tbana #igersstockholm #granite #granites #geology #geologist​ #geologia​ #rockformations​ #earthscience​ #geologi​ #geological​ #geoscience​ #rocksrock #geología​ #petrology​ #igneous​ #geolife​ #geologic​ #geologicalwonders​

The African Channel The White Cliffs of Dover, and the corresponding white cliffs along the Côte d'Opale across the water in France are the result of the Alpine orogeny. As Africa slammed (& continues to plough) north into Europe not only has it crumpled up the crust to form the Alps & Pyrenees but compressed & rippled the Earth's surface beyond. One such ripple is the Weald-Artois Anticline, a ridge of rock that curves gently through Kent creating the North & South Downs, across the Channel ending in the Hauts-de-France. The first academic suggestion that this anticline formed a walkable ridge of land from Dover to Calais that was subsequently swept away was only made in 1985. It took another 20yrs of advancements in high precision GPS & sonar imaging before proof was found etched into the Channel seabed, the findings were published in 2007. The Weald-Artois Anticline had served as a natural dam, holding back ice age melt water & outflow from rivers like the Rhine & Thames, which today freely empty into the open North Sea. Two main overspills of the ridge/dam took place 450,000 & 160,000 years ago during two Pleistocene glaciations, when ice closed off the northern North Sea & the ridge blocked the southern drainage route. The second was much greater, icy waterfalls at the Dover Strait would've dwarfed Niagara Falls today! This eventually fatally weakened the ridge, which collapsed, the resulting megaflood severed the tie between what is now Britain & France. As the glaciers melted rising sea levels widened the strait, ensuring its permanence. During the most recent glaciation Britain was once again connected to Europe by land as sea levels fell ~400ft; when it ended the ice melted raising sea levels to where they are today, refilling the Channel & North Sea making Britain an island once more ~6000BC. ⚒ #dover #calais #channel #englishchannel #glaciation #weald #sevensisters #beachyhead #beachyheadcliffs #englishcoast #eastsussex #kent #sussex #cotedopale #capblancnez #escalles #pasdecalais #lamanche #eastbourne_insta #eastbourne #lighthouses #lighthouse #geology #geomorphology #earthscience #rocksrock #geoscience​ ​#geologicalwonders #geologi #geologyrocks

Want to plant a tree today?👇 Autumn is well and truly here now! TSR Valstone is helping plant trees in the Scottish Highlands to restore the Caledonian Forest. You can donate £6 to plant at tree in our grove today!👇 Once Britain's largest temperate rainforest, the ancient Caledonian Forest is now highly fragmented and covers approximately just 1% of its previous area, leading to a great loss in biodiversity. We've planted over 140 trees so far and by joining in and donating £6 to plant a tree you too can help rewild the Highlands! 🌲🌳 https://treesforlife.org.uk/groves/g9162/ [link in our bio] 🌳🌲 As part of our CSR programme TSR Valstone is supporting multi-award winning registered charity Trees For Life, who work in partnership with @forestryandlandscot, @nationaltrustforscotland, @rspb_love_nature and private landowners. They have already planted over 1.5 million native trees, fencing off seedlings to protect them from overgrazing and clearing non-native species. Their long-term goals include boosting populations of red squirrels, capercaillies, pine martens, white-tailed eagles and other native species; plus reintroducing missing mammals, such as beavers, wild boar, lynx and elk. ⚒ #treesforlife #plantatree #everytreecounts #moretreesplease #caledonianforest #charitydonation #instacharity #treestagram #treeplanting #plantingtrees #savethetrees #savetheforests #reforestation #growtrees #rewilding #rewildingeurope #highlandcollective #leaflitter #autumnwalks #total_trees #unitedbytrees #leaffall #autumnleaves #ancientwoodland #scotnature #treeappreciation #woodlandtrust #temperaterainforest #scottishhighlands #wellsitegeologist

Namurian Brisk autumnal walk out on the local moors, with Pendle Hill in the background beyond Rossendale. The bedrock round here is predominantly Carboniferous Millstone Grit laid down in a tropical river delta; hard to imagine when the wind chill is keeping your hands up your sleeves! The sandstone in this particular area is especially silica rich, almost as hard as granite, and has been quarried extensively and used for building (and drystone walling) - slabs of Haslingden Flag were used to pave Trafalgar Square, apparently! The landscape round here was shaped (smoothed and rounded) by past glaciations; yet to find any local erratics though. ⚒ #scoutmoor #westpenninemoors #pennines #pendlehill #rossendale #irwellvalley #rawtenstall #bacup #haslingden #ramsbottom #lancashire #seelancashire #lancslife #geolife #osmaps #getoutdoors #carboniferous #geology #geologyrocks​ #geologist​ #geological​ #geoscience​ #earthscience​ #geomorphology​ #geologistlife​ #geologyeverywhere​ #geoscientist​ #sedimentaryrock #sedimentary #drystonewalls

