3 April 2020
Friday Fold: Saudi Arabia
Posted by Callan Bentley
To Saudi Arabia for today’s Friday fold, visible here at Wadi Fatima:
Annotated to show the rough trace of bedding:
This is a contribution from Ezra Zaini. He says:
In addition to the rampant folding, the area is affected by regional faulting (Najd F.S to the north and extensional faulting related to the Red Sea to the west). The formation itself is known for alternating beds of limestones and reddish purple siliceous/lithified mudstones. It and other surrounding formations unconformably overlay Precambrian Arabian Shield with all of them being dated back to the Cenozoic. (Oligocene-Miocene is what’s been agreed upon.)
Zooming in more closely:
And annotated:
I hope you’re doing well, dear reader.
It’s been a rough week, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get better any time soon. Vicarious armchair geology is all that’s safe at the moment, it would seem.
If you have cool folds to share, please get in touch.
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.
Very nice folds, as always, keep them coming!
Whilst I am in favour of presenting the wonders of the planet through Geology and I do not like dumbing down I am appealed by the ability of so many to misrepresent science. Number one in all scientific endeavour should be SCALE – the cartoon has no place in this picture – stamp out bad education.
Dear Richard,
Thanks so much for chiming in with your critique.
It’s my blog, so I’m the one who gets to make aesthetic calls like this one. If you find it offensive or dumb, you’re most welcome to tune in to a different Friday fold series. I’ve been doing this for ten years now, and I figure I’m entitled to mix it up as I see fit.
Best wishes,
Callan