Tuesday 30 November 2010

An alternate hypothesis for columnar jointing

Anyone who has ever taken a geology class has probably heard the explanation to explain columnar jointing in basaltic rocks—cracks that occur as the molten rock cools quickly due to its sudden emplacement in a much cooler setting than where it first melted. However, a friend of mine browsing the web today found a picture which shows another possibility for the long vertical lines that occur in cliffs of columnar jointed rock:



(The above image was found here.)

2 comments:

Callan Bentley said...

"teach the controversy..."

Philip said...

This picture is actually on display at the Devils Tower Visitors center and is a reference to the native american myth for the creation of the tower and its distinctive jointing