23 April 2012
GMU structural geology students admire Compton Peak columns
Posted by Callan Bentley
Last Saturday, before the rains moved in…
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About Callan
Callan Bentley is Associate Professor of Geology at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. For his work on this blog, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers recognized him with the James Shea Award. He has also won the Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia, and the Biggs Award for Excellence in Geoscience Teaching from the Geoscience Education Division of the Geological Society of America. In previous years, Callan served as a contributing editor at EARTH magazine, President of the Geological Society of Washington and President the Geo2YC division of NAGT.
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Hmmm…hard hats might be in order when sitting under an overhanging cliff?
A good point – leave it to you to notice the potential for rocks to fall!
My friend Jeff and I looked at this Sunday and loved it. Were these formed vertically and then fell over? Some of them appear mashed.
Cooling columns form perpendicular to cooling fronts, and since most lava occurs in sheet-like horizontal flows, most columns are more or less vertical. So yes, post-formation tilting makes sense to me.