Wired Geology Photo Contest Winners

[n2doc]

By Brian Romans and Betsy Mason


Geologists routinely find themselves in some of the most remote, beautiful and strange spots on Earth. Recording 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 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
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. "But it was on the way back to Aqaba, so I decided to have a look."
more

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/04/geology-photo-contest

[liberal N proud]

1. Imagine for a moment if you will

You are an alien life form traveling through our solar system, you have made a previous stop on the red planet and found nothing of value, so you moved on.

Looking at this bright blue ball as you approach, then you land. Land here in this remote place. As you disembark your vessel, you step on red sandy soil much the same as the last planet you visited. No apparent life forms easily visible.

What would you?



Truly stunning photography.