Dyke Finding rock outcrops is much easier in arid climates! Cracking shot of an intrusive basaltic dyke, likely emplaced during the closure of the Tethys and obduction that created the Semail Ophiolite. Second pic of the view from the top and the tiny drilling rig in the distance on the third shot. ⚒ #desertscape #desertscene #desertlandscape #naturescapes #rockformation #rockformations #rocksarecool #geomorphology #igneous #basalt #naturalformation #geological​ #geologicalphenomenon​ #geologicalwonders​ #geologicalformation​ #earthscience​ #instageology​ #sedimentaryrock #rocksrock #geologist​ #geology #arabiandesert #visitoman #emptyquarter #experienceoman #wahibasands #desertphotography #inthedesert #geologist #wellsitegeologist

Just some rock from over two and a half miles underneath the North Sea that hadn't seen the light of day for around 166 million years, until our 8.5 inch wide borehole let it out to tell me tales of a much warmer and wetter world! ⚒ #petroleumgeology #petroleumengineering #petroleumindustry #petroleumclub #petroleo #petroleum​ #wellsitegeologist #wellsitegeology #geologistlife​ #geological​ #geologist​ #geology #geologyrocks​ #geoscience​ #lithology #sedimentary #stratigraphy #wellsite #mudlogging #oilfieldphotography #oilandgaslife #offshoredrilling #geolog #northsea #oilfield​ #oilandgas​ #drilling​ #oilpatch​ #oilfieldtrash #rockhound

Contamination The Dounreay Nuclear Power Development Establishment in the background of this beach shot, with a sign in the foreground warning you of radioactive particles. Dounreay was a test site for civilian and military reactors, built in the 1950s on a remote disused WW2 airfield. Testing was successful and by the 1960s spent fuel was being processed, leading to sandsized radioactive particles unwittingly being flushed out to sea through to the 1980s. From the first radioactive particle being found in this vicinity in 1983 hundreds more have been found on the seabed and local beaches; variously incorporating isotopes of Americium-241, Caesium-137, Strontium-90, Cobalt-60, Ruthenium-106 and Niobium-94. The ability of humans to leave a near permanent geological mark on the world in ways such as this has led to calls for the creation of an Anthropocene epoch. Former mining or industrial sites such as this are increasing in number making contaminated land investigation and environmental consultancy rapidly growing specialisms within geology and @geolsoc has a Contaminated Land Specialist Group that run conferences open to fellows and non-fellows. Fortunate to have done the NC500 and found shots like this before it officially launched and became so popular! ⚒ @discoveringbritain @gea_ltd #nc500 #roadtrip #hiddenscotland #northernscotland #insta_uk #pentax #pentaxkx #radioactivesite #nuclearpower #seapic #interestingplace #yellowsign #caithness #ukaea #beachshot #radioactive #radiation #nuclearreactor #thurso #coastalshots #coastline #environment #environmentalgeology #industrialremediation #greengrass #osmaps #sandsidebeach #scotlandroadtrip #scottishcoast #northcoast500

Toblerone A TBT pic from a visit to Switzerland many years ago. The iconic Matterhorn began forming in the very earliest phase of the Alpine Orogeny. The peak is made of gneiss from the Apulian microplate, which had cleaved off from ‘Africa’ millions of years prior in the Cretaceous. This microplate was drawn north as the Tethys closed; Africa was actually moving away from 'Europe' at this point. The opening of the southern Atlantic ~100ma rotated Africa’s drift, driving it – and the Apulian plate ahead of it – northwards into the Eurasian plate. The base of the Matterhorn consists of an accretionary wedge of material ruched up as the Tethys was pinched shut between the Apulian and Eurasian plates. As Africa forged north, Apulian crust was thrust up on top of the Eurasian plate, forming a nappe. For this reason, it is sometimes said that the Matterhorn could be considered an African peak! All that means the top of the Matterhorn is African and older than its base, which comes from the bottom of the Tethys, and in between the middle of the Matterhorn is original Eurasian crust. Erosion has since isolated the Matterhorn nappe creating a klippe, so the Matterhorn can be said to be allochthonous, one of the best words in geology! The contact (suture) between 'true Europe and the Apulian plate' is known as the Periadriatic Seam, it passes just north of the Matterhorn curving south as it continues west. This fault zone is thought to still be active, with the Apulian microplate rotating anticlockwise independently of the Eurasian plate. The iconic pyramidal Hörnli Ridge visible from Zermatt formed through much more recent glacial action. The mountain would have originally been fairly standard looking and rounded but by sheer chance four cirques formed on its north, south, east and west flanks. They grew over successive glaciations until kissing each other leaving four sharp walls, liked a knapped flint, creating the iconic peak shape we see today. We were very lucky to see the summit that day! ⚒

