20 February 2014
Stylolite from the Helderberg Group, exposed on Corridor H
Posted by Callan Bentley
While out on the Corridor H field trip last week before the heavy snow, I found this squeal-inducingly-lovely example of a stylolite in Helderberg Group limestones (Devonian passive margin carbonates):
The stylolite is a pressure-solution surface, made especially apparent in this example because of the starkly different grain sizes and colors on either side of the dissolved-away rock:
This is a gorgeous sample to explore in macro GigaPan view. Enjoy:
Callan Bentley is Associate Professor of Geology at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. For his work on this blog, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers recognized him with the James Shea Award. He has also won the Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia, and the Biggs Award for Excellence in Geoscience Teaching from the Geoscience Education Division of the Geological Society of America. In previous years, Callan served as a contributing editor at EARTH magazine, President of the Geological Society of Washington and President the Geo2YC division of NAGT.