why would my camera do this?!

Would anyone have a clue as to why my camera would do this?!

My first suspicion is a bad memory card, data dropped while writing.

That was gonna be such a clever picture, too, wasn't it?

Thank you.
The card that was in there is brand new though :(
And it was only that one image that had done it!
But if you do suspect it to be the card then I am happier than if it were my camera at fault!

I decided on a slightly different location for the can though. Not sure about the fountain splashes on the water though. Maybe I'll go back one day and re-shoot :)

I suspect a shift in the magnetic field

I do not think it is anything to do with the camera, but shoot a few shots together with he same card in and then do the same with another card. In other words try to duplicate what happened. If you can't, or it only happens on the new card, your camera is fine...Love your shot by the way..

I had that on a whole card where my wife had switched off the camera while it was still writing to the card.
It was only a P&S and the camera seemed not to get it right maintaining the power and finishing the write before really switching off.
With a DSLR it's far more likely to be the memory card.
You said it's a new one, there are fakes out there on the internet which look like good branded manufacturers (Lexar SanDisk etc) but are cheap knock-offs.
Did you buy the card form somewhere reputable?

Thank you so much everyone. That's put my mind at rest.
I should have realised that it wasn't the camera because the RAW file is fine. It was the jpeg version that ended up like a jigsaw ... wierd!
Hubby bought the cards from Amazon I believe.

Ah, I think there is a difference between a.n.other shop on Amazon, and buying from Amazon themselves.
I usually go to MyMemory.com for all my computer memory cards, and SD or CF cards for photography.