Image: 'Lot's Wife' sea-stack, Marsden Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1637633

Description: 'Lot's Wife' sea-stack, Marsden Bay. Lot's wife is a figure from the Biblical book of Genesis known for being punished by being turned into a pillar of salt Lot's wife A geological formation on Mount Sodom in Israel overlooking the Dead Sea is called 'Lot's Wife', because of the shape and location of the feature. Interestingly, but probably unknown to those who named the Marsden Bay stack shown here, salts of halite and anhydrite also played an important part in the geology of the rocks along the north-east coast. Large amounts of salts were deposited in the shallow tropical Zechstein Sea that extended from the Pennines over to Germany and Poland in Europe during the Permian period. Subsequent dissolution of these salts caused collapse (brecciation) of the overlying Magnesian Limestone rock layers that predominantly make up the cliffs today, providing much of their distinctive appearance and properties. In some locations, between South Shields and Seaham, all that is left of these once several-metre thick layers, are thin residues. A fourth chalk prominence off the western coast of the Isle of Wight, from which The Needles take their name1436936, was also called 'Lot's Wife'. It collapsed in 1764. There is another, similarly named coastal feature in Dumfries & Galloway 784085 and undoubtedly others.
Title: 'Lot's Wife' sea-stack, Marsden Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1637633
Credit: From geograph.org.uk
Author: Andrew Curtis
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
License: CC BY-SA 2.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Attribution Required?: Yes