Workplace Another day over on the UKCS. Due to the global downturn in the industry, since 2014 the UK has lost around 195,000 jobs supported by O&G. Today around 49,000 North Sea Tigers travel offshore for work, a little over 3% of these being female. The average UK offshore worker is now estimated to be 42.5 years old. As the industry continues to adapt and evolve it is expected 40,000 new workers will need to be recruited in the next 20 years, including 10,000 for posts that do not yet exist. ⚒ @Petroleumengineering @oilgasuk @opitoglobal #northseatiger #amazingviews #sunsetatsea #seasunset #sunsetshots #sunsetview #officewindow #northsea #oilfield​ #oilandgas​ #lifeatsea​ #oilrig​ #drilling​ #oilfieldlife​ #offshorelife​ #petroleum​ #riglife​ #oilpatch​ #oilfieldtrash​ #oilrigs​ #drillingrig #fifolife​ #rigger​ #oilfieldstrong​ #oilandgaslife​ #seekoffshore​ #oilfieldphotography​ #workatsea #nightshift​ #wellsitegeologist

HQ If you're a geologist in town, you should try and make it to the home of Geological Society of London if you can! It is the oldest national geological society in the world, and the largest in Europe. It moved here to Burlington House on Piccadilly in 1874, and celebrated its bicentennial in 2007. Burlington House is also home to the Geologists' Association, which has been promoting geology for professionals and amateurs since 1858. ⚒ #geolsoc #geologicalsociety #burlingtonhouse #piccadilly #mayfair ​#doorsoflondon #wellsitegeologist #geology #rockhound​ #geologyrocks #geologist​ #geologia​​ #earthscience​ #geologi​ #geological​ #geoscience​ #geologypage​ #geologyporn #rocksrock #geología​ #geologists​ #geolife​ #geologic​ #geologistlife​ #geologyfieldtrip​ #earthsciences #geologyeverywhere​ #instageology​ #geoscientist​ #geoscientists​

Gloaming Sunset shot of Rùm & Eigg. Rùm is the remains of a supervolcano that may have originally been two or three kilometres high, with slopes stretching out to the present day shoreline. It piled up on top of Torridonian sandstones during the palaeocene opening of the Atlantic here ~60 million years ago. Millions of years of erosion by glaciers, wind and rain have reduced the volcano to what is now Rùm’s Cuillin range! ⚒ @lochaber_geopark #portnadoran #smallisles #eigg #isleofrum #westcoast #bestcoast #westisbest #arisaig #gloaming #scottishsunset #highlandsandislands #lochaber #lochabergeopark #geopark #innerhebrides #hebrides #scottishislands #scotlandexplore #scottishscenery #scotland_ig #pentaxkx #scotlandsbeauty #beautifulscotland #scottishgeology #ecosse #escocia #schottland #geologist #geologyrocks #geology

Boot Room Fairly typical boot room on an offshore rig, for changing into and out of your PPE. Decade's worth of stickers and labels on the lockers could make a good social history or ethnographic study! ⚒ @drillersclub @riglynx #northsea #oilfield #oilandgas​ #lifeatsea #oilrig​ #drilling​ #oilfieldlife #offshorelife​ #riglife​ #oilpatch #oilfieldtrash​ #oilrigs #drillingrig​ #fifolife​​ #oilandgaslife​ #oilandgasindustry #oilpatchlife #oilfieldphotography #workatsea #offshoredrilling #oilplatform #rigpig #riggerlife​​ #offshorejob #ethnography #oilfieldtrashmakingoilfieldcash​ #lockerroom #bootroom #indyref #wellsitegeologist​

