GEOLOGY – Discover, every day, an analysis of our partner The Conversation. This Monday, a researcher reveals the secrets of these curious rock formations
This photograph shows basalt organs. We can find it around the worldwhere magma flows emitted by volcanoes solidified and cooled. These spectacular and fascinating structures have been, and continue to be, the subject of numerous studies, both for characterization in the field and in the laboratory, and for physico-chemical and mathematical.
A well-known example is that of the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland. In this place, as elsewhere also, one can see the columns of the organs, but also the sectional structure, and therefore the interior of each hexagonal column of basalt. This helps to better understand how these magnificent structures are formed.
Indeed, the most common explanation for the formation of basalt columns is that of “thermal contraction”. When the basalt rises from the depths of the earth’s crust, the solid mass cools: it is still hot, not yet structured but already solidified. Then, the material contracts and shrinkage fractures appear and form the rectilinear contours of the different hexagons. The analogy put forward is that of the dried mud which retracts and reveals tilings of polygons. The organs push(…) Read more at 20 minutes
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