Close-ups of Nature

Detail of the pegmatitic granite contact with the amphibolite Scourie Dyke at the 'Multi-couloured Rock Stop' at Loch na Fiacail, Sutherland.

Detail of the pegmatitic granite showing large crystals of pink feldspar and white quartz, at the 'Multi-couloured Rock Stop' at Loch na Fiacail, Sutherland.

A closer view of the sheared Lewisian Gneiss from the previous photograph. The gneiss has a steeply dipping foliation, displaying small-scale folding and rotation of the the quartz-rich pod just above and to the right of the lens cap. Roadside rock cutting on the A383, Laxford Bay, Sutherland.

Lewisian Gneiss with a steeply dipping foliation, displaying small-scale folding and rotation of the the quartz-rich pod just above and to the right of the lens cap. Roadside rock cutting on the A383, Laxford Bay, Sutherland.

This is the classic exposure of the Pipe Rock Member of the Eriboll Formation (early Cambrian) at Skiag Bridge, Loch Assynt, Sutherland, Scotland. Cross-bedded pale grey quartzitic/feldspathic marine sandstones deposited as sand bars in a near-shoreline environment are stained purplish-red and penetrated by Skolithos burrows infilled with creamy grey sandstone. This indicates that there was periodic halting of sedimentation and near, or actual emergence, so that oxidation of the iron and manganese minerals in the sediments could occur and the top part of the sediments colonised by burrowing organisms, probably worm-like animals.

Species-rich grassland meadow at Gait Barrows National Nature Reserve, Silverdale, Lancashire.

On the limb of an anticline, near-vertically bedded turbidite sandstones in the Bude Formation (upper Carboniferous) display sedimentary structures which can be used to determine the 'way up' of the bedding. Here, the sandstones display small-scale slump or load structures on the basal surfaces, and some beds show 'fining up' on the grain size (indicated by gradual darkening of the bed). These structures demonstrate that the vertical beds here get younger to the right. Here's structure in its proper setting and orientation: www.ipernity.com/doc/earthwatcher/39024212 and here: www.ipernity.com/doc/earthwatcher/39024214

Turbidite sandstones in the Bude Formation (upper Carboniferous) display sedimentary structures which can be used to determine the 'way up' of the bedding. Here, the sandstones display small-scale slump or load structures on the basal surfaces, and some beds show 'fining up' on the grain size (indicated by gradual darkening of the bed). These structures demonstrate that the beds here are the right way up, i.e. have not been completely inverted by the strong folding this area has undergone. The sequence shown here gets younger upwards and to the right.

A closer view of the hinge zone of the fold in the previous photo. The 'space problem' of accommodating the beds in the hinge zone of the fold is well illustrated here. The thickened hinge zone contains several small-scale thrusts which have disrupted the thin sandstone bands. I should have included an object for scale in this view but forgot, sorry! The pale sandstone band in the central portion of the photo is about 4 cm thick.

The beach pebbles at Budleigh Salterton are beautifully coloured, and especially lovely when wet, near the edge of the sea. They are mostly derived from the local eponymous Pebble Beds of Triassic age, although there are some older pebbles from the Devonian and older rocks further west.

I really liked the colours of the foam and the flint pebbles just after a wave had retreated. Walberswick beach, Suffolk.

Part of the old jetty at Landguard Point, near Felixstowe, Suffolk.

Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui , on a Buddleia bush in my garden. Experimenting with macro-photography.

Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui , on a Buddleia bush in my garden. Experimenting with macro-photography.

Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui , on a Buddleia bush in my garden. Experimenting with macro-photography.

Bee (but what sort?) on Buddleia bush in my garden. Experimenting with macro-photography.

... but it isn't. This is a hover fly Eristalis tenax (a.k.a. a Drone fly) which is a superb example of insect mimicry. This is not a bee; it does not sting. It is feeding on a Buddleia bush in my garden. Many thanks to marmaladefly www.flickr.com/photos/32995664@N06/ for helping with the identification! Experimenting with macro-photography.

This is a hover fly Eristalis tenax (a.k.a. a Drone fly) which is a superb example of insect mimicry. This is not a bee; it does not sting. It is feeding on a Buddleia bush in my garden. Many thanks to marmaladefly www.flickr.com/photos/32995664@N06/ for helping with the identification! Experimenting with macro-photography.