Fingal’s Cave A day out to see Uamh-Binn. Formed during palaeogene volcanics, first a pyroclastic flow laid down a jumble of tephra, lapilli and scoria, fused into an ignimbrite. This was later overlain by a thick flow of theoleiitic basalt that it cooled into two horizontal zones: in the lower, hexagon columns formed due to the mineralogical heterogeneity of the lava, cooling slowly allowing regular patterns of undisturbed contraction fractures to form - in a similar manner to mud left drying out. The upper portion is the entablature, named after the architectural feature of a plinth on top of colonnades: it cooled more rapidly, possibly accelerated by water inundation, leading to a more jumbled and hackled end product, there are a few columns but they are warped and irregular. There are apparently some pillow structures in the entablature, which would support water inundation, but I didn’t spot any! All these beds were subsequently tilted by tectonic forces, dipping gently to the NE. The tiny people in the first picture give a good sense of scale! ⚒ @staffatrips @nationaltrustforscotland @wildaboutargyll #staffa #thisisscotland #innerhebrides #argyll #igscotland #discoverscotland #scottishislands #instascotland #scottishgeology #geology #rockhound​ #geologyrocks​ #geologist​ #geologia​ #rockformations​ #earthscience​ #geologi​ #geological​ #geoscience​ #geologypage​ #geologyporn​ #geología​ #geomorphology​ #geologists​ #petrology​ #igneous​ #geologicalphenomenon​ #geolife​ #geologic​ #rocksrock

Lindisfarne #tombolotuesday? A shot of Lindisfarne through the plane window on the way home from Aberdeen. The island's castle sits on top of a Permian dyke, part of the Farne Islands Sub-Swarm of dykes associated with the emplacement of the Whin Sill. The island is connected to the mainland by a sand bar, sediment piled up by longshore drift along the Northumberland coast, effectively tying Holy Island/Lindisfarne to the mainland- natural deposition has been disturbed by the building of a causeway though. Right now it’s a tidal island, but if the sediment continued to build up it would become a tied island. ⚒ @nationaltrust @englishheritage #flybe #planeview #flyinghome #lindisfarne #holyisland #northumberland_uk #ukpotd #northumberland_pics #northumbria #northeastcaptures #aerialview #aerialshot #britishcoast #geology #geologyrocks​ #geologist​​ #earthscience​ #geological​ #geoscience​ #geologypage​ #geologyporn​ #geomorphology​ #geologists​ #geolife​​ #geologicalwonders​ #tombolo #geologistlife​ #earthsciences​ #geologyeverywhere​

Bow Fiddle Just along the coast from Cullen, birthplace of tasty Cullen Skink soup, lies Bow Fiddle Rock, pretty famous in Scottish Geology! The rocks here were laid down over half a billion years ago as sandstone. The ensuing eons have seen that sandstone put under great stresses, metamorphosing it into quartzite. That transformation, and the tilted nature of the beds, comes from the Caledonian Orogeny - the closure of the Iapetus Ocean and the meeting of what was to become England and Scotland. The rocks are now exposed to the sea, and weathering has preferentially affected some of the more micaceous beds, leading to this arch, and other arches and caves along this stretch of the Moray coastline! ⚒️ @morayspeyside #geology #rockhound​ #geologyrocks​ #geologist​ #geologia​ #geopark​ #rockformations​ #earthscience​ #geologi​ #geological​ #geoscience​ #geologypage​ #geologyporn​ #geología​ #geomorphology​ #geologists​ #petrology​​ #geologicalphenomenon​ #geolife​ #geologic​ #geologicalwonders​ #geologistlife​ #geologistsofinstagram #geologyfieldtrip​ #earthsciences​ #geologyeverywhere​ #geonerd​ #instageology​ #geologicalformation​ #geogeek

🎵It's the most won-der-ful time, of the hitch! There'll be much good cheer flowing, When the chopper is showing, And we're all out of heeeere🎵 🚁 #fridaymotivation #commute #commuting #humansatsea #northsea #homewardbound #homeward #headinghome #goinghome #gettodachoppa #aberdeenairport #survivalsuit #oilfield #oilandgas #lifeatsea #oilrig #drilling #oilfieldlife #offshorelife #petroleum #riglife #oilpatch #oilfieldtrash #oilrigs #drillingrig #fifolife #oilandgaslife #seekoffshore #oilindustry #wellsitegeologist

💯 Followers! Our first Instagram videos, to celebrate 100 followers! Footage from the moonpool and over the port side of the rig during Storm Diana in Nov 2018. Doesn't quite do justice to just how rough the seas were or how much the rig was moving about though..! These cameras were 100ft above sea level. We had unlatched and were not allowed to go outside. The North Sea is surprisingly challenging to work in, and when storms come you can't hide in a port, facing those challenges has lead to many technological innovations. 🌊 @oil_exploration #oilfield #oilandgas #lifeatsea #oilrig #drilling #oilfieldlife #offshorelife #petroleum #riglife #oilpatch #oilfieldtrash #oilrigs #drillingrig #fifolife #rigger #oilfieldstrong #oilandgaslife #seekoffshore #oilfieldproud #oilindustry #oilpatchlife #instasea #humansatsea #atsea #stormyweather #stormdiana #roughsea #stormyseas #wavescrashing #wellsitegeologist

