The Erratics

[Manfred M]

An erratic in geology is a rock that is not local to the area. In this case, these erratics were transported to Käsmu Bay in Lahemaa National Park in Estonia, from Sweden; some 500+ km / 300+ miles away during the last Ice Age, courtesy of the glaciers that covered this part of the world.

Some can be found in rock fields on land and others. like these, were nicely dropped into what is now part of the Gulf of Finland.




Laheaa National Park was established in 1971 and was the first National Park in the former Soviet Union. It is now the largest National Park in Estonia.

[billtils]

I like this image a lot Manfred. And the narrative - which may or may not have coloured my appreciation of the photograph (if it did, it was at a subconscious level).

[Shadowman]

Nicely composed.

[NorthernFocus]

Interesting shot and back story. IMO this one begs for a pano format. When you get home to your editing computer it also looks like there's more detail that could be pulled from the clouds.

Direct evidence of climate change.

[FootLoose]

Agree with Dan about the pano.

[JohnRostron]

Direct evidence of climate change.

Yes, since end of the last Ice Age, but I don't see here any evidence of more recent climate change.

John

[Donald]

Yes, since end of the last Ice Age, but I don't see here any evidence of more recent climate change.

Let's not get political, but you have to be joking!

[Saorsa]

Let's not get political, but you have to be joking!

If you are going to talk about climate and ice ages you need to look further back than the last 50 years.

[mugge]

Manfred, I (also) like the narrative. I think this picture would look great in monochrome. That is only my opinion.
Cheers Ole

[Manfred M]

Manfred, I (also) like the narrative. I think this picture would look great in monochrome. That is only my opinion.
Cheers Ole

I was vacillating between B&W and colour while I was taking this shot, and is one of the rare times I could not decide.

When I got back to my hotel and was playing with both genres and the crop, it was still very close.

The reason I decided to stick with colour is that I found that layers of colours on the rocks was a significant element of what made me want to photograph them in the first place, and that would be lost in the conversion. Not everyone will agree.

Here is one of my B&W versions of this shot.

[JohnRostron]

Let's not get political, but you have to be joking!

I was trying not to be political. Neither was I joking. These erratics would have been deposited as the glaciers melted at the end of the last ice age several thousand years ago. All any recent global warming might have done is to raise the water level to what is seen in the picture. Since we are not actually told about the previous water levels in relation to these erratics, you cannot present this picture as evidence of global warming (or any other climate change).

My point is that you do not present evidence that a scientist would accept. What a politician would accept is another matter.

John

[Donald]

Ah. I see what you mean. My apologises.

[JohnRostron]

Ah. I see what you mean. My apologises.

That's fine Donald.

John

[Manfred M]

I was trying not to be political. Neither was I joking. These erratics would have been deposited as the glaciers melted at the end of the last ice age several thousand years ago. All any recent global warming might have done is to raise the water level to what is seen in the picture. Since we are not actually told about the previous water levels in relation to these erratics, you cannot present this picture as evidence of global warming (or any other climate change).

My point is that you do no present evidence that a scientist would accept. What a politician would accept is another matter.

John

I don't know what the glaciation worked like in this part of the world, but I expect it is similar to where I live, which was definitely covered in ice that was up to 3 km / 2 miles thick. This, in addition to gouging out the Great Lakes and tens of thousands of other lakes, depressed the land due to its shear weight. Chances are that the boulders I photographed here were underwater and have slowly risen to be near the surface as the ground rebounded. The nearby boulder fields were likely under water too and just happen to be in areas that are now a bit higher than sea level. I definitely remember visiting places like this during my first year Geology 101 course. Looking at geological maps of the same period of Europe suggest the maximum extent of the glaciers during the ice ages extended well south of Northern Estonia.

I did not see any other specific signs of glaciation here; striations on rocks, moraines, eskers or drumlins.

With respect to climate data, I have absolutely no expertise here and leave it the the scientists that study this type of data. The phenomena of rocks in the water is easy to explain using basic first year university geology knowledge.

[LePetomane]

Manfred, nicely done. A long exposure of the scene with a neutral density filter would be interesting as well.

[Manfred M]

Manfred, nicely done. A long exposure of the scene with a neutral density filter would be interesting as well.

I had them ( 5 and 10 stop) with me, but was just coming down with a cold that day and did not feel like dragging my tripod and other gear on the hiking trail to this spot. I actually like the small ripples on smooth water effect.

[LePetomane]

Manfred, thanks. Tripods are a pain to drag around.