Mokkatam FormationUntil looking at this picture I never realized how well expressed the geologic lay
Mokkatam FormationUntil looking at this picture I never realized how well expressed the geologic layering is in the Sphinx statue on the Giza Plateau in Egypt. Not only is the Sphinx heavily bedded, but the layering even helps define why some parts of the sculpture have eroded more heavily than others. Looking at the back of the head you may think you see cross bedding, but I’m pretty sure that’s a remnant either from wind erosion or from the original carving.The Sphinx is carved from the Mokkatam Formation, an Eocene-aged rock made of limestone. The rocks were deposited on the edge of the Tethys Ocean at a time when the world was warmer and there were no ice caps. The area that is today Egypt was a shallow, tropical sea, leading to the formation of carbonate rocks. As the seas retreated, the carbonate muds and sands were exposed to erosion and reworked into the beds that mark the side today.-JBBImage credit: EGU Open Accesshttp://imaggeo.egu.eu/view/1706/Read more:http://www.aeraweb.org/sphinx-project/geology-of-the-sphinx/ -- source link
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