Pōhutu Geyser Very lucky during a brief stay in beautiful New Zealand to have visited Te Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve, part of the wider Taupo Volcanic Zone. This particular geothermal hot-spot near Rotorua is home to the Pōhutu Geyser. Seen here erupting from the sinter terrace that is precipitating out from the mineral rich water being ejected. Pōhutu is in fact one of the world's most regular performers and can erupt upto 100ft high! Geothermal activity here stems from the Rotorua caldera, facilitated by fractures from its eruption and collapse 240,000 years ago in the Pleistocene. From the 50s onward many boreholes were sunk by local communities to tap this awesome geothermal resource, slowly sapping life from Pōhutu and the surrounding hydrothermal features. Thankfully following a programme of cementing up boreholes in the late 80s, aquifer deterioration has reversed and activity has rejuvenated! ⚒ @purenewzealand @elemental_group ⁦‪@te_puia @rotoruanz ‬⁩#kiaora #pohutugeyser #tepuia #taupo #rotoruanz #northisland #kiwipics #nzmustdo #capturenz #travelnz #hotsprings #geothermal #geologyrocks #geologist #geologia #earthscience #geologi #geological #geoscience #geologypage #geologyporn #geología #geologists #geologicalphenomenon #geolife #geologic #geologistlife #geologyeverywhere #instageology #wellsitegeologist

More Sand Drilling masts and derricks are different beasts. Masts are collapsible, they can be folded, telescoped, assembled and disassembled for easy transportation, they're slender and lightweight whilst being rigid; thus they're used on land jobs, put together on the ground and the hoisted up vertical. Derricks are permanent/semi-permanent structures, a lattice work of girders that provide a pyramidal structure to likewise support the crown block and top drive system. So, here's a shot of a drilling mast! Taken whilst taking a break from looking for the Masirah Bay (formation)! ⚒ @humans_of_og @oil_and_gas_photos #oilfield #oilandgas #oilrig #drilling #oilfieldlife #petroleum #riglife #oilpatch #oilfieldtrash #oilrigs #drillingrig #fifolife #rigger #oilfieldstrong #oilandgaslife #oilcountry #oilfieldproud #oilindustry #oilpatchlife #oilfieldphotography #deserts #experienceoman #wahibasands #sanddunes #wellsitegeologist #geologist #geoscience #petroleumindustry #atwork #myworkplace

Seastack You might not immediately think of geology when thinking about the Algarve... but thanks to the beds of calcarenite, limestone and marl that outcrop along the coast, ranging in age from Mesozoic to Miocene, there are some truly impressive karstified formations. Seastacks such as this, on the Praia de São Rafael, are common as a result; to the right behind you can see the stump left by a previously collapsed stack. This fun 80sec YouTube video gives a great overview of how they formed: https://youtu.be/EyJCW5182K4 ⚒ #geologist #albufeira @visit.algarve.portugal #algarveportugal #praiadesaorafael #super_algarve #ig_algarve #featuremealgarve #algarvecoast #limestonecoast #geological #geoscience #geologypage #geologyporn #geología #geomorphology #geologists #geologicalphenomenon #geolife #geologic #geologistlife #structuralgeology #geologyfieldtrip #geologyeverywhere #instageology #geoscientist #wellsitegeologist #geologi #geologia #seastacks #seastack

Home from home For three weeks. Cameras, and certainly phones, are not allowed outside the accommodation block on rigs and platforms. This is to stop them providing an ignition source at any time. Any living or working areas on an oil installation are kept positively pressurised, slightly above the outside air pressure, to keep out any dangerous or explosive gasses and fumes. But these pics of the current workspace, out on the main deck, were taken with the camera on the work laptop! ⚒ @humans_of_og @oil_and_gas_photos #laptopcamera #myoffice #mydesktoday #atwork #myworkplace #officework #officedesign #officedecor #wellsitegeologist #lifeatsea #oilrig #drilling #oilfieldlife #petroleum #riglife #oilpatch #oilfieldtrash #oilrigs #drillingrig #fifolife #rigger #oilfieldstrong #oilandgaslife #oilfieldproud #oilindustry #oilpatchlife #oilfieldphotography #oilplatform #riggerlife #drillersclub

