List of places with columnar jointed volcanics

Polygonal stone columns From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of places with columnar jointed volcanics

Columnar jointing of volcanic rocks exists in many places on Earth. Perhaps the most famous basalt lava flow in the world is the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, in which the vertical joints form polygonal columns and give the impression of having been artificially constructed.

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Basalt columns seen on Porto Santo Island, Portugal

Notable columnar jointed volcanics

Summarize
Perspective

Africa

Asia

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Garni Gorge, Armenia
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Curved columns of rhyolitic tuff at the Hong Kong High Island Reservoir
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Interlocked basaltic columns at the top of Kavadia mountain at Dewas district in India.
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Columnar basalts at Cape Stolbchatiy, Kuril Islands, Russia

Armenia

China (mainland)

  • Heiyuhe Columnar Joints (黑鱼河柱状节理) [Xianrenqiao (仙人桥)], Longchuan River (龙川江) & Black Fish River, Tengchong

Hong Kong

  • Basalt Island area, Hong Kong; including High Island Reservoir area, Hong Kong; although the High Island Reservoir is not basalt but rhyolitic tuff, rich in potash feldspar and quartz phenocrysts.

India

In India, columnars are found in several places across the volcanic traps such as 6.5 crore or 65 million years ago (Mya) old deccan traps in South India and 14.5 crore or 145 mya old Rajmahal Traps in Eastern India.

Karnataka
Madhya Pradesh
  • Kavadia Pahad columnars: Forest area near Bagli & Pipari village of Dewas District in Madhya Pradesh. The rock formation is at Kavadia Pahad which is a series of seven mountain ranges.[5]
  • Linga columnars: 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) south of Chhindwara city.
  • Narsinghpur columnar joints in Deccan Basalts near Narsinghpur.
Maharashtra
Telangana

Indonesia

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Close up view of stones atop Gunung Padang
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Panorama atop Gunung Padang

Iran

Japan

Malaysia

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at Kg Balung Cocos, Tawau, Sabah
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Basalt Columns exposed along a river in a remote place in Tawau, Malaysia
  • In Teck Guan Cocoa Village and in Giram River, Kampung Balung Cocos Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia.

Mongolia

Philippines

Russia

South Korea

Syria / Israel (disputed)

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Meshushim River, with prominent hexagonal basalt columns

Taiwan

Thailand

Turkey

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Vertically jointed columnar basalt of Basalt Rocks Natural Monument in Turkey

Vietnam

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The Cliff of Stone Plates (Gành Đá Đĩa) near Tuy Hòa city, Phú Yên Province, Vietnam

Europe

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Basalt columns in the Rhön, North Bavaria, Germany
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Volcanic rock columns, Milos, Greece
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Ponta da Ajuda, Azores, Portugal
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Basalt rocks near Detunata Goală east of Bucium, Romania
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Columnar jointing in the basalt of the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland
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Fingal's Cave, Staffa Island, Scotland

Croatia

  • Rupnica, Papuk Nature Park UNESCO Global Geopark, Croatia

Czech Republic

  • Panská skála, Kamenický Šenov, Czech Republic[15]
  • Zlatý vrch, Česká Kamenice, Czech Republic

Faroe Islands

France

Georgia

Germany

Greece

Hungary

  • Badacsony
  • Bér
  • Szanda
  • Szilváskő
  • Hegyestű
  • Szent-György-hegy
  • Gulács
  • Haláp
  • Hajagos
  • Uzsa

Iceland

Italy

Portugal

Romania

Slovakia

  • Šomoška

Spain

Sweden

Ukraine

United Kingdom

North and Central America

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Columnar jointing in the basalt of the Pain de sucre (sugar loaf) in les Saintes, Guadeloupe
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La Concepción, Aculco, México
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Basalt columns in the Mascota River, Mexico
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Basaltic Prisms of Santa María Regla in Huasca de Ocampo, Hidalgo
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Columnar basalt at Devil's Postpile in California
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Devils Tower, Wyoming

Canada

Costa Rica

  • Bajo Rodriguez, San Lorenzo de San Ramon

El Salvador

  • Cascada Los Tercios, Suchitoto
  • Concepción waterfall, Aculco

Greenland

  • Qeqertarsuaq, Disko Island[21]

Guadeloupe

Guatemala

Mexico

Panama

  • Los Ladrillos, Boquete

United States

Oceania

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Cape Raoul, Tasmania
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Blackhead, Dunedin, New Zealand

Australia

Federated States of Micronesia

New Zealand

South America

Beyond Earth

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Columnar jointed rocks in unnamed crater wall, Marte Vallis region, Mars. Image courtesy of the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, Arizona State University.

Several exposures of columnar jointing have been discovered on the planet Mars by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, which is carried by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Notable among them are formations in the Marte Vallis.[38]

Uses

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A view of Gunung Padang

A likely Hindu-origin ancient site at Gunung Padang in West Java, Indonesia was built by horizontally laying basalt columns to form terraces on the slope of a hill and creating open-roofed chambers by erecting vertical columns. A now-ruined thirteenth-century religious complex called Nan Madol was built using columnar basalt quarried from various locations on the island of Pohnpei in Micronesia.

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Detail of columnar basalt pieces at Nan Madol

Hexagonal basalt was used to build retaining walls by early settlers in some places around Dunedin in New Zealand.

See also

References

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