Grain of Sand
by Ralf Rohner
Title
Grain of Sand
Artist
Ralf Rohner
Medium
Photograph
Description
"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour." - William Blake
These stunning structures resemble the ruins of an ancient city, but the alien looking 'skyscrapers' are natural sand castles, rising 3-4 ft high.
Similar in appearance to the more famous calcium carbonate tufa towers along Mono Lake's shoreline, these sand tufas formed quite differently. Beneath the surface of the ancient lake, calcium-rich groundwater rose up through brine-saturated sand layers, forming cemented pillars of sand. Later, the lake waters receded, leaving this area high and dry some distance back from the water's edge. Then wind eroded away the sand layers, exposing fluted sand tufas. These delicate formations are being continually weathered completely away, and new ones are exposed.
The image shows the Milky Way arching over the Sand Tufas. Some dissipating clouds along the horizon are a reminiscence of less tranquil conditions with strong tunderstorms in the afternoon. Strong airglow is bathing the lower sky in green, yellow and some reds, which are seemingly echoed by the Hydrogen-alpha emission nebulae dotting the Milky Way band.
Uploaded
August 31st, 2022
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