Crepuscular There are some outstanding sunsets & sunrises to be seen in the North Sea. Being so close to sea level, the sunlight has to pass through almost as much atmosphere as possible before reaching you, scattering all but the yellow-orange-red hues, which reflect off the sea surface. Doesn't matter if you're working nights in the depths of winter though, you don't see any sun at all! ⚒ @oil.industry.mx @hitch_oilfield @theoffshorelife @oilfieldphotography #offshoresunset #solnedgang #sunset_lovers #sunset_hub #sunsea #wellsitegeologist #geologylife #geologistsofinstagram #oilrig #drilling #oilfieldlife #petroleum #riglife #oilpatch #oilfieldtrash #oilrigs #drillingrig #fifolife #rigger #oilandgaslife #seekoffshore #oilindustry #oilpatchlife #oilfieldphotography #oilplatform #riggerlife #drillersclub #riglynx #offshorejob​ #semisubmersible

Triple TBT Our first Throwback picture, to our second Instagram post, to stepping off @calmacferries on to the Isle of Eigg many years ago, and to 58 million years ago and the creation of An Sgùrr, the inselberg that dominates Eigg! It formed during the Palaeogene, when enormous volcanoes on Rùm and Skye were pumping out lava, creating flood basalt plains thousands of feet thick all over this area. Over time a river had carved a valley into this soft basalt; when 58 million years ago, a sustained, dramatic eruption produced pyroclastic flows and lava, that poured into that valley, filling it up like a bathtub. This then set as very hard pitchstone, which has eroded much more slowly than the surrounding soft basalt, leaving this impressive ridge behind - an inverted valley! The race to the top of the Sgurr and back in time for the return ferry is a must do experience! This was the second time I'd done it and the weather was much, much clearer! ⚒ @yourbritain #throwbackk #throwbackthrusday #throwbackmemories #throwbackthursdayyy #throwbackthursday🔙 #throwbackpicture #throwbackpic #throwbackthurs #throwback2019 #tbt📷 #tbt🙈 #tbts #tbt🔙📸 #tbtime #tbtzão #tbth #tbtazo #tbt✨ #tbt🔙❤️ #tbt✌ #tbtt #eigg #isleofeigg #smallisles #hebrides #hebridean #innerhebrides #bonniescotland #geologyrocks #geologist

Dyke Allt Fearns, on Eilean Ratharsair. This stream exploited the arcuate fault that bounds the western side of Beinn na' Leac, cutting through Jurassic sedimentary rocks. Not even this Palaeogene basalt dyke has particularly been able to deflect it! On the right you can see its contact with the surrounding Pabbay shale, which has been baked and darkened. In the top right you can see how the dyke is internally zoned, with a vesicular core, the interior had more time to cool and for gases contained in the magma to exsolve. There are meant to be ammonite fossils in the Pabbay shale, I couldn't find any, bagged lots of belemnites though!​ ​⚒ @geolsoc #raasay #beinnnaleac #innerhebrides #highlandsandislands #scotlandthebrave #scottishnature #isleofskye #scottishisles #igscotland #scottishgeology #geología #geologist #geologypage #ecosse #escocia #schottland #scotshots #geologyrocks #hiddenscotland #unlimitedscotland #scottishrivers #volcanicdyke #geologyporn #wellsitegeologist #geologyfieldtrip #geologistonholiday #discoverscotland #isleofraasay #instageology #geologistlife

Kjelsås A January weekend to kill in Norway before a DWOP in Stavanger, so a weekend in Oslo called! This suburb at the end of routes 11 and 12 of the Oslo Tramway operated by Oslo Sporveien Trikken. Seen here at sunrise. Great quality ambient light! ⚒ @visitoslo #kjelsås #oslonorway #norsk #scandinavia #scandinavian #sunrisers #sunrise_shotz #sunrise_sunset #sunriseoftheday #sunrise_pics #norgefoto #norge🇳🇴 #norwaytravel #norwayinanutshell #suburban #norwegianstreet #suburbia #softlight #scandi #oilfieldlife #sneeuw #godmorgennorge #inspiredbyscandinavia #wellsitegeologist #riglife #ilovescandinavia #nordicphotos #oilpatchlife #norwaystreets #imagesofnorway

