A TINY REGRET
Never to be seen again.
Some time long ago, while I was driving a deep submersible along the ocean bottom in the Sea of Cortez, I came upon what appeared to be a stone wall. Well past the depth that sunlight penetrates we moved slowly, searching for something to do with biological specimens. It passed down the port side, quietly, out of the dark and into the luminating rays from the thallium-iodide lights. I saw a wall of jet-black pavers briefly but long enough to imprint its image onto my brain. I was the only occupant in the submersible to see it. The others were focused on what was visible through their viewports.
The wall was lying against a slope of mud along the bottom; maybe five or six courses high. Each course may have been less than twelve inches high. Later, whilst reflecting on what I’d observed, I wondered if the wall had was simply a flow of lava that had cooled into fractured pieces and that was what I had seen. Possibly it was not a wall at all but a rapidly cooled flow of obsidian. What I had seen was an ordered pile of identical shiny black stone-like objects that formed a structure that was maybe six feet high and about twenty feet long. My first impression was that it had been placed there by someone; that it could not have materialized by accident or by some natural occurrence.
I wish now that I’d taken a few photos. However, the mission had nothing to do with geological discovery. Still, I have often thought I could have stopped and turned toward the formation to examine it closely. The submersible had a 70 MM camera mounted atop the front of the vessel. It would have been a simple operation to snap a string of black and white photos. The time, however, would not easily be relinquished by the scientist. Each dive cost the scientist’s sponsor twelve thousand dollars. The on-board scientists were extremely reluctant to volunteer side trips.
How many times will I be required to return to earth before I get an opportunity to re-visit that exact place and witness the wall lying in the muck? Never, I’m guessing. Neither do I think anyone else will ever see it. I’ll settle for being an expert regarding that wall.
Gentle George
19 October 2020
Update: It’s been a few years since I wrote this piece. I didn’t feel it was ready for public consumption. It still needs polishing and a little TLC. What I have found out in the interim is that the stone formation that I discovered back in the seventies, when I was piloting the Sea Cliff on dives in the Sea of Cortez, is a natural phenomenon. It’s called “tessellation”. You will need to look it up in a geological site to find out how that all works. When stone is formed and cooled sometimes the process forms patterns at the surface as well as other types of structural beauty.
So I leave this part of the story to you, the reader. When you have a moment to do it, look up “tessellation” or “tessellate” and see all the types that have been discovered by geologists and rock-hounds. Thanks!
G. M. Goodwin
July 10, 2021
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