Sections
Log in
Top News
U.S. News World News Featured Voices
Odd News
Entertainment
Movies Music TV
Sports
Soccer NFL NBA MLB NHL Golf Horse Racing Tennis Col. Football Col. Basketball
Photos
News Entertainment Sports Features Archives
More...
Defense Featured Science Health Archive Almanac
About Feedback
About Feedback
Search
Trending
Deputy AG
Venezuela
Climate change
Meth bust
Michael Cohen
Vladimir Putin
Moon lander
Champions League
SeaWorld rescue
Montana
Allison Janney
Science News
April 12, 2018 / 9:56 AM

Formation of Giant's Causeway, Devils Postpile explained in new study

"The temperature at which magma cools to form these columnar joints is a question that has fascinated the world of geology for a very long time," said researcher Yan Lavallée.

By
Brooks Hays
The Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland features thousands of basalt columns. Photo by code poet/Flickr

April 12 (UPI) -- Scientists have identified the temperature at which cooling magma breaks into the geometric columns that form Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland and Devils Postpile in California.

At the Giant's Causeway, thousands of basaltic columns form a platform along the coast. The geologic phenomenon has inspired a number of mythologies through history.

The columned deposit was precipitated by an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. But until now, scientists weren't sure of the cooling patterns that allowed the magma to form some 40,000 columns.

To find out how the rocks cracked and formed the columns, scientists at the University of Liverpool built an apparatus to help them replicate the formation process. The contraption holds cooling lava in a press. As it contracts, cracks and forms columns, scientists can watch and measure the changes in temperature.

RELATED Germany was blanketed by ice some 450,000 years ago

When rocks cooled to between 90 and 140 degrees Celsius below the threshold at which magma crystallizes into a rock, 980 degrees Celsius, they began to fracture. Thus, researchers believe the columns found at Giant's Causeway and Devils Postpile formed at temperatures ranging from 840 to 890 degrees Celsius.

"The temperature at which magma cools to form these columnar joints is a question that has fascinated the world of geology for a very long time," Yan Lavallée, a professor of volcanology at Liverpool, said in a news release. "We have been wanting to know whether the temperature of the lava that causes the fractures was hot, warm or cold."

The answer is that the columns were formed from hot rocks, but after the magma had solidified.

RELATED The roots of modern volcanism can be traced to early Earth

Researchers published their findings on Thursday in the journal Nature Communications.

"Knowing the point at which cooling magma fractures is critical, as -- beyond leading to the incision of this stunning geometrical feature -- it initiates fluid circulation in the fracture network," said Jackie Kendrick, a post-doctoral researcher at Liverpool. "Fluid flow controls heat transfer in volcanic systems, which can be harnessed for geothermal energy production. So the findings have tremendous applications for both volcanology and geothermal research."

RELATED Study: Tectonic plates of continental interiors are less stable than previously thought

RELATED 'Loneliest tree in the world' offers evidence of Anthropocene's beginning

RELATED Piece of North American continent found in northern Australia

RELATED Pentagon stones host mineralized microbes older than the dinosaurs
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more UPI news and photos.

Trending Stories

SpaceIL teams with SpaceX for first first private moon lander mission
Climate change: Winters of future will be colder -- and also warmer
Stonehenge's bluestones traced to 5,000-year-old Welsh quarries
New radio sky survey reveals 300,000 new galaxies
Stress explains the unique shape of Rosetta's Comet 67P

Photo Gallery

 
Beijing celebrates annual Lantern Festival

Latest News

Jussie Smollett charged with filing false police report
Minnesota Wild to trade Charlie Coyle to Boston Bruins
Flyers' Radko Gudas suspended for high-sticking Nikita Kucherov
Trump: Alabama woman who joined Islamic State can't return
Cleveland Browns sign former Houston Texans WR Jaelen Strong
 
Back to Article
/
Back to top
About UPI Contact Feedback Advertisements Submit News Tips
Copyright © 2019 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of UsePrivacy Policy