- Following 430
- Followers 19.9K
- Engagement 2.16%
- Avg likes 337
- Avg comments 2
About Sam Hughes
Sam Hughes (@cornwallgeologist) is an Education creator on Instagram, also filed under Education & Career. The account has 19,872 followers and 1,527 published posts. Recent posts average 337 likes and 2 comments, an engagement rate of 2.16%.
With 19.9K followers, Sam Hughes is a micro creator by the common 10,000 to 100,000 definition. Set against 430 accounts followed, the audience works out to about 46 followers per account Sam Hughes follows. Sam Hughes uses an Instagram professional account. Flinque files Sam Hughes under Education, with Education & Career as a secondary category.
The Instagram bio for Sam Hughes runs to 14 words across 3 lines. The bio tags #cornwallgeology and #geologist. The latest activity Flinque has on record for Sam Hughes dates from January 2025.
Story Highlights
Unlocking shows the title and cover image of every story highlight this creator keeps pinned to the profile.
1,527 Posts
Of the 10 most recent posts shown for Sam Hughes, 6 are single images, 3 are carousels and 1 is a video. That mix leans toward single images. Sam Hughes has built a substantial archive of 1,527 posts. Against the audience, that is roughly 13 followers for each post published. Sam Hughes also keeps 8 story highlights on the profile. All 10 carry captions, averaging 203 words each. The captions are written mainly in English. Words that recur across them include cornwall, these, geology, geologist and rocks. The captions tag #cornwall, #geology, #geologyrocks, #geologist and #structuralgeology.
The Mylor Slate Formation that crops out here underwent low-grade regional metamorphism and was deformed during the Variscan Orogeny in the Carboniferous.
It was subsequently contact metamorphosed (hornfelsed) during emplacement of the adjacent Land’s End Granite in the Permian.
Some of the mafic rocks in the formation contained calcium-bearing minerals, and were locally metasomatised by hydrothermal fluids given off by the granite.
The resultant rock is called a skarn, and this complex metamorphic history has created a diverse range of lithologies and mineral assemblages across the area.
Some of these skarns are locally mineralised and have historically been worked (e.g. Grylls Bunny, Botallack).
At Botallack there appears to be two phases of hydrothermal mineralisation which led to the formation of “tin floors” containing economic levels of cassiterite:
1. Metasomatism of mafic intrusive sills and extrusive volcanics produced stratiform horizons of skarns with a variety of minerals including garnet, magnetite, epidote, axinite, tourmaline and pyroxene. This created a structural / chemical trap.
2. Directly below these are “tin floors. Later fluids get trapped below the skarns, resulting in replacement ore bodies that consist of tourmaline, quartz +/- cassiterite.
The presence of tin in some of the minerals can be as cassiterite (SnO2). However, it can also occur in other minerals such as epidote, and malayaite – a calcium tin silicate mineral (CaSnO[SiO4]), part of the titanite mineral group.
This impacts the economic viability of a tin deposit, due to it being more challenging to process the metal from the mineral.
Wanna find rocks like these and others whilst learning all about them? Then why not book yourself on to the Tin Coast Geowalk coming up this Sunday! Booking link in bio.
#metamorphic #botallack #cornwall #geology #geologist
This slightly illusional view of the Bude Formation is at Northcott Mouth. Weathering of the rock surface has eroded down through multiple sedimentary layers of mudstone and sandstone to give this beautiful contour effect.
#cornwall #geology #geologyrocks #geolife #geologist
The sea, sand and granite cliffs amplifying my favourite colours. Absolute heaven. It’s why I chose it as the cover photo for the Cornwall Geologist website.
The granites here make up the southern lobe of the Land’s End Granite, the youngest pluton that makes up the Cornubian Batholith in SW England.
Just around the corner from here at Lamorna the granites have yielded an age of 275 million years old.
This is a classic Land’s End Granite type - coarse-grained, porphyritic, and its predominant accessory mineral is biotite.
There are lots of amazing little details to be found within these granites when you get your close as well. Things like phenocrysts, enclaves, orbicules, and hydrothermal veins all help elucidate the complex and protracted magmatic history of these rocks.
#porthcurno #cornwall #geology #geologyrocks #geologist
The geological recipe for these rocks in North Cornwall includes some Paleozoic mudstone with some added Variscan heat and pressure, producing a delicious plate of slate!
While not as famous as our Celtic neighbours in Wales, Cornwall does produce good quality slate for building and decoration in places.
Slate is a metamorphic rock. It is fine-grained; you seldom see minerals with a hand lens and if you do they are usually very fine white flecks of mica.
Another defining characteristic is a strong metamorphic layering called a foliation or slaty cleavage (giggle). This allows slate to split easily to create thin slithers of rock.