Meconopsis Our first Instagram macroshot, of a blue poppy in Inverewe Gardens. Warmed by the Gulf Stream and sheltered by the Scots Pines and Californian Redwoods planted by founder Osgood McKenzie in 1862, it's home to subtropical plants from around the world: Australia to China, India to South America. The bedrocks here are Torridonian sandstones of the Stoer Group, laid down over 1.2 billion years ago, when this location was in an arid valley fed coarse material by alluvial fans and interspersed with playa and streams - Bajada landscape, such as yesterday's photo from Oman!! ⚒ @nationaltrustforscotland @inverewegarden #inverewegardens #westerross #rossshire #bluepoppiesfromhimalayas #inverewegardensscotland #nationaltrustforscotland #explorescotland #inverewe #lovesscotland #flowersandmacro #miracles_noblesse #meconopsis #macropicture #blueflowers💙 #floweroftheday #flowerslovers #imageologist #flowerpower🌸 #flowerstagram🌸 #torridonian #torridoniansandstone #westerrosscoast #flowerlover #geologybotany #bluepoppy #savethebees #wellsitegeologist #geologist #geologylife #wellsitegeology

Some sand Not all jobs are in the North Sea! This pic is from onshore Oman, several hours south of the famous Semail Ophiolite in the Al Hajar Mountains. This site is at the edge of the bajada landscape - overlapping alluvial fans - coming off those mountains. ⚒ @experienceoman #desertcloseup #redsand #sandwave #omansand #empty_quarter #desertsand #omani_lens #wahibasands #wahibasandsdesert #visitoman #lonelyplanet #getoutdoor #experienceoman #beautifuldestination #dunescape #sanddune #greatsanddunes #desertdune #desertdunes #empty_quarter_oman #sultanateofoman #geology #geologyrocks #wellsitegeologist #geologist #iamageologist #fifolife #oilindustry #riglife #oilfieldlife

Can you see the bottom? There are far, far too many flights of stairs on this platform! ⚒ #stairwell #staircase #staircases #handrails #handrail #handrailsteel #beryloilfield #vertigoeffect #berylbravo #railings #apachecorp #wellsitegeologist #wellsitegeology #geologistlife #geologistonboard #geologist #longwaydown #northseaoil #oilandgaslife #oilfieldproud #oilindustry #oilpatchlife #oilfieldphotography #offshoredrilling #oilplatform #riggerlife #drillersclub #riglynx #oilplatform #offshorerig

England's Roof! The views from sunny Scafell Pike's summit. Fire and ice! Part of the Borrowdale Volcanics, rocks that formed nearly half a billion years ago during the Ordovician, as the deep Iapetus Ocean slammed shut here - triggering monumental volcanism. Extrusive igneous rocks would've originally built thousands of feet thick, rapidly cooling to form tight crystals and thus very hard rocks, leading to all top ten highest English mountains being in this region. These volcanic rocks were then compressed and forced upwards into towering mountains, just as is now happening in the Himalayas, during he Caledonian Orogeny - which formed a mountain chain stretching through Scandinavia, Scotland and North America. Subsequently they have been eroded and glaciated over hundreds of millions of years, down to what we see today, with the area's characteristic U-shaped glacial valleys. ⚒ @nationaltrust #scafellpike #scafell #threepeakschallenge #england #cumbria #lakedistrict #mountainview #englandsbigpicture #cumberland #southernfells #vista #borrowdalevolcanics #mountainpeak #geologyrocks #geology #geologist #wellsitegeologist #geologistonholiday #volcanic #volcanicrock #igneousrocks #rhyolite #glaciation #osmaps #yourbritain #panoramic #panorama #sceanicbritain #englishgeology #hikingthelakes

England's Roof! Sunny Scafell Pike summit. Fire and ice! Part of the Borrowdale Volcanics, rocks that formed nearly half a billion years ago during the Ordovician, as the deep Iapetus Ocean slammed shut here - triggering monumental volcanism. Extrusive igneous rocks would've originally built miles thick, rapidly cooling to form tight crystals and thus very hard rocks, leading to all the top ten highest English mountains being in this region. These volcanic rocks were then compressed and forced upwards into towering mountains, just as is now happening in the Himalayas, during he Caledonian Orogeny - which formed a mountain chain stretching through Scandinavia, Scotland and North America. Subsequently they have been eroded and glaciated over hundreds of millions of years, down to what we see today, the summit is strewn with a freeze-thaw shattered rock boulder field. ⚒ @nationaltrust #scafellpike #scafell #threepeakschallenge #england #cumbia #lakedistrict #sunrays #sunray #cumberland #southernfells #sunshot #borrowdalevolcanics #mountainpeak #geologyrocks #geology #geologist #wellsitegeologist #geologistonholiday #volcanic #volcanicrock #igneousrocks #rhyolite #glaciation #osmaps #yourbritain #gloriousbritain #loveengland #sceanicbritain #englishgeology #hikingthelakes

