List of places with columnar jointed volcanics

Basalt columns seen on Porto Santo Island.

Columnar jointed volcanic rocks exist in many places on Earth. Perhaps the most famous basalt lava flow in the world is the Giant's Causeway on the northern coast of Ireland, in which the vertical joints form polygonal columns and give the impression of having been artificially constructed.

Notable columnar jointed volcanics

Africa

• Bugarama in Rusizi, Rwanda
• "Organ Pipes" near Twyfelfontein, Namibia^[1]
• Numan, Nigeria^[2]
• Seliana, Tunisia

Asia

Columnar jointed basalt in Hong Kong, near Basalt Island and High Island Reservoir areas

S-shaped columnar rhyolitic tuff at the Hong Kong High Island Reservoir

China

• Heiyuhe Columnar Joints (黑鱼河柱状节理) [Xianrenqiao (仙人桥)], Longchuan River (龙川江) & Black Fish River, Tengchong

Hong Kong

• Basalt Island area, Hong Kong; including High Island Reservoir area, Hong Kong; although the High Island Reservoir is not basalt but a type of acidic rhyolite ¾ dacite porphyroclastic lava. It is rich in potash feldspar and quartz phenocrysts.

India

• St. Mary's Island, Malpe
• Gilbert Hill, Andheri, Mumbai

Mongolia

• Kharandaa Khad in Taishir district, on Zavkhan River

Japan

• Tatami-ishi, Kumejima, Okinawa Prefecture
• Tōjinbō, Mikuni-chō in Sakai, Fukui Prefecture
• Takachiho-kyo gorge, Takachiho, Miyazaki

Taiwan

• Tongpan Basalt (桶盤玄武岩石柱), Tongpan Island and Hujing Island (Table island, 虎井嶼), Penghu Islands
• The Whale Cave, on the seashore, in Penghu County

Other

Columnar basalts at the Cape Stolbchatiy, Kuril islands, Russia

• Cape Stolbchatiy, Kuril Islands, Russia^[3]
• Hexagons pool, Golan Heights, Israel

Basaltic columns at Milos island.

Basalt Columns formed along a river in a remote place in Tawau, Malaysia

• Along a river in Teck Guan Cocoa Village, Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia.
• Jusangjeolli, Seogwipo, Jeju Island, South Korea
• Mon Hin Kong (Thai: ม่อนหินกอง), in a mountainous area of the Phi Pan Nam Range near Na Phun, Wang Chin District, Phrae Province, Thailand^[4]

The Cliff of Stone Plates (Ghềnh Đá Dĩa) near Tuy Hòa city, Phú Yên Province, Vietnam

• Ganh Da Dia — The Cliff of Stone Plates (Vietnamese: Ghềnh Đá Dĩa), one of the many beautiful spots in Phú Yên Province, Vietnam ^[5]

Europe

Basalt columns in the Rhön, North Bavaria, Germany

Columnar jointing in the basalt of the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland

Faroe Islands

• Froðba, Hov
• Hvalba and Trongisvágur, Suðuroy

France

• Thueyts, Jaujac and Fabras, Ardèche
• Saint-Flour, Cantal
• Chilhac
• Saint-Arcons
• Prades
• Saint-Clément
• Moulin-Béraud
• La Tour-d'Auvergne
• Bort-les-Orgues
• Scandola Nature Reserve, Corsica

Germany

• Linz am Rhein, Mendig, Mayen, Rhineland-Palatinate
• Hoher Hagen (Dransfeld), Lower Saxony
• Rhön, North Bavaria
• Stolpen, Saxony
• Scharfenstein, Hesse

Greenland

• Qeqertarsuaq, Disko Island

Hungary

• Badacsony
• Bér
• Szanda
• Szilváskő
• Somoskő, Hungary-Slovakia border
• Hegyestű
• Szent-György-hegy
• Gulács
• Haláp
• Hajagos
• Uzsa

Iceland

• Dverghamrar, Kirkjubæjarklaustur
• Hljóðaklettar, Jökulsárgljúfur
• Aldeyjarfoss, Þingeyjarsveit
• Litlanesfoss, Fljótsdalshreppur
• Kálfshamarsvík, Austur-Húnavatnssýsla
• Reynisdrangar, Vík í Mýrdal
• Hellnahraun near Arnarstapi, Snæfellsbær
• Svartifoss, Skaftafell
• Gerðuberg
• Kirkjugólfið

Italy

• Alcantara River Gorges, Sicily
• Cyclopean Isles, Sicily
• Lake Bolsena, Lazio
• Guspini, Sardinia

Spain

• Punta Baja, Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, Andalusia
• Castellfollit de la Roca, Girona
• Fruiz, Biscay^[6][7]
• Pitón volcánico de Cancarix, Albacete^[8]
• Los Órganos, La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain^[9]

United Kingdom

• Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland
• The islands of Canna, Eigg, and Muck, Scotland
• The northern part of the Isle of Skye, Scotland
• The Isle of Mull and the nearby beach of Morvern, Scotland
• Samson's ribs, Scotland
• Fingal's Cave and Staffa, Scotland
• Ulva, Scotland

Other

• Near Saint Sarkis Cathedral, Yerevan, Armenia
• Garni Gorge, Armenia
• Rocha dos Bordões cliffs, Flores, Azores
• Panská Skála, Kamenický Šenov, Czech Republic^[10]
• Zlatý vrch, Česká Kamenice, Czech Republic
• Sioni, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Georgia
• Milos, Greece
• Thunderstruck Rocks (Detunatele), Romania
• Bazaltove, Ukraine

North America

Columnar jointing in the basalt of the Pain de sucre (sugar bread) in les Saintes, French West Indies

Columnar basalt at Devil's Postpile in California

Canada

• North Mountain, Nova Scotia
• Grand Manan Island (western shorelines), New Brunswick
• Brandywine Falls Provincial Park, British Columbia
• Cardiff Mountain, Chilcotin Plateau, British Columbia
• Keremeos Columns, Keremeos, British Columbia
• Wells Grey Provincial Park, British Columbia (Moul Falls, Dragon's Tongue, Helmcken Falls)
