Images Dated 2003 July

Hamersley Gorge

Hamersley Gorge, carved from the massive bed of iron sediments constituting the Hamersley Ranges that accumulated during a billion years of pollution by oxygen, the waste gas discharged by photosynthetic cyanobacteria. Though the Hamersley iron deposits have been savagely eroded by wind, ice and water, there are still places where they are up to 2.5 km thick. Karijini National Park, Pilbara region, Western Australia

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Hamersley Gorge: intrusive layer of fine-grained limestone

Hamersley Gorge: intrusive layer of fine-grained limestone near the base of the massive sequence of ironstone forming the Ranges, seeming to show a major extinction of primordial life nearly 2.5 billion years ago, caused by oxygen discharged by photosynthetic bacteria during the previous billion years. This deepwater limestone is formed of bacterial debris that gradually filtered down from the surface during that mass extinction. Karijini National Park, Pilbara region, Western Australia

© Reg Morrison/AUSCAPE All rights reserved

Tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata)

Tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata), spreading its wings, sharing a boulder with three Crested auklets (Aethia cristatella). Talan Island, Magadan Oblast, Far East Russia, Russian Federation

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