#gogotte formation

[blueiscoool]

A Gogotte Formation Fontainebleau, France

Of natural form, from the Oligocene (circa 30 million years ago), the rippling layers of concretions platting together to form a towering waterfall of sandstone, supported on stand.

235⁄8 x 13 x 61⁄8in. (60 x 33 x 15.6cm.). With stand: 251⁄2in. (64.8cm.) high.

[metabotulism]

[rebel-girl-queen-of-my-world]

Can’t let this gem languish in the tags:

new irrational phobia: naturally-occurring sandstone concretions found in France known as "gogottes"

[bloodmoonlvr]

OC ask game!

3 5 7 & 9 answer any or all of them if you want! :3

sorry for gettin back to you late!! also dw ill do the others too the more the merrier lol

3. What inspired you to make a certain character?

I've been really enjoying a dark fantasy youtube channel (Monstergarden), every time i watch something of theirs i feel inspired. It's what led to Sheloch and the fool, and their comic

i knew i wanted a knight and some sort of deific creature, thus, these two goobers.

5. Do you have any voice claims for your OCs?

i have such specific ideas of what my characters should sound like and always forget to pay attention to that sort of thing when looking at media, so not particularly. the closest ive got atm is not welliums voice but the quality of it. since shes huge and her vocal chords are made of metal, she'd sound something like adam smasher (cyberpunk edgerunners spoilers) with way more bass. that sort of tinny, robotic sound

7. What things in real life make you think of an OC?

i love gogotte formations because they look just like wellium just stonier. i love her to bits but its so unbelievably difficult to visualize a colossal liquid entity made of molten metal, whose every teaspoon is manipulable. the twisty-ness just captures that effect of a viscous liquid creature that isn't putting any effort into appearing as anything in particular.

9. What is one of your character's theme songs?

i have a loose theme for each earthshaker. Wellium's is "the opened way" from sotc, which is great for conveying the sheer weight and terror she possesses. Seleen's is (pretty loosely) "to live immortal, forever and true" from malum, for her more subtle and unsettling effect. Finally videns's is "the pyramids" from death on the nile, as shes sort of at the mid-point between wellium and seleen, more mysterious and awe-inspiring.

[abstracteddistractions]

“ Gogotte,” Fontainebleau, France, (30 Million Years Old)

height: 68.0cm, width: 83.0cm, depth 23.5cm.

Gogottes are extremely rare and intriguing sandstone concretions found in a very small area near Fontainbleau in northern France and discovered over recent centuries as sand was mined to make glass. 

Formed within a rock that was deposited about 30 million years ago, they are the creation of much more recent geological processes whereby water, rich in silica, is filtered through sand, eventually cementing it together into these rare forms.

© Eskenazi 

[butterclaw]

A GOGOTTE FORMATION

FONTAINEBLEAU, FRANCE

[pastedpast]

These photographs of pyrite cube crystals (above) and crystal formations in limestone (below) are sourced from commercial websites, but I was inspired to include them on this blog after a recent trip to the Natural History Museum* in London. They are perfect examples of art occurring in nature; the pyrite structure is reminiscent of cubist works by Picasso or Braques, while the leaf-like patterns in the limestone could be mistaken for oriental style ink paintings.

Pyrite is also known as ‘fool’s gold’, the term dating back to the Californian gold rush of the mid-1800s in reference to the mistaken identification of the mineral as real gold. Nowadays, pyrite is processed for its sulphur content to make sulphuric acid which is widely used in industry. There are many more similarly stunning photographs online - try googling pyrite from Navajún in the La Rioja region of Spain for further examples and information.

There is also an abundance of photographs of limestone either acting as host to other crystals or bearing the imprint of fossils. In terms of its usefulness to the modern world, this type of fine-grained, dense rock is an ideal material for paving and building purposes as it splits easily into slabs. Historically, limestone was used in printing from the 18th century onwards and became known as ‘lithographic stone’. One area of the world which is a particularly well-known as a quarry for this substance is Solnhofen in Bavaria, Germany.

Other noteworthy minerals in the museum included numerous pieces of raw and polished bright pink tourmaline; aragonite (white and coral-like); a large crop of calcite crystals; a mass of shiny, black shards known as stibnite; the bright green, moss-like pyromorphite; and intriguing fragments of what are known as ladies’ slippers, which look like empty, bejewelled knife sheaths (unfortunately, I am unable to find any photographs online which do them justice). Alongside old favourites agate and puddingstone (click for previous blog posts), I also learnt for the first time about Gogottes, which are fetching large sums of money in the art world as pieces of natural sculpture.

Read this blog post to see pyrite occurring in another form.

[romkids]

ROM Reporters: Top 5 Coolest Things in the Rocks & Minerals Gallery.

5: Million Dollar Coin. This Gold coin that weighs one hundred kilograms is made of 99.999% pure gold. This coin is worth over  $1 million dollars in today's market. It was also confirmed by the Guinness world records in 2007 that this was the worlds largest gold coin.

4: The Boulder Opal. Boulder opals are distinguished by a layer of solid brown ironstone on the outside creating the boulder effect.  This illuminating effect is created by the colourful opals on the inside, as shown in the picture.

3: The Quartz Variety Amethyst. Amethysts are usually purple and are from Brazil or Uruguay. They were created when lava poured onto the surface millions of years ago.

2: The Gogotte Sandstone. The stone has 30 million year old sand in it that produce many shapes. The bizarre formation of the stone is what gives it its beauty. Many museums like to collect this, such as the ROM.  

1: The Light of the Desert. You might think this beautiful gem is a " diamond " but really it's called Cerrusite. Cerussite is a lead carbonate mineral. However, when the gem is rotated, rainbows will appear and disappear.

To learn more about our journey discovering the ROM, follow us on our social media accounts below:

Twitter: @romkids

Instagram: @romtoronto​

YouTube: Royal Ontario Museum

And you catch all our blogs right here on Tumblr! Check out stories from the 2015 and 2016 groups HERE!

ROM Reporters is an introductory journalism camp run at the Royal Ontario Museum for teens. ROM Reporters vlogs, blogs, snaps, and tweets their way through their adventures in science and history!

By Phoenix & Catherine of ROM Reporters. Last update: August 27th, 2017.