Offshore sunset. For the amount of cloud that day, not a bad sunset at all! ⚒ @oilfieldphotography @oil.industry.mx #offshoresunset #solnedgangen #sunset_lovers❤️ #sunset_only #sunsea #wellsitegeologist #geologylife #geologistsofinstagram #oilrig #drilling #oilfieldlife #petroleum #riglife #oilpatch #oilfieldtrash #oilrigs #drillingrig #fifolife #rigger #oilandgaslife #seekoffshore #oilindustry #oilpatchlife #oilfieldphotography #oilplatform #riggerlife #drillersclub #riglynx #offshorejob​ #semisubmersible

Uamh Smudha! A little bit Indiana Jones hey! A rickety wooden bridge leading into the extensive karst caverns formed by the Allt Smoo, which has eroded through Ordivician dolomite and limestone beds. It opens out into a seacave at the head of the Geodha Smoo tidal gorge, it formed as the cave roof collapsed and receded. ⚒ @visitsutherland #softlighting #smoocaves #cavern #caverns #karst #dolostone #limestone #woodenbridge #smoocave #northcoast500 #skylight #scottishgeology #scotland #ecosse #escocia #schottland #nc500route #durness #sutherland #sutherlandshire #yourbritain #nc500trip #geologyrocks #wellsitegeologist #geologist #geologistonholiday #iamageologist #osmaps #greatoutdoors #scenicbritain

A room with a view! Outside an oil platform's galley window 👀 ⚒ #nofilter just grime #riglife #oilriglife #lumpycustard #oilplatform #oilchasers #oilpatch #oilpatchlife #seekoffshore #northseatigers #oilrig #oilfield #fifolife #rigworker #offshorelife #offshoredrilling #offshore #berylbravo #wellsitegeologist #wellsitegeology #geologistlife #geologistonboard #geologist #northsea #northseaoil #seaview #dirtywindow #dirtywindows #boat #maritime

Tholeiitic lava fields on big island hawaii, the basalt here has broadly the same chemistry as on the Moon! You can see hints of red coming through the dark basalt as mafic minerals slowly weather and oxidise. ⚒ #geologic #lavatube #lavatubes #tholeiiticbasalt #roadsideusa #bigislandhikes #roadsideamerica #contrasts #saturation #saturated #igneous #igneousrocks #igneouspetrologist #geologia #🌋 #volcanico #basalte #nofiltersky #tholeiitic #geologyrocks #geología #igneouspetrology #hawaiivacation #bigislandhawaii #volcanicgeology #geologistonholiday #iamageologist #geologist #geologistlife #wellsitegeologist

Solastranden From work in Norge once upon a time, choppers returning to #stavangerlufthavn, laden with very grateful #rigworkers! ⚒ @oil_and_gas_photos #helicoptere #helikopter #survivalsuit #solastranden #sikorskys92 #sikorskyaircraft #sikorskyhelicopters #sandandsky #norwegiansun #offshoredrilling #offshorelife #oilpatchlife #seekoffshore #oilchasers #riglife #oilandgas #oilindustry #riggerslife #fifolife #northsea #nordsjøen #continentalshelf #oilandgas #s92 #iamageologist #geologist #geologistlife #wellsitegeologist #wellsitegeology

An Sgùrr 👉 An inselberg on Eigg, predominantly made of pitchstone, part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province (British Tertiary Igneous Province). This is a widespread suite of volcanics that includes the Giant's Causeway and Fingal's Cave; it occurred as the Atlantic Ocean split open here in the Palaeogene. The Sgurr formed when a soft basalt valley was infilled by lava, 58 million years ago. The valley itself has eroded away much faster than the pitchstone, leaving behind this impressive ridge! ⚒ @eiggadventures #isleofeigg #innerhebrides #smallisles #highlandsandislands #scottishgeology #ecosse #escocia #schottland #cirrusclouds #cirrus #igneous #geosciences #geologyrocks #geolife #wellsitegeologist #geologists #geologistsofinstagram #volcanicrock #instageology #inselberg #pitchstone #palaeogene #volcanics #caledonianmacbrayne #calmac #eigg #noseofsgurr #ansgurr #ansgùrr #ansgúrr

Our #firstinstagrampost, taken from a semi-sub radio room almost two years ago! ⚒ #semisub #1stinstagrampostever #viewfromawindow #semisubs #semisubmersible #sunsets #sunsea #offshorerig #northseatiger #oilrig #oilrigs #oilfield #oilandgasexploration #oilandgaslife #offshore #offshoredrilling #oilchasers #marineview #oilchasers #seekoffshore #northseatigers #riglife #oilriglife #fifolife #geologist #geologistlife #wellsitegeologist #wellsitegeology #iamageologist #geologistonboard