this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2023
107 points (99.1% liked)
EarthPorn
839 readers
23 users here now
earthporn
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Fun fact: this is the remains of an ancient volcano. The tower that you see here is what is left of a magma chamber or an intrusion of magma into the surrounding sedimentary rocks that solidified, creating hard igneous rock pillars (columnar joints). The rest of the volcano then weathered and eroded over a very long period of time leaving only the hardest rocks.
Thanks for your response, yes that is one of four theories. Geologists have not come to a singular conclusion as far as I know, however. So the four competing formation theories are that it was a laccolith, a volcanic neck or plug - and more recently that it could have been a volcano that came in contact with ground water (Maar theory), or a stock. If you have further research I would like to read it!