Saturday, August 18, 2018

Ancient Life

 I recently left a comment on a blog post about how it is good to learn new things. I'm sure you all agree with me.
So today I want to show you a very ancient form of life called a thrombolite.
Don't get too excited that you are going to see some large dinosaur like creature. Thrombolites were some of the first forms of life on Earth and were single celled bacteria type of creatures which used photosynthesis to get food. They grew in round mounds, and some of them even fossilized.

I thought the only remaining fossils of them could be found in Western Australia.  But then, when preparing for a trip, I did my research and found out there is one other place on Earth (that we know of) where thrombolite fossils can be found.
Those who stop by regularly probably guessed it was Newfoundland.  For me, with a biology degree and teaching a class of microbiology, it was really exciting to see these. 
I created this page in my travel journal using material from a brochure write up, some tape, some paper scraps and also stamping this windy face image. Once I stamped him directly onto the page and the other time I stamped him on tissue paper and then used matte medium to attach the tissue paper to the page. But here's the biggest thing I find confusing. On my actual page, they both look the same color. I wonder why one of then (the tissue paper one) didn't photograph the same. (And it's the angle of my photo that makes the bottom piece of tape look so crooked. You'll just have to bear with the photo on that one.)
I used the wind image because it was incredibly windy the day we stopped here. Cold too.
Learning new things and then actually seeing these fossils was a blessing to me. (What a geek I am!) So I am linking up this journal page to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's super challenge over at Art Journal Journey.
And although they might not excite you, here's a few more thrombolite photos.



Thanks for visiting. And enjoy your weekend.

19 comments:

froebelsternchen said...

This is AWESOME!
I love your page and I love the photos!


My gosh !How exciting is this???! I have never heard about this. Sounds simply amazing.
Happy weekend and thank you once more for bringing something completely new to my mind and I am happy about this wonderful entry for AJJ! Thank you!
Happy Saturday!
Hugs Susi

Valerie-Jael said...

How wonderful to see and be so near to a living fossil, wow, that is really thrilling. You made a wonderful page to remember them. The pictures may look different because the light reflects differently on various surfaces. Have a great weekend, hugs, Valerie

CJ Kennedy said...

Love the wind stamp on your page. Never heard of thrombolites before. Learn something new every day!

Divers and Sundry said...

Fascinating! I'm glad you saw them while you were there. You got great photos :)

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

The thrombolite are fossils and not living, right? This is an amazing find, Erieka, and it excited me, too. I'm also a geek. These photos are phenomenal and I loved reading the sign, too.

Your journal page was a truly beautiful and memorable tribute to the beauty you saw that day. Including the weather (the windy face) added to the overall feel to the entry. You included not just the site, but how cold it was. To me this is a very emotional entry.

Thanks SO much for being so supportive of my theme this month and sharing yet another journal page with us at Art Journal Journey.

Meggymay said...

An amazing post, full of information. Thank you for sharing your photos and for me this was all new. I have may have seem photos of Living rocks, but have to admit to not knowing anything about them.
It 's a great journal page as well.
Yvonne xx

Jeannette said...

wow,i love your page,its awesome.
thank you for sharing this interesting images,i had never seen this old rocks,its fantastic post today,dear erika.
happy sunday.

hugs jenny

Astrid Maclean said...

Thank you for this biology lesson, - wow! Love your page too and great photos, and yes, I guessed straight away it would have been on your recent trip in Newfoundland :o)

Lisca said...

Wow, how exciting! I didn't know there were thrombolites in Newfoundland. Like you I only believed them to be in Australia.
I have only seen them in photos and you have seen the real thing. Lucky girl!
Are they still growing? Probably not as the earth had a different atmosphere then, much less oxygen, and the chemical environment was totally different if I remember well from my studies.
hugs,
Lisca

Let's Art Journal said...

Wow, what an amazing place! I loved seeing your photos and finding out about the thrombolites, thanks so much for sharing 😁. You created such a wonderful page to remember them too. I hope you are enjoying your weekend and Happy Sunday! J 😊 x

Caty said...

Your Art journal page is wonderful Erika !! Really lovely and very interesting. The wind, his face, blowing over the landscape is beautiful. I am very curious, and I like everything, it attracts me, so this whole world of trombolites is exciting. To think that such tiny beings have been able to survive so many years is simply wonderful. The photos are beautiful, thank you very much for sharing them.
I wish you a very nice afternoon, big hugss, Caty

Barbara said...

Wow, nothing short of AMAZING to see these. Not many of us have that opportunity. Your page images accentuate the life in Thrombolites!

craftytrog said...

I can imagine your excitement at seeing these amazing living rocks Erika! I was very interested to read about them, and to see your wonderful photos and art journal page.
Thanks for sharing,
Alison xxx

David M. Gascoigne, said...

I actually knew what thrombolites are and I knew of their presence in Newfoundland, but Australia becomes interesting since I will leaving for there in about five weeks. Maybe I will get to see them there.

Mia said...

FABULOUS page and images, Erika. Kisses, my friend.

Little Artbee said...

Wonderful photos, thanks for sharing. Nice to read about these funny stones. Your page with the blowing men looks great.
Dear Greetings
Sabine

Jeanie said...

Well, you got me with something new. I never heard of thrombolites either. Living rocks. I like that. Not quite like a pet rock, but pretty cool!

sheila 77 said...

Living rocks! - what a marvellous thing. Maybe one day they will rise up and walk about, hope they are friendly.
Your artwork journal page is tremendous, I love the "Old Wind". As to why he is different colours - cameras and scanners have minds of their own. All of my cameras and scanners have got together and refused to photograph turquoise accurately.

pearshapedcrafting said...

I love your page and can imagine your excitement! Things like this fascinate me too - I had ned er heard of Thrombolites!! Hugs, Chrisx