Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Liesegang Banding in Southern Illinois

This is my Happy New Year post and to celebrate 2019, I went on a hike at Giant City State Park.  I covered some new terrain thanks to a friend and we came across the most spectacular displays of Liesegang Banding on the sandstone cliffs that I have ever seen. 

Liesegang Banding

Liesegang Banding

Liesegang Banding

Liesegang Banding is a term that describes precipitates forming rings in sedimentary rock and it was named after German Chemist Raphael E. Liesegang in 1896. 

Liesegang Banding

This one looks like a cookie cutter!
In southern Illinois, the rings are formed by iron deposits in the sandstone.  When sand was being deposited in a shallow sea, iron was mixed in and solidified in between layers of sandstone.  The resulting iron bands are less erosive than sandstone so weathering exposes the iron and often in a way that is intricate.  Very interesting formations result and the colors are due to other minerals in the rock. 

Liesegang Banding

Liesegang Banding

Liesegang Banding
There are beautiful displays of Liesegang Banding across southern Illinois, but another location that has very artistic examples of Liesegang Banding is at Garden of the Gods.  I'll save that for another post.  Here is one more from Giant City State Park in Jackson County near Makanda, Illinois.

Liesegang Banding

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8 comments:

  1. KayJanuary 1, 2019 at 2:11 PM

    WOW!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nolan WrightJanuary 1, 2019 at 5:48 PM

    Thanks for sharing these images and information

    ReplyDelete
  3. krisinatorJanuary 1, 2019 at 7:32 PM

    Which part of Giant City Park is this located? I've been to various parts of the park, but never seen this gorgeous example.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Illinois BotanizerJanuary 2, 2019 at 12:12 PM

      This is along the River to River Trail on the west side of the park near Lower Cobden Road.

      Delete
  4. solilobeeJuly 12, 2019 at 10:45 PM

    Hello, love this post! Would it be alright if I used your scrumptious picture of Liesegang Banding as a background for the heading of my poster? I"m working to improve micro-earthquake detection and will be presenting the poster as part of the internship and would love to use this image (with some stitching/editing) to subtly convey the theme of the work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. solilobeeJuly 12, 2019 at 11:05 PM

      I'd give appropriate credit, of course 8)

      Delete
    2. Illinois BotanizerJuly 14, 2019 at 5:34 PM

      Sure that is fine. Please credit Christopher David Benda. Thanks and I hope your poster turns out well.

      Delete
    3. solilobeeJuly 15, 2019 at 7:56 AM

      Will do--cheers!

      Delete

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