An erosion pole (there are also names rocky canopy , a magic chimney , an earthen pyramid ) - high, thin "spikes" of rocks, protruding from the lower layers of arid basins of water bodies or bedlands . Erosion pillars consist of a relatively soft rock, “crowned” with a hard and hard-to-break stone at the top of each “pillar”. They are usually formed within the formations of sedimentary rock and volcanic rocks.
Such "pillars" are usually located in the deserts of dry and hot areas of the Earth. Their main difference from pinnacles and “spiers” is that the “pillars” are variable in thickness and are sometimes described as “similar to totem pillars ”. The “spire”, unlike the “pillar”, looks more “smooth” and has a more uniform thickness, which decreases from bottom to top.
The height of the “pillars” varies from the height of an adult to the height of a ten-story building. Their forms are due to the alternation of erosion of soft and hard layers of rock. The difference in the colors of the “pillars” along their entire height is explained by the difference in the minerals occurring in them.
Location
Erosion pillars are commonly found on the Colorado Plateau and in the Badlands region of North America . Although the erosion pillars are scattered throughout these regions, there are not so many of them in the rest of the world as in the northern part of Bryce Canyon National Park, located in Utah .
Erosion pillars are a tourist attraction in Cappadocia , Turkey , where residential areas are carved out of these formations. These rock formations were depicted on the back of the new Turkish 50 lira banknotes of 2005–2009. [1] [2] [3]
In France, such "pillars" are called "ladies with hairstyles" ( Fr. demoiselles coiffées ). Most of them are located in the Alpes de Haute Provence [4] [5] .
In Serbia , in the mountainous region known as the City of the Devil, there are 202 erosion posts. Locals call this area "land of the pyramids." Since 1959, the City of the Devil was taken under the protection of the state. He was also a candidate of the Seven New Wonders of Nature contest [6] .
An unusual phenomenon is the erosion pillars on the northern coast of Taiwan . The pillars located there are of volcanic origin and appeared on the seabed during the Miocene epoch [7] .
Gallery
Queen's Head, Taiwan
Dining Table Pillar, Utah
The pillars east of Drumheller , Albert
Pillars in Cappadocia , Turkey
Notes
- ↑ Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (not available link) . The appeal date is April 20, 2009. Archived April 17, 2009.
- ↑ Banknote Museum: 8. Emission Group - Fifty New Turkish Lira - I. Series (not available link) . The appeal date is April 20, 2009. Archived April 27, 2009.
- Oun Announcement on the E8 New Turkish Lira Banknotes from Circulation (unavailable link) (May 8, 2007). The appeal date is April 20, 2009. Archived April 22, 2009.
- ↑ Haug, Émile. Traité de géologie . - Librairie Armand Colin, 1907. - Vol. 1. - P. 386.
- ↑ Godefroy, René. La nature alpine: exposé de géographie physique . - B. Arthaud, 1940. - P. 121.
- ↑ New7Wonders: Đavolja Varoš, Rock Formation (not available link) . The date of circulation is January 19, 2012. Archived July 15, 2009.
- ↑ http://www.earth.sinica.edu.tw/papers/V1n1p099.pdf
Literature
- DeCourten, Frank. 1994. Shadows of Time, the Geology of Bryce Canyon National Park. Bryce Canyon Natural History Association.
- Kiver, Eugene P., Harris, David V. 1999. Geology of US Parklands 5th ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 522-528.
- Sprinkel, Douglas A., Chidsey, Thomas C. Jr., Anderson, Paul B. 2000. Geology of Utah's Parks and Monuments. Publishers Press: 37-59