7 Geological Phenomena So Crazy, You'll Think They're Photoshopped!
Advertisement
Causeway from Giants
Advertisement
Comprising more than 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns connected like jigsaw pieces, Giant's Causeway is a naturally occurring geological feature in Northern Ireland Made of cooled and hardened lava erupted from a volcanic fissure some 60 million years ago, the columns are
The height and width of the basalt columns range; some exceed 39 feet. The formation is named for a myth that holds the gigantic Finn McCool created it as a route to Scotland, where he intended to face his Scottish equivalent, Benandonner.
The basalt columns' unusual hexagonal form results from the way the lava cooled and set as it entered the water. The lava constricted and cracked as it cooled to create the unique polygonal forms that comprise the columns.
Popular visitor destination and UNESCO World Heritage Site Giant's Causeway is also For millennia, scientists have studied it; they have used it as a natural lab to better grasp the mechanisms sculpting our earth.