Sand in the face

Redend Defaced
A short paddle out to Old Harry took us past Redend Point on Studland at the weekend. Here the coloured sands, in the Redend Sandstone of the Eocene Poole Formation, are well-exposed (in more ways than one).

For the technical bit .... "Iron oxides have been reprecipitated in the sandstone at various horizons in an irregular manner that does not correspond to the bedding There is liesiegang banding that has probably originated when pyrite was oxidised and iron-bearing solutions moved out from the pyrite source. The colour yellow or brown is typical of limonite or goethite, but in patches the bands are represented by a red iron oxide like hematite"

But all that doesn't stop some idiots leaving their mark