September 17, 2018

Monday Geology Picture: Airport Geology

Posted by Evelyn Mervine

Lovely decorative stones adorning the airport floor, with my feet for scale.

I travel a lot for my job, and I often find myself traveling through O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. The terminal buildings contain some lovely decorative stones, which I often admire as I’m navigating my way through the airport. For example, while I was waiting for my luggage today I admired, as I have before, some of the lovely decorative stones that make up part of the floor in the domestic baggage claim area. These stones really are gorgeous, as you can see in the above picture. Check out all of the different hues: pink granitic rocks, gray gneiss rocks, dark black rocks (gabbro, perhaps?), and lovely yellow rocks (another type of igneous rock) — a rock rainbow of sorts! What rock types do you spot?