Joulters Cays

Nailed down the methods for surveying the well field trenches after 2 days of trail and error. Scientific, educated guesses that is and should now be able to continue data collection with efficiency and accuracy.

Today we hired a boat to take us to Joulters Cay, perhaps the youngest rocks I will ever see. Only a 1000 years old, the beach and aeolian ridges form 3 main islands less than 10 miles North of North Andros. With my aim to compare the facies distribution of the Cays with the geology I have already seen on Andros. And KT was there to sample any freshwater ponds.

My initial impression was disappointment to be honest. Coming in from the east side a spit land grew closer as we powered through a mill pond of ocean. The small beach cliffs reared straight up from the coast followed by dense vegetation instantly inland.

Cool morning at Lowe Sound

The Cays

The impressive thing about these rocks is that sediment formation, cementation and dissolution (?) all happens in the smallest time frame possible and provides a fantastic modern analogue for the Geology of most of the Bahamas.

We found large freshwater ponds and even house wells which got KT all excited with beach cliffs and microbial mats to excite Maurice.

We then travelled around the headland to amazing tidal channel and sand flats behind the ridges.

Oh my God, amazing vista:

Just fantastic to look at and to study one of the only places in the world to see carbonate rocks and features being made, also the comparison to the older lithologies on Andros are strikingly simular (may just add a section on this in my report!).

Due to this areas great scientific importance, samples of the sand itself had to be taken along with microbial mats. Overall a once in a lifetime experience, that wont be rivalled for decades to come!

Geology done.

Next dinner! And seeing as we are poor students we were taken off shore to dive for conch. Before this trip I have never had conch but now I love it! Im not sure why, but it tastes great and the it is the local dish (along with land crab) on the island. It is so popular entire islands are made up just of conch shells!

Finally a swim around the reef and too much free diving, too quickly made me ill and had to sit back on the boat...to get sea sick. Everything was OK after we got back under way and up to speed.

Everyone is sun burnt! Torso has never been so red!