Images Dated 15th July 2012

Abyssal marine sediments

Abyssal marine sediments, originally laid down in the mid-Pacific 200 to 300 million years ago then ferried by currents in the Earth's mantle and plastered against the edge of the ancient Australian continental raft. In the enormous heat and pressure of this process they crumpled like old newspaper. Modern wave erosion has re-exposed these metasediments. Wellington Rock, Nambucca Heads, New South Wales, Australia

© Reg Morrison/AUSCAPE All rights reserved

Baxter Cliffs (limestone cliffs derived from ancient consolidated sand dunes)

Baxter Cliffs (limestone cliffs derived from ancient consolidated sand dunes), edging the Nullarbor Plain and descending to the Southern Ocean. Stretching over 100 km, 60 m to 120 m high, the cliffs are the longest in the world. Nullarbor Plain, Great Australian Bight, South Australia Australia

© Reg Morrison/AUSCAPE All rights reserved

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The Marble Bar, banded jasper deposited 3.46 billion years ago on a seabed

The Marble Bar, banded jasper deposited 3.46 billion years ago on a seabed. The red stain is due to small amounts of oxidised iron in the original sediment and may represent the earliest direct evidence of bacterial oxygen. Pilbara region, Western Australia

© Reg Morrison/AUSCAPE All rights reserved

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