This photo was taken on a recent trip to Cwmorthin. What never ceases to amaze me is the resemblance of these formations to molluscs. The one at the top of the photo looks very much like a scallop shell. Was wondering if there is some process going on which mimics how molluscs build up the mineral layers in their shells, especially the bivalve species. On close inspection, some of the layering in the iron reminds me of similar build up of material in oysters which produce a comparatively primitive type of shell.
Microorganisms could well be implicated, as has been mentioned briefly elsewhere. Remember reading somewhere about the recent discovery of rust metabolising bacteria found living on the Titanic.
Photograph:
🔗Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-62686[linkphoto]Cwmorthin-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-62686[/linkphoto][/link]
'I wonder how many breakfasts, and other meals we have missed inside that nasty clockless, timeless hole?'
'The Hobbit'
J R R Tolkien.