Columnar Basalts are rock formations resulting from the quick cooling of lava flow. Fractures form in a random cellular network (similar to soap bubbles, organic cells, etc.), though the average distribution of sides is six, giving the hexagonal structures an eerie man-made appearance.
ARTICLE [columnar basalt]
ARTICLE [formation patterns explained]
IMAGE [18th century engraving of formations at Fingal's Cave]
ARTICLE [tour of Devil's Postpile in California]
User
The Buzz {6 trackbacks/pingbacks}
The Conversation {35 comments}
wow could that be any more beautiful!!
is that picture of the basalt in the cave with water in scotland? i have a lovely sepia print of that exact place i believe…
chris: Yeah, the cave is at the island of Staffa.
Wow. So many wonders on this tiny spot in the universe, and all by accident! We have nothing and no one to thank for everything. Yes, that’s what I want to believe, so I believe it.
@Shandooga:
That’s the first time I’ve ever heard someone come right out and say “that’s what I want to believe”. People who believe life is an accident don’t usually admit it’s what they want…I appreciate your candor.
Beautiful! Natures cobblestones.
BTW, I think Shandooga was being sarcastic.
Wow, I had no idea that rock could make formations like that. So much great inspiration in this little post. Thanks!
I always hear Led Zeppelin when I see those structures…
Loved the hexagons!
where are the pictures of devils tower USA? thats a big one
LOL @ Shandooga
That’s really awesome.
The cracks are basically the same as dessication cracks in drying mud - cooling lava more or less behaves similarly to drying mud.
Seb: here’s some:
With those hexagons near the ocean, doesn’t anyone else think of V’ger from the first Star Trek movie?
sweet!
Someone wanted to know some details about the cave? It’s called Fingal’s cave, it’s situated in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, on the Isle of Staffa. It’s part of the same lava structure (between northern Ireland and southern Scotland) that also forms the Giants’ Causeway.
The composer Mendhelsonn (I hope that’s how it’s spelt) wrote a piece called ‘Fingals Cave’; 1) He was certainly influenced by the eerie sound effects that the cave and the waves generate when he wrote it, and 2) It’s amazing - listen to it if you can. Thanks for the pics :)
Spanners, all: here’s a performance of Mendelssohn’s Fingal’s Cave, also known as Die Hebriden, op. 26, played by the Akademos Symphonic Orchestra in Ghent, Belgium:
The ones with fir trees are from California’s “Devil’s Postpile” near Mammoth Lakes. http://www.nps.gov/depo/
The “tower” (seen in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”) is “Devil’s Tower” in Wyoming. http://www.nps.gov/deto/
At the Columbia Wildlife Refuge in south central Washington state (USA) there are tons of columnar basalt. They are protected as a national monument - about 10 years ago a farmer near Royal City went in there at night with heavy equipment and removed some of them - he was going to put them inside his house he was building - but he got caught and had to put them back and pay a big fine.
Google Columbia Wildlife Refuge for images.
Cool,
nice to see basalt in nature. These days, most of the Europeaan basalt can be found along the dutch coast. It is good quality dike protection!
To bad mining it is not allowed anymore or became to expensive. There are supposed to be only two places left here, that island and in a nature preserve in the Tsjech Republic.
wow I also like the hexagons spectacular!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i am honored to see such beauty from my desk. THANKYOU.
what if these things were actually made by aliens a very very long long time ago… and maybe the only reason why they look like natural formations is maybe because the were engineered to form that way throughout time…hmmm….
thank you for the new pics and the music
http://www.beinspace.com
If that ain’t intelligent design, I just must not be intelligent.
structure reassure! and it does a pretty good job when it come from nature.
but then i like the idea that “straight lines don’t exist in nature”.
btw your web is a nice place to hang around.
thanks for all the data.
gregory
yellowjester, if i,m not mistaken, that pic is from Eugene, OR.
John Sibley, You are making this way too easy. I hope for your sake that you are beeing sarcastic…
The fact that this is a product of nature and not a “wizard in the sky”, makes this more wonderful than any cheap godly magic trick ever could be
“oh, GOD made it! meh, I’ve seen his tricks before…”
Hey Seb,
That’s the Rock we all went to, to pick up our loved ones when the aliens brought them back in “Close Encounters Of The Third kind!” Remember???
And we had to make it through the poison gas first and all the little birdies had died and we had to learn to play that stupid song on the piano before the aliens would let them out…
(And Shandooga, i love you, that was brilliant - i have to go to church now).
As a geologist I love these formations.
There’s a great example of this in Tasmania, Australia, near Port Arthur. Don’t forget The Giant’s Causeway in Ireland.
just amazing geological formations!
so beautifully photographed. my compliments to the person who did this research and composition.
my compliments to God for making such an awesome type of geologic formation!
I wish I had enough of them to tile my floor with!
I am glad to find out columnar basalt has fans all over the world I grew up in central washington where there is 220 square miles of c basalt the basalt cools underground for thousands of years it is iron, magneseum ,silicate and ovileane [its harder than granite] If interrested google grand rond flow or bretz missoula flood I have been sculpting columnar basalt for 9 years I would like to invite lovers of the stone to see its hidden inner beauty please check out http://www.3000bcstudios.com
It is the first time I drop in your place. The stuff in your blog is mindfully chosen and I will undoubtedly frequently visit you. Keep it up, your stuff is creative and out-of-the-box.
I am a guy in Hong Kong.
Leave Your Own Comment
You can follow any responses to this entry via its RSS comments feed. You can also leave a trackback if the inclination is there.