Gallery: Hot Rocks: Geology Photo Contest Winners
01wadi-rum
Geologists routinely find themselves in some of the most remote, beautiful and strange spots on Earth. Photographing geological features is an important aspect of the science, and every now and then every geologist captures an image that is scientifically interesting and stands out aesthetically as well. We asked the geologists among our Wired Science and [Clastic Detritus](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/clasticdetritus) readers, and anyone else who had a great photo of some nice rocks, to send them in. There were far too many awesome shots among the almost 350 submissions, but we've included the 11 that we thought were the best (in no particular order) in this gallery. __Above:__ Wadi Rum -------- __Photographer:__ [Andrew White](http://www.flickr.com/photos/apwhite/sets/72157625795075462/) __Location:__ Southwestern Jordan __Date:__ January 4, 2011 Wadi Rum is a strange landscape with mountains ranging up to 5,600 feet high separated by flat, red-sand-filled valleys. It's so alien that it stood in for the surface of Mars in the movie *Red Planet* and is nicknamed "Valley of the Moon" Photographer Andrew White took this shot on a recent trip to Jordan. "I'd heard lots of good things about Wadi Rum, but wasn't quite sure if it was going to spin my cogs," [White wrote on his blog](http://www.andrew-white.org/). "But it was on the way back to Aqaba, so I decided to have a look." "And very glad I am that I did, as it proved to be the hands-down highlight of the trip. It's hard to explain its draw, but the combination of mountains, valleys, canyons and the vibrant colours just come together to make it an unforgettable place."
02pahoehoe-lava
Pahoehoe Lava ------------- __Photographer:__ [Ron Schott](http://ron.outcrop.org/blog), Outcrop.org ([@rschott](http://twitter.com/#!/rschott)) __Location:__ Kilauea East Rift Zone, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Big Island, Hawaii In this photo, a hot basaltic lava flow is forming a crust with a ropy texture, a classic example of what is known as pahoehoe lava. The lava is flowing onto a blanket of cinders produced during the early stages of the Pu'u 'O'o eruption from 1983 to 1986. "I was at this location on a winter-break field trip with students from Lake Superior State University. We hiked approximately 9 miles to get to the active lava flows, arriving just before sunset," said geologist Ron Schott, who took the photo. "Conditions were about as optimal as can be: We didn't get rained on and the wind was blowing gently from behind us as we approached the lava, minimizing the discomfort from heat and gases." "It was an experience none of us will ever forget," he said. "Check the 'visit an active volcano' box on the Geologists Lifetime Field List."
03banded-iron-formation
Banded Iron Formation --------------------- __Photographer:__ [Allison Pluda](http://senecacreek.smugmug.com/), Seneca Creek Photography __Location:__ Negaunee Iron Formation at Jasper Knob, near Ishpeming, Michigan This striking example of banded iron formation, or BIF, is more than 2 billion years old. The bands are alternating layers of grey magnetite or hematite and red iron-rich chert. BIF is thought to be the earliest evidence of photosynthetic life on Earth. According to the photographer, the amazingly bright reds in this photo are the true color of the rock.
04gareloi-volcano
Gareloi Volcano --------------- __Photographer:__ [Game McGimsey](http://www.avo.alaska.edu), Alaska Volcano Observatory, U.S. Geological Survey __Location:__ Aleutian Islands, Alaska __Date:__ September 25, 2003 This steep-sided, 5,000 foot-high stratovolcano is [one of the most active volcanoes](http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2008/5159/) in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. Dark lava flows from a 1980s eruption drape the flank of the southern summit crater of the volcano. The breach and partial edifice collapse of the crater probably occurred during an eruption in 1929. The hydrothermally altered back wall of the crater hosts a 1,000-foot-wide, sulfur-encrusted fumarole field that constantly emits steam plumes.
05union-glacier
Wind Scoop ---------- __Photographer:__ [Lucas K. Zoet](http://www.personal.psu.edu/lkz105/lzoet/Home.html), Pennsylvania State University __Location:__ Union Glacier, Ellsworth Mountain Range, West Antarctica __Date:__ February 2011 The metamorphosed sedimentary rock outcrop (on the right side of the photo) in the middle of Union Glacier forces the wind to whip around it, shaping the ice into what is known as a wind scoop. "I was at this location as part of the [PoleNet](http://www.polenet.org/) field team which deploys passive seismometers and GPS stations across Antarctica in order to study crustal structure and uplift associated with glacial rebound," said geologist Lucas Zoet, who took the photo.
