Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Geo 365: July 30, Day 211: Tafoni 2

It's not terribly obvious at this scale (right-click and open in new tab to see details more easily), but the knobs in the above photo are covered with what appear to be honeycomb-like pits. This is tafoni weathering, a phenomenon that is not well understood. I tend to associate it with saline environments- either marine shores, or enclosed basins in arid settings. I don't think it's limited to salty areas, though, and numerous explanations have been proposed for how it occurs. Whatever the mechanism, it's appealing and fascinating.

Photo unmodified. March 8, 2012. FlashEarth location.

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