Lower Sixth former, Harry Curtis (G) has been awarded second place in the Geographical Association’s National Physical Geography photography competition (14-18 category) for his entry ‘Splitting image’ taken at Robin Hood’s Bay, North Yorkshire.
The judges said that Harry’s entry, ‘reminded us of the intricate relationship between geology and physical geography, and the different forms of Earth’s sculpture through time’.
Harry took the photo after finding a sizeable ammonite whilst walking along the beach. A storm the previous night had eroded the cliff face, causing rocks containing fossils to surface onto the face and fall onto the scree debris below. He recognized the ammonite by the jet black rock-like substance which makes up the fossil, caused by the process of permineralisation.
Over millions of years, the shell of the ammonite would have gradually decomposed under layers of silt and sand, and the cavities left by the shell would be gradually replaced by minerals from the sea causing a rock like impression to form in its absence. When Harry split open the rock, he revealed 200 million years of geographical processes.
Harry’s prize was a Páramo jacket, and he will also be invited to attend the Geographical Association Awards Ceremony in April 2016, which is part of the Geographical Association Annual Conference to be held at the University of Manchester.