Last summer I was down at Seafield Castle beach, just to the south of Kirkcaldy, doing a bit of ‘geologising’, ie looking at the various beds of rock to work out the sedimentary sequences. When I started, it was a beautiful summers day, but little known to me, as I was busy peering at sandstones, mudstones and limestones, a storm was approaching. It was only when the exposure time on my camera suddenly started to increase, that I looked up and saw this amazing view.
Storm Approaching – Seafield Castle Beach
About 2 minutes later, after a desperate scramble across the rocks, the view had changed to this
Storm at Seafield Castle Beach
I didn’t dare stop again to take any more photos, and just made it back to the coast path to hide under a low bush in a desperate attempt to keep my camera dry, before the heavens opened. Thankfully, the heavy rain only lasted for about ten minutes and the camera was fine – the sedimentological notes however, didn’t fair so well 😦
Fife Photos & Art 
Very dramatic sky! Love the colours. I have heard that the coast around there is good for geology – fossils as well, perhaps?
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Aye Jo, there’s lots of fossils in the limestones, mainly crinoid stems, brachiopods, bivalves and the occasional coral. The sedimentary rocks in general are very interesting, a good mix of deltaics and shallow marine environments represented. My apologies for boring you with the geology, I could go on for hours! 🙂
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Never boring! I used to visit Wenlock Edge in Shropshire when I was a kid, and still have some fossilised crinoids (at least I think that’s what they are!)
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Wenlock, a beautiful part of the UK. Your crinoids are approx 130 million years older than the ones I was looking at 🙂 (Yours are approx 425 million years old – Silurian in age)
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Wow! One of them (quite a biggish one, about 5″ across) has moved with us several times and is in the front garden. This whole geological time scale boggles my mind!
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The geological time scale is mind boggling – the rocks here in Fife are quite recent or young, in comparison to many of the rocks in Scotland. The Lewisian Gneiss’s of the NW Highlands are approx 3,000 million years old. Considering the age of the earth is about 4,500 million years old, those rocks are pretty ancient! Going back to your crinoid, that’s quite impressive!!
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Lovely photos. I think you’re unusually attentive to the weather, for a geologist. I had to traipse around in the rain on geology field trips as a student, with the leaders apparently oblivious to the soaking wet conditions. I was even expected to wade through a river in the rain on one occasion, looking for graptolites. Such is the dedication to the cause.
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Thanks Lorna 🙂 And I’m impressed by your dedication as a student. Did you manage to find any graptolites? And what course were you studying? BTW, I was only worrying about my camera getting wet, I’m well used to getting soaked whilst out walking or studying the geology of places 🙂
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I thought it was too good to be true, a geologist who didn’t like getting wet. 🙂 Don’t be impressed by my dedication, if I’d had my way I would have found a cosy tearoom to sit in rather than slogging up soggy hills in the rain. I did find graptolites, so at least it wasn’t a wasted excursion. I was studying ecology, which included a geology course in 1st year and palaeontology in 2nd year.
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I can’t believe you would prefer a cosy tearoom Lorna, over being freezing cold, soaking wet and miles from anywhere!! Ecology, now that’s an interesting subject 🙂
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It takes all sorts to make a world. 🙂
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Great clouds & colors!
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Thank you Denise. It was definitely a case of being in the right place at the right time 🙂
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Beautiful picture and scenery
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I am enjoying your blog immensely! An insightful meeting of art and science in truly one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Wonderful photo’s that take me there and remind me of childhood holidays to Scotland.
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Thank you Helen, I’m glad I can give you some happy childhood memories. And thank you for your kind comments about the blog 🙂
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