06black-canyon
Black Canyon of the Gunnison ---------------------------- __Photographer:__ Ross Maguire __Location:__ Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado __Date:__ Summer 2010 This steep-sided canyon was carved over 15 million years by the Gunnison River. The walls are made of 1.7-billion-year-old metamorphic rocks known as gneiss and schist. The lighter streaks are igneous dikes made of pegmatite. The photographer shot this panorama while attending the University of Michigan's summer geology field camp.
© Ian G. Stimpson 201007garnet-schist
Garnet Schist ------------- __Photographer:__ Ian Stimpson __Location:__ North of Pointe St. Mathieu, Brittany, France __Date:__ December 7, 2010 This photo looks like it was taken under a microscope, but it is actually a macro shot of a cut surface of a garnet schist from France's Conquet Schists. It was taken as part of photographer Ian Stimpson's project to [photograph a rock every day of 2010](http://www.flickr.com/photos/hypocentre/sets/72157623015445677/?page=5).
08monzogranite
Monzogranite ------------ __Photographer:__ [Doren Garcia](http://www.alogical.com/museumofdoren.html ) __Location:__ Joshua Tree National Park __Date:__ November 2008 The rounded rock formations in this photo are [plutonic intrusions made of monzogranite](http://www.nps.gov/jotr/naturescience/geologicformations.htm) that are eroding into sand before our eyes. The outcrop is located just south of the Jumbo Rocks campground in Joshua Tree National Park. "The moon was rising just after sunset during the 'pink light' time," said photographer Doren Garcia.
09dried-mud
Dried Mud --------- __Photographer:__ [Wendy Littman](http://www.flickr.com/photos/wendyandjustin/sets/72157622474667261/ ) __Location:__ Buckskin Gulch, southern Utah __Date:__ September 27, 2009 These curling patches of dried mud were found in Buckskin Gulch. It is the longest and deepest slot canyon in the southwestern United States: more than 13 miles long and generally less than 10 feet wide, "We were in the area for a kayaking trip on Lake Powell, and since there was no danger of a rainstorm, we decided to hike Buckskin Gulch while we were there," said photographer Wendy Littman. "We encountered awe-inspiring sandstone walls towering hundreds of feet above us, petroglyphs, wildflowers and, owing to frequent and dangerous flash flooding, a tremendous amount of mud!"
10iceland-waterfall
Goðafoss Waterfall ------------------ __Photographer:__ [Samer Farha](http://flickr.com/photos/samer) ([@samerfarha](http://twitter.com/#!/samerfarha)) __Location:__ Iceland __Date:__ September 14, 2008 Goðafoss is fantastic waterfall near beautiful lake Mývatn in the northern part of geologically active Iceland. It sits on the river Skjálfandafljót, which starts at the glacier Vatnajökull in the highlands and makes its way up to the Greenland Sea, just inside the Arctic Circle. The name of the falls means "waterfall of the gods" and comes from Iceland's conversion to Christianity around the year 1000, when the Icelandic Lawspeaker threw his idols of the pagan gods into the falls. "After many visits to Iceland, mostly centered around Reykjavik, I decided to hop a flight to Akureyri and tour the Mývatn region," said photographer Samer Farha. "And I was even more impressed with the scenery there than anywhere else I've been in the world."
11biotite-blades
Biotite Blades -------------- __Photographer:__ [Cianna Whyshnytzky](https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/departments/geology), Amherst College __Location:__ Puzzle Mountain, Maine This photo was taken of an extremely thin section of metamorphic rock through a microscope with the help of cross-polarized light. The blade-like crystals in the center of the image are mostly biotite. A final project for an undergraduate petrology course is what inspired this photographer. Her professor set his students to helping him study the puzzling Puzzle Mountain. "I never thought sitting at a microscope looking at thin sections of rocks for multiple hours would be interesting, especially during the first week of May when it seemed like everyone not in the lab was outside enjoying the sun and warm weather," said photographer Cianna Whyshnytzky. "Thin sections like this made the lab, and burning eyes, a little more tolerable. The largest part of this picture is the group of speckled, brightly colored biotite blades."
