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Basalt (UK: / ˈ b æ s ɒ l t,-ɔː l t,-əl t /; [1] [2] US: / b ə ˈ s ɔː l t, ˈ b eɪ s ɔː l t /) [3] is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon.
The Giant's Causeway (Irish: Clochán an Aifir) [1] is an area of approximately 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. [3] [4] It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (4.8 km) northeast of the town of Bushmills.
Tataga-Matau Fortified Quarry Complex (AS-34-10), near the village of Leone on Tutuila in American Samoa, NRHP-listed, "a complex consisting of a series of basalt quarries and structures that archaeologists have interpreted as having a military defensive purpose. The site has been known since at least 1927, and was first formally surveyed in ...
Basalt columns seen on Porto Santo Island, Portugal. Columnar jointing of volcanic rocks exists in many places on Earth. Perhaps the most famous basalt lava flow in the world is the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, in which the vertical joints form polygonal columns and give the impression of having been artificially constructed.
It is a grey basalt similar to Victorian bluestone, quarried near Timaru in the South Island. Bluestone from near Kokonga in Central Otago is also widely used, and is the main construction material (often with facing of Oamaru stone , a local compact limestone) in many of the notable historic buildings in the southern South Island, most of ...
The tablet measures 24.1 by 20.1 cm and seems to be made from locally sourced vesicular basalt. [5] [1] The carving was made with a conical drill and then smoothed. [2]
Monolith with bull, fox, and crane in low relief at Göbekli Tepe. The density of most stone is between 2 and 3 tons per cubic meter. Basalt weighs about 2.8 to 3.0 tons per cubic meter; granite averages about 2.75 metric tons per cubic meter; limestone, 2.7 metric tons per cubic meter; sandstone or marble, 2.5 tons per cubic meter.
A flood basalt (or plateau basalt [1]) is the result of a giant volcanic eruption or series of eruptions that covers large stretches of land or the ocean floor with basalt lava. Many flood basalts have been attributed to the onset of a hotspot reaching the surface of the Earth via a mantle plume . [ 2 ]