The protolith of slate is a clay-rich mudstone. Clay minerals are shaped like microscopic plates. As the rock is buried, perhaps caught between colliding tectonic plates, it experiences temperatures and pressures of a few hundred °C and a few kilobars.
This causes low-grade regional metamorphism, creating new minerals from the clay like mica, chlorite, and illite. All still platy-shaped.
As the rock is squeezed those platy minerals get aligned into parallelism, oriented perpendicular to the direction of shortening. This microscopic alignment gives slate that characteristic foliation.
After the rocks are relieved of pressure they can expand. The foliation now acts as a plane of weakness along which fractures form.
As well as a handy building material, studying slate tells us a lot about how they form.
This slate in the Carboniferous Crackington Formation formed from muds deposited on an ocean floor. They were quickly buried and deformed by Variscan continental collision resulting in these beautiful slates.
#structuralgeology #tectonics #cornwall #geology #geologyrocks
The sedimentary sequences formed from underwater avalanches on submarine continental slopes, during convergence-related sedimentation in the Gramscatho Basin around 370 million years ago.
As two tectonic plates collided with the onset of the Variscan Orogeny, sediment that eroded from the overriding plate to the south washed down in to the closing ocean.
These sediments were eventually buried to around 10-12 km deep and squished together between these colliding plates. Here they were highly deformed and faulted, leading to some very impressive structural geology.
Whilst the complexity of these structures suggests they have undergone extreme temperatures and pressures, they actually haven’t. They didn’t even make greenschist facies metamorphism, up to around 300°C and 3 kbar of pressure.
However, these conditions and the rheological properties of the rock types were just enough so that when they got caught up between two tectonic plates these beautiful and complex structures formed.
#structuralgeology #tectonics #cornwall #geology #geologyrocks
The Bude Formation in north Cornwall is full of incredible sedimentary structures. These were found in a fallen block in the beach at Northcott Mouth.
Flame structures form when a denser sediment gets deposited on less dense unconsolidated sediment.
In this case, the overlying coarse sand pushed down in to the underlying less dense mud creating load casts.
In between the load casts pushing down, fingers of mud inject up into the sand above creating flame-shaped structures.
In some cases the overlying unconsolidated mixture of sediment and fluid may creep downslope and deform the flames, hence preserving the direction of flow at the time of deposition.
All important information in understanding the environment in which these sediments were deposited.
The Bude Formation is part of the Culm Basin. This sedimentary basin initially formed during the Late Devonian and Early Carboniferous as a full graben trending E-W.
With the onset of Variscan convergence in the Carboniferous the basin began to close up causing the depth of the sea to decrease.
Sediment sourced from the north infilled the shallowing basin, transitioning from a deeper marine setting (the Crackington Formation below) to shallow marine and deltaic environments that we see here.
These structures are indicative of a shallow marine setting. There are also examples of fossil wood and localised coal in the area (hence the Culm Basin, culm meaning coal) which is indicative of deltaic deposits.
These structures are also a great indication of which way up a unit is, which is critical when trying to reconstruct any large-scale structures in an area. This is very necessary in the rocks in north Cornwall, that underwent extensive deformation during the Variscan Orogeny.
#sedimentary #cornwall #geology #geologyrocks #geologist
A series of large-scale upright anticline and syncline folds are exposed in the foreshore here, elucidating impressive deformation of these Carboniferous during the Variscan Orogeny.
The fact the trace of bedding appears to create these massive zigzag shapes in the horizontal foreshore platform tells us the fold hinges are plunging.
Because the fold limbs of the anticlines converge and the syncline fold limbs diverge in a westerly (seaward) direction these folds are plunging towards the west.
You can also make out different fold hinge geometries as well meaning there must be different strain rates and rheological contrasts in the rocks as well.
I feel a geology doodle coming on for this place. Keep an eye out for more posts on this amazing location!
#cornwall #geology #structuralgeology #geologist #geologyrocks
Geology is an incredibly important subject in our modern world. Careers in Earth science offer diverse and exciting opportunities for people that are variously associated with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
It is imperative these subjects are entwined within learning from an early age, not just to promote these opportunities but to educate and inspire young people about our planet and its future challenges. It is also a lot of fun!
Cornwall Geologist specialises in delivering education and learning in geology and Earth science. The aim is to work with teachers and schools to develop and enhance curriculums that include Earth sciences.
Organised educational activities including classroom-based workshops and field trips catering for all educational levels.
Topics include the rock cycle, natural hazards, physical geography, environmental science, climate change, and Cornish mining and history. I can also provide careers talks. Learning outcomes and activities can be modified to specific requirements and all include enquiry-based learning activities.
The principal theme is Cornwall’s geology and how it has influenced the landscape, history, and heritage of Cornwall (including Cornish mining). However, I can also cover other areas of Earth science, geography, history, and the environment.
