Cumberland West Bay, South Georgia
After a very rainy and windy early morning, we sailed into Cumberland West Bay for a visit to the magnificent Neumayer Glacier. As we approached the glacial face at the end of the Bay, the sky cleared and we were bathed in dazzling sunlight, demonstrating once again just how changeable the weather in South Georgia can be. We sailed along the Bay past the beautifully folded rocks of the Cumberland Bay Formation, whose members we had seen in other fjords and Bays on the north side of South Georgia in the past two days. These rocks were laid down in a shallow sea, similar to today’s Sea of Japan, as the great super-continent of Gondwanaland was breaking up about 90 million years ago. Sediments from the continent of Gondwanaland were contributed from one side of the sea, while volcanic ash layers were intermittently deposited by eruptions from an offshore arc of islands. All this activity occurred while South Georgia was still located between Tierra del Fuego and the Antarctic Peninsula. As Gondwanaland broke up, and South America separated from Africa and both of them separated from Antarctica, the Drake Passage opened and South Georgia was dragged east about 2000 kilometers to its present position on the northern margin of the Scotia Sea. Today we have rocks which belong to the continents, isolated far to the east by the powerful forces which drive the movements of the Earth’s lithospheric plates. Just to remind us of the power of natural forces, as if we needed such reminder when surrounded by the grandeur of South Georgia’s mountains, a rainbow appeared over the rock face, making sure that no one missed the beauty of the setting.
After a very rainy and windy early morning, we sailed into Cumberland West Bay for a visit to the magnificent Neumayer Glacier. As we approached the glacial face at the end of the Bay, the sky cleared and we were bathed in dazzling sunlight, demonstrating once again just how changeable the weather in South Georgia can be. We sailed along the Bay past the beautifully folded rocks of the Cumberland Bay Formation, whose members we had seen in other fjords and Bays on the north side of South Georgia in the past two days. These rocks were laid down in a shallow sea, similar to today’s Sea of Japan, as the great super-continent of Gondwanaland was breaking up about 90 million years ago. Sediments from the continent of Gondwanaland were contributed from one side of the sea, while volcanic ash layers were intermittently deposited by eruptions from an offshore arc of islands. All this activity occurred while South Georgia was still located between Tierra del Fuego and the Antarctic Peninsula. As Gondwanaland broke up, and South America separated from Africa and both of them separated from Antarctica, the Drake Passage opened and South Georgia was dragged east about 2000 kilometers to its present position on the northern margin of the Scotia Sea. Today we have rocks which belong to the continents, isolated far to the east by the powerful forces which drive the movements of the Earth’s lithospheric plates. Just to remind us of the power of natural forces, as if we needed such reminder when surrounded by the grandeur of South Georgia’s mountains, a rainbow appeared over the rock face, making sure that no one missed the beauty of the setting.