Sunday, March 22, 2020

Week 2 Igneous Rocks - Cape Stolbchaty



This week I decided to explore Cape Stolbchaty in Russia. This extrusive igneous site has many beautiful columns which range in size. Many of these rocks have a hexagon like structure. These columns are aphanitic in texture due to the lack of visible crystals. It is very fine grained. This is because the magma cooled quickly on the earths surface. I can classify this rock formation as basalt due to these facts and color of the rocks. Some of the rocks look as though they are rhyolite as well. Due to eruptions we get to experience these beautiful cliffs. It's hard to believe that nature could create something as geometric as this formation is.
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1 comment:

  1. Wow those are absolutely beautiful. So pleasing to look at! I think that those vertical lines are the product of columnar jointing. This is when the cooling process causes shrinkage and the pressure causes cracks along certain lines. These pieces of basalt probably look very cool from the top as well.

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