Monolith

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Niapiskau island,limestone monoliths, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, Canada 012 035 Ile Mingan Niapiscau.jpg
Niapiskau island,limestone monoliths, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, Canada
Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia, is often referred to as the biggest monolith. While the surrounding rocks were eroded, the rock survived as sandstone strata making up the surviving Uluru 'monolith'. Uluru, helicopter view, cropped.jpg
Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia, is often referred to as the biggest monolith. While the surrounding rocks were eroded, the rock survived as sandstone strata making up the surviving Uluru 'monolith'.
Monolithos fortress on Rhodes, Greece Monolithos 1.jpg
Monolithos fortress on Rhodes, Greece
Landsat 7 image Brandberg Mountain, Namibia Brand hires trimmed.jpg
Landsat 7 image Brandberg Mountain, Namibia
Gavea Rock, a monolith next to the sea, near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Gavea.jpg
Gavea Rock, a monolith next to the sea, near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock, such as some mountains. Erosion usually exposes the geological formations, which are often made of very hard and solid igneous or metamorphic rock. Some monoliths are volcanic plugs, solidified lava filling the vent of an extinct volcano.

Contents

In architecture, the term has considerable overlap with megalith, which is normally used for prehistory, and may be used in the contexts of rock-cut architecture that remains attached to solid rock, as in monolithic church, or for exceptionally large stones such as obelisks, statues, monolithic columns or large architraves, that may have been moved a considerable distance after quarrying. It may also be used of large glacial erratics moved by natural forces.

The word derives, via the Latin monolithus, from the Ancient Greek word μονόλιθος (monólithos), from μόνος (mónos) meaning "one" or "single" and λίθος (líthos) meaning "stone".

Geological monoliths

Large, well-known monoliths include:

Africa

Antarctica

Asia

Savandurga, India, from the northern side Savandurga.jpg
Savandurga, India, from the northern side
Sangla Hill, Pakistan Sanglahill.JPG
Sangla Hill, Pakistan

Australia

Europe

Penyal d'Ifac, Spain Penon de Ifach-2009.jpg
Penyal d'Ifac, Spain

North America

United States

Beacon Rock, Washington, viewed from the west Beacon rock.jpg
Beacon Rock, Washington, viewed from the west
El Capitan in Yosemite El Capitan in 2010.jpg
El Capitan in Yosemite
Stawamus Chief as seen from Valleycliffe neighborhood in Squamish, British Columbia Stawamus sharp.jpg
Stawamus Chief as seen from Valleycliffe neighborhood in Squamish, British Columbia

Canada

Mexico

South America

El Penon, monolith in Colombia, located in Antioquia Elpenolantioquia.JPG
El Peñón, monolith in Colombia, located in Antioquia

Outside Earth

Monumental monoliths

A structure which has been excavated as a unit from a surrounding matrix or outcropping of rock. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tor (rock formation)</span> Large, free-standing rock outcrop on a gentle hill summit

A tor, which is also known by geomorphologists as either a castle koppie or kopje, is a large, free-standing rock outcrop that rises abruptly from the surrounding smooth and gentle slopes of a rounded hill summit or ridge crest. In the South West of England, the term is commonly also used for the hills themselves – particularly the high points of Dartmoor in Devon and Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bald Rock National Park</span> Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

Bald Rock National Park is a national park in northern New South Wales, Australia, just north of Tenterfield on the Queensland border. The border passes over the rock on the Western side. On the other side of the border national park continues as the Girraween National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inselberg</span> Isolated, steep rock hill on relatively flat terrain

An inselberg or monadnock is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, an Afrikaans word from the Dutch diminutive word kopje. If the inselberg is dome-shaped and formed from granite or gneiss, it can also be called a bornhardt, though not all bornhardts are inselbergs. An inselberg results when a body of rock resistant to erosion, such as granite, occurring within a body of softer rocks, is exposed by differential erosion and lowering of the surrounding landscape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butte</span> Isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top

In geomorphology, a butte is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word butte comes from the French word butte, meaning knoll ; its use is prevalent in the Western United States, including the southwest where mesa is used for the larger landform. Due to their distinctive shapes, buttes are frequently landmarks in plains and mountainous areas. To differentiate the two landforms, geographers use the rule of thumb that a mesa has a top that is wider than its height, while a butte has a top that is narrower than its height.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kodachadri</span> Mountain peak in South India

Kodachadri is a mountain peak with dense forests in the Western Ghats in South India, 78 km from Shimoga. Kodachadri is the highest peak in Shivamogga district. It is declared as natural heritage site by the Karnataka Government. and it is 13th highest peak of Karnataka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mingan Archipelago</span>

The Mingan Archipelago is an archipelago located east of Quebec, Canada. It consists of a chain of about 40 islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve</span> National park reserve in Quebec, Canada

Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve or Mingan Archipelago Heritage Site bathes in the waters of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, in the administrative region of Côte-Nord, in the municipality of Havre-Saint -Pierre, facing Anticosti Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Havre-Saint-Pierre</span> Municipality in Quebec, Canada

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock-cut architecture</span> Structures and sculptures cut into solid rock

Rock-cut architecture is the creation of structures, buildings, and sculptures by excavating solid rock where it naturally occurs. Intensely laborious when using ancient tools and methods, rock-cut architecture was presumably combined with quarrying the rock for use elsewhere. Though, in India and China, the terms cave and cavern are often applied to this form of man-made architecture, caves and caverns that began in natural form are not considered to be rock-cut architecture even if extensively modified. Although rock-cut structures differ from traditionally built structures in many ways, many rock-cut structures are made to replicate the facade or interior of traditional architectural forms. Interiors were usually carved out by starting at the roof of the planned space and then working downward. This technique prevents stones falling on workers below. The three main uses of rock-cut architecture were temples, tombs, and cave dwellings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peña de Bernal</span> Mountain in Querétaro, Mexico

Peña de Bernal is a 433-metre (1,421 ft) monolith, one of the tallest in the world. It is located in San Sebastián Bernal, a small town in the Mexican state of Querétaro. It is one of the most touristic sites near the capital of Santiago de Querétaro.

A monolith is a monument or natural feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chimney Rock State Park</span> State park in North Carolina, United States

Chimney Rock State Park is a North Carolina state park in Chimney Rock, Rutherford County, North Carolina in the United States. The 8,014-acre (32.43 km2) park is located 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Asheville, North Carolina, and is owned and managed by the state of North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernal, Querétaro</span> Place in Querétaro, Mexico

San Sebastián Bernal, better known as Bernal, is a colonial village in the Mexican state of Querétaro. It was founded in 1642 by Spanish soldier Alonso Cabrera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balancing rock</span> Naturally occurring precariously balanced rock

A balancing rock, also called a balanced rock or precarious boulder, is a naturally occurring geological formation featuring a large rock or boulder, sometimes of substantial size, resting on other rocks, bedrock, or on glacial till. Some formations known by this name only appear to be balancing, but are in fact firmly connected to a base rock by a pedestal or stem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bornhardt</span> A large dome-shaped, steep-sided, bald rock

A bornhardt is a dome-shaped, steep-sided, bald rock outcropping at least 30 metres (100 ft) in height and several hundred metres in width. They are named after Wilhelm Bornhardt (1864–1946), a German geologist and explorer of German East Africa, who first described the feature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roland-Benoît Jomphe</span> Canadian poet

Roland-Benoît Jomphe (1917–2003) was a Quebec poet from the Minganie region of Quebec.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Augustus (Western Australia)</span> Prominent inselberg in Western Australia

Mount Augustus is located roughly 1,000 km north of Perth, in the Mount Augustus National Park in Western Australia. The name is also given to the neighbouring pastoral lease, Mount Augustus Station. The local Wadjari people call it Burringurrah, after a Dreamtime figure, a young boy who was speared and turned into a rock. It has been a sacred site for thousands of years.

References

  1. Lee (2018-01-31). "A Guide To The Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur". The Culture Trip. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  2. Siddeshwar (2017-06-03). "Journeys across Karnataka: Ekasila Gutta, Warangal fort". Journeys across Karnataka. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  3. "Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve". The Canadian Encyclopedia. 2015-01-03. Retrieved 2024-01-12. Oddly shaped rock pillars sculpted by wind and sea create the unique islandscape of the natural reserve
  4. "Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve". Government of Canada. 2022-11-19. Retrieved 2024-01-10. Several animal and plant species present on the islands of the Mingan Archipelago and the surrounding landscape are endangered or at risk
  5. Michael Melford photograph. "Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve". Quebec, Canada: National Geographic. Retrieved 2024-01-10. close to a thousand islands and islets sprinkled along 93 miles from east to west, 24,711 acres
  6. Zach Baranowski, photograph. "The Mingan Archipelago,". St Lawrence golf: Canadian Geographic. Retrieved 2024-01-10. the shoreline at low tide reveals seemingly endless tide pools full of barnacles, green sea urchins, sea stars and other small invertebrates.
  7. López Domínguez, Leonor (May 2001). "Villa de Bernal and its Magic Mountain". México Desconocido #291. Archived from the original on 2015-03-13.
  8. "Peña de Bernal - Bernal - Queretaro" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 27 October 2006. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  9. Carrillo, Raul (2007). Northrop, Laura Cava; Curtis, Dwight L.; Sherman, Natalie (eds.). Let's Go Mexico: On a Budget. Macmillan. p. 370. ISBN   978-0-312-37452-5.
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  11. "Glossary". Archived from the original on 2010-01-01.