Many of the rocks on the south coast of New South Wales are like this - ancient sedimentary rocks which have been folded over millions of years until the layers are vertical instead of horizontal. This is south head at Moruya Heads.


South Head by RobGeraghty, on Flickr

[RICHARD L.]

The exact geology term is "DIACLASE".


Regards

[MikeNArk]

Well, that's not the typical beach shot. Very interesting geological formations. Very rugged and extraordinary scene, nicely captured. The perfect type of location to show the formation.

[RobG]

The exact geology term is "DIACLASE".

Thanks Richard! Wish I had handy access to a geology text.

Well, that's not the typical beach shot. Very interesting geological formations. Very rugged and extraordinary scene, nicely captured. The perfect type of location to show the formation.

Thank you Mike! There's some really interesting formations on the coast near where I live.

[angkymac]

A beach of sand has a random arrangement. But here each ridge and pocket has a specific source of origination.
Hard to fathom.
Angky.

[RobG]

A beach of sand has a random arrangement. But here each ridge and pocket has a specific source of origination. Hard to fathom.

It makes for interesting perspectives.

In this case, what would normally be horizontal layers of sedimentary rock have been tilted almost ninety degrees in the process of building the east coast of Australia. The east coast was raised hundreds of metres, and then it has worn down over millions of years. In some cases, the rocks have been compressed and folded. The highest peaks on the mainland are currently in what is called the Snowy Mountains, and although they are about 2000 metres high, they are granite. Granite forms a long way underground, so millions of years ago, the range was much higher, with hundreds of metres of rock above the granite which has worn away. Australia is no longer on the "ring of fire" around the Pacific, and the current mountain building activity at the same latitude is in New Zealand.