I have an enhanced DBS check and am fully insured to provide classroom- and field-based sessions. Educational visits and field trips can take place at different locations around Cornwall. Services are also available to visiting educational groups.
If you have any queries, please email for more information.
#geowalks #geotalks #learninggeology #geotours #education
Talks and workshops hosted by Cornwall Geologist allow you to learn more about the Earth beneath our feet, as well as ample opportunities to ask lots of questions and network with like-minded enthusiasts!
They can be based around a range of topics. The principal theme is Cornwall’s geology and how it has influenced the landscape, history, and heritage of Cornwall, but can also include other areas of Earth science, history, and the environment.
Talks and workshops take place regularly at different locations around Cornwall. These events are advertised at along with booking information.
Private or personalised sessions can also be designed, depending on individual group requirements.
I am currently building lots of exciting talks and workshops! As I am just starting out and wanting to ensure they are the best ever, there are none available to book on to at this current time.
As soon as they are ready, I will get them posted on Keep an eye out the website and on the social media channels for when they become available!
If you have any queries, please email for more information.
#geowalks #geotalks #learninggeology #geotours #education
Cornwall Geologist provides guided walks around some of Cornwall’s most beautiful and fascinating places to promote and educate about Cornwall’s natural history.
Enjoy a wander around the Cornish coast and countryside whilst exploring it in a way you have never done before! Learn how to read the rocks beneath our feet to tell the story of our geological history, and discover how it has shaped the landscape around us and defined Cornwall’s unique culture.
Guided walks take place regularly at different locations around Cornwall. These events are advertised on the website at along with booking information.
Private or personalised guided walks can also be designed, depending on individual group requirements. If you are interested in booking a walk for a private group (minimum of 4), please email for more information.
I am currently building lots of exciting guided walks! As I am just starting out and wanting to ensure they are the best ever, there are none available to book at this current time.
As soon as they are ready, I will get them posted on Keep an eye out on the website and on the social media channels for when they become available!
If you have any queries, please email for more information.
#geowalks #geotalks #learninggeology #geotours #education
Sam Hughes's engagement
Sam Hughes's engagement rate on Instagram is 2.16%, between 1% and 3%, or 1 to 3 likes and comments per 100 followers. On a typical post that comes to about 1 like or comment for every 46 followers. Likes outnumber comments by roughly 169 to 1, with 337 likes and 2 comments on an average post, so most reactions are taps rather than replies.
Engagement rate
2.16%
- Avg likes
- 337
- Avg comments
- 2
- Interactions : followers
- 1 : 46
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Frequently asked questions
These answers about Sam Hughes are generated from the Instagram profile data Flinque holds for the account.
Who is Sam Hughes?
Sam Hughes (@cornwallgeologist) is an Education creator on Instagram, also filed under Education & Career. Sam Hughes uses an Instagram professional account. The Instagram bio for Sam Hughes runs to 14 words across 3 lines.
How many followers does Sam Hughes have?
Sam Hughes has 19,872 followers on Instagram (19.9K). Set against 430 accounts followed, the audience works out to about 46 followers per account Sam Hughes follows. Sam Hughes has built a substantial archive of 1,527 posts.
What is Sam Hughes's engagement rate?
Sam Hughes's engagement rate on Instagram is 2.16%, between 1% and 3%, or 1 to 3 likes and comments per 100 followers. On a typical post that comes to about 1 like or comment for every 46 followers. Likes outnumber comments by roughly 169 to 1, with 337 likes and 2 comments on an average post, so most reactions are taps rather than replies.
What does Sam Hughes post about on Instagram?
Flinque files Sam Hughes under Education, with Education & Career as a secondary category. Of the 10 most recent posts shown for Sam Hughes, 6 are single images, 3 are carousels and 1 is a video. The 10 recent Instagram captions Flinque holds for Sam Hughes repeatedly use the words cornwall, these, geology, geologist and rocks. Sam Hughes's captions carry hashtags such as #cornwall, #geology and #geologyrocks. Sam Hughes writes those captions mainly in English. The bio tags #cornwallgeology and #geologist. Sam Hughes keeps 8 story highlights, which open with a free Flinque account.
How do I contact Sam Hughes for a collaboration?
Sam Hughes's contact details are not published on Flinque's public profile. The Instagram bio links to 3 external sites, and a free Flinque account opens those links. Brands with a free Flinque account can shortlist Sam Hughes and use Flinque's outreach tools wherever a contact route is on file.
Links
Sam Hughes's own Instagram profile is the one outbound link Flinque publishes for the account, and the 3 bio links open after signing up.
Public profile data sourced from Instagram. Flinque is not affiliated with Sam Hughes.