Serpentine is not the name of a single mineral. Instead it is a name used for a large group of minerals that have transformed other minerals after exposure to great heat and compression. This specimen is from the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, a location at the edge of one of Britain’s greatest igneous intrusions that formed the granite dome of Dartmoor. The most obvious physical properties of serpentine are its green colour, patterned appearance, and slippery feel, hence the name Serpentine.
Alex Hyde is one of Britain’s leading exponents of close-up nature photography. His award-winning images portray a hidden world of extraordinary beauty. “To this day I delight in revealing tiny details of subjects that would be missed by the naked eye. Many of my pictures involve photographing moving subjects smaller than a grain of rice. Nature provides me with an endless array of fascinating subjects.”
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