23 August 2019

Friday fold: a return to coastal Greenland

Posted by Callan Bentley

Eight years ago, I featured a spectacular Friday fold here, showing an antiform exposed dramatically on the coast of Greenland‘s King Oscar Fjord. The photo was by Alistair Knock. Alistair and his wife Marie are astoundingly good photographers, and their website, Taraji Blue, showcases other visually astonishing work that has come out of their cameras.

Eight years later, I’m in the business of planning an “art” exhibition of superb works of geo-visualization as part of a Pardee Symposium at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America. Among the ~35 works I’ve solicited for inclusion in the show, I had Alistair’s Greenland fold photo in mind as an excellent example of a visually compelling image that was packed full of geoscience content – atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere: it’s all there! I am pleased that Alistair’s original photo of the fold is joining the show. The rest of the exhibition will be diverse and varied, in both medium and subject matter. It’s a really powerful collection, and I am very pleased at all the astounding contributions. If you are going to be at GSA, don’t miss it!

Anyhow, back to Alistair’s photo…

Greenland’s been in the news a bit lately, you may have noticed – not only has it seen record levels of melting of its central ice sheet, but the addled President of the United States apparently has gotten snippy about not being allowed to make an offer on the purchase of the huge island, resulting in a brand new oddity of a diplomatic row with Denmark. (I know we’re probably all desensitized to such things at this point, but It. Is. So. Strange.)

Anyhow, let’s set aside the ice and the politicians, and let’s return to this outcrop for today’s Friday fold, with several new views:

And here’s a GIF, from video, zooming out to show the wider context:

 

Who wouldn’t want to buy that fold? I know I would!

Happy Friday to you and yours…