GEOLOGY
A Portrait of Great Britain: Angela Palmer created the ‘geological spine’ of the UK, using 16 rocks sourced from the length and breadth of the country, representing every geological period spanning 3 billion years of our country’s history. The rocks are polished on one side, showing the magnificent ‘underbelly’ of Britain in geological sequence, and left rough on the reverse, as we may encounter them in the landscape. The work is intended as a maquette for a large scale installation in a prominent public location, with each rock over 2m high. The artist is currently seeking a suitable location and sponsor.
The spine begins with a 3 billion-year-old Lewisian Gneiss from NW Scotland, followed by a 2 billion-year-old White Anorthosite, also from NW Scotland, which is the same type of rock found on the Moon and retrieved by Apollo 15 astronauts in 1971. The penultimate rock in the spine is an erratic boulder, deposited in the most recent glacial episode. Through the sequence of rocks, you will be propelled from Britain’s origin near the South Pole – where Scotland and Northern Ireland were separated from England and Wales by the Iapatus Ocean – to our merging as a nation as we slowly drifted northwards, across the Equator, and towards our current northern location.
The final element in the spine symbolises the Anthropocene, the new geological age to be officially declared in the near future, reflecting man’s impact on the planet; it will supersede the current Holocene epoch. To represent the Anthropocene, the artist has created a rock-like structure in mirror polished steel, to reflect the onlooker
The Fine Art Society, London
he Fine Art Society, London
NW Scotland Circa 2500 – 3000 million years old
NW Scotland Circa 2,000 million years old
NW Scotland Circa 1000 million years old About 800 million years ago, oxygen levels reached about 21 percent and began to breathe life into more complex organisms. The red Torridon Sandstone appears to be river and lake deposits and the sediments suggest an arid climate close to the Equator, with a latitude of around 15° North (similar to the latitude today of Sudan and Niger).
Circa 600 million years old Original location: close to the Antarctic Circle
Bethesda, Gwynedd, Wales Circa 520 million years old Originally located: 60° S (just above the Antarctic Circle)
Rothiemay, Moray, NE Scotland Circa 470 million years old Originally located: 10 – 20° S (similar to latitude today of Angola, Zambia, Mozambique).
Aberdeenshire, NE Scotland Circa 425 million years old Originally located: 20 – 30°South (similar to latitude today of Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe).
Herefordshire, England Circa 410 million years old Originally located: between Equator and 10° S (similar to latitude today of Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Burundi).
Derbyshire, England Circa 330 million years ago Original location: the Equator (similar to latitude today of Gabon, DRC, Uganda, Kenya).
West Yorkshire, England Circa 320 million years old Original location: the Equator (similar to latitude today of Gabon, DRC, Uganda, Kenya).
St Breward, Cornwall, England Circa 290 million years old Original location: between 20° N and 30° N (similar to latitude today of Western Sahara, Algeria, Libya, Egypt).
Spynie, Moray, NE Scotland Circa 230 million years old Original location: between 20° N and 30° N (similar to latitude today of Western Sahara, Algeria, Libya, Egypt).
Dorset, England Circa 150 million years old Originally located: 30° N and 40° North (similar to the latitude today of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia).
Dorset, England Circa 140 million years old Originally located: 40° North (similar to the latitude today of Spain, Italy, Greece).
Central Scotland Circa 60 million years old Originally located: 40° N to current latitude of the British Isles, 55° N
Found near Inverness, Scotland Age unknown, deposited during a glacial deposit between 2.6m and 10,500 years ago Original location: unknown.
Mirror polished steel, England, 2015 The work is intended to reflect the Anthropocene, the new geological period soon to officially supersede the current Holocene, to reflect man’s dominance as a geological force on the planet. These include changes in the atmosphere through man-made gases such as ocean acidification, melting glaciers and rising sea levels, and the effects of widespread deforestation and land use changes.