Columnar jointing

Columnar jointing in Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland

Columnar jointing is a geological structure where sets of intersecting closely spaced fractures, referred to as joints, result in the formation of a regular array of polygonal prisms, or columns. Columnar jointing occurs in many types of volcanic rocks and forms as the rock cools and contracts. Columnar jointing can occur in cooling lava flows and ashflow tuffs (ignimbrites), as well as in some shallow intrusions.^[1]

The columns can vary from 3 meters to a few centimeters in diameter, and can be as much as 30 meters tall. They are typically parallel and straight, but can also be curved and vary in diameter. Whereas an array of regular and straight columns is called a colonnade, an irregular array is termed an entablature. The number of sides of the individual columns can vary from 3 to 8, with 6 sides being the most common.^[1]

Places

Some famous locations in the United States where columnar jointing can be found are the Devils Tower in Wyoming, the Devils Postpile in California and the Columbia River flood basalts in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Other famous places include the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland and Fingal's Cave on the island of Staffa, Scotland.^[2]

Devils Tower

The Devils Tower in Wyoming in the United States is about 40 million years old and 382 meters high (1,253 feet).^[1] Geologists agree that the rock forming the Devils Tower solidified from an intrusion but it has not been established whether the magma from this intrusion ever reached the surface. Most columns are 6-sided, but 4, 5, and 7-sided ones can also be found.^[3]

Giant's Causeway

The Giant's Causeway (Irish: Clochán An Aifir) on the north Antrim coast of Northern Ireland was created by volcanic activity 60 million years ago, and consists of over 40,000 columns.^[1][4] According to a legend, the giant Finn McCool created the Giant's Causeway, as a causeway to Scotland.^[5]

Deccan Traps

The late Cretaceous Deccan Traps of India constitute one of the largest volcanic provinces of Earth, and examples of columnar jointing can be found in St. Mary's Island in the state of Karnataka.^[6]

See also

• Prism (geology)

References

1. 1 2 3 4 Oregon State University > Volcano World > ... > Columnar Jointing. Accessed 29 December 2013.
2. ↑ southernhebrides.com > Staffa - A Geological Marvel. Accessed 29 December 2013.
3. ↑ U.S. National Park Service > Devils Tower > Geologic Formations. Accessed 29 December 2013.
4. ↑ National Trust > Giant's Causeway. Accessed 29 December 2013.
5. ↑ Northern Ireland Tourist Board > Causeway Coast & Glens > The Giant's Causeway > Folklore and Legend. Accessed 29 December 2013.
6. ↑ Geological Survey of India > Columnar Basalt Accessed 26 November 2014.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Columnar igneous rocks.

External links

• Aydin, A., and J. Zhong (nda) Columnar Joints, Multiple Joint Sets, Rock Fracture Knolwedgebase, Stanford University, Stanford, California.