Beautiful Columnar Basalt, Symphony of the Stone, Yerevan, Armenia

Beautiful Columnar Basalt, Symphony of the Stone, Yerevan, Armenia Situated about 23 km east of Yerevan, Armenia, just below the village of the same name, lies the breathtaking Garni Gorge, with cliff walls of well-preserved basalt columns carved out by the Goght River on its sides. This part of the gorge is known as the “Symphony of the Stones,”. The columns suspended against gravity resemble an organ, which explains why the natural monument is also called the “Basalt Organ”. The soundtrack is provided by the river that flows through the gorge and fills the splendor of the stone with the symphony of water. The organ is made up of enormous symmetrical hexagonal and pentagonal basalt columns (almost 50 meters high), which appear to be handcrafted due to their extraordinary symmetry.

These amazing rock formations were formed under high pressure conditions due to the cooling and crystallization of volcanic lava.The complex topography of Armenia was shaped by a geological upheaval that pushed up the Earth’s crust to form the Armenian Plateau 25 million years ago. How exactly the columnar jointing was formed is still uncertain, but it is usually explained by analogy with mud-cracks resulting from shrinkage at the surface of dried-up mud. The polygonal cracks in basalt are presumed to be due to contraction during cooling, which acts towards the creation of a series of equally spaced cooling centers. A tension crack is thought to form between two centers and since each center is surrounded by many others, a multi-sided polygonal crack system is formed, splitting the rock into roughly uniform polygonal blocks. As cooling proceeds towards the interior, cracks propagate inward at right angles to the cooling surface, resulting in the distinctive columnar structure. #Geology #geology #geologyrocks #earthscience #geologist #geoscience #geosciencenetwork Image credit: @globetolter[IG

Mass Movement or Mass Wasting

Mass Movement or Mass Wasting 🌍🌐 Mass movement also known as mass wasting is referred to the slow or rapid movement of weathered materials (rocks, sand, soil or mud) down the slope and mountain under the direct force of gravity. Mass movement can take place slowly, gradually or rapidly, hence affecting shallow to deep columns of materials depending on the gradient of the slope. However, these movements transfer the mass of rock debris down the slopes under the direct influence of gravity. This means that air, water or ice dont usually transport debris along with them from place to place but on the other hand the debris may carry with it air, water or ice. Gravity places its force on all materials, both bedrock and the products of weathering. However, weathering is not a necessity for mass movement though it aids mass movements. Mass movements are very effective on weathered slopes compared to unweathered materials.

Mass movements are influenced by gravity and no geomorphic processes like running water, glaciers, wind, waves and currents contribute in the process of mass movements. That means mass movements do not come under erosion though there is a shift (aided by gravity) of materials from one place to another. Materials on a sloppy hill have their own resistance to disturbing forces and will respond only when the force is greater than the shearing resistance of the materials. Weak unconsolidated materials, faults, thinly bedded rocks, steeply dipping beds, abundant precipitation, vertical cliffs or steep slopes, and torrential rains and scarcity of vegetation for instance favour mass movements. Mass movement or mass wasting occurs on both terrestrial and submarine slope. Credit: Razi Brown (Jotscrol.com) #geosciencenetwork #geology #earthscience #geologist #landslide

Radiating Basaltic Columns