Thursday, June 23, 2011

Demoiselles des coiffees

demoiselles des coiffees by makingamark2
demoiselles des coiffees, a photo by makingamark2 on Flickr.

I started a pastel of these very odd but interesting formations in the local ochre yesterday evening.

This was after a day of trying to communicate with Ruth and Julian in England about the impact of a massive thunderstorm in the middle of the night which has left us without internet access or house phone.

Progress is being made and hopefully I won't be posting from the hotel in town for the rest of our stay.

All I can say is thanks goodness for iPads and the kind services of the Relais hotel in Bedoin.

3 comments:

  1. Indeed, this colour combination cries for pastels, doesn't it? I found those colours in Roussillon (Vaucluse), too.

    Greetings,
    Ulrike O:-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ah, yes - those formations are called "hoodoos", and are created by a geological process known as differential erosion - a harder top cap of sandstone or limestone protects the softer layer of underlying rock (which looks like shale or mudstone from your photo) from eroding away as quickly, resulting in tent-shaped rocks like these, mushrooms, balanced rocks or the sculpted spires that you see in Bryce Canyon NP here in the US.

    Hope your internet woes are short-lived.

    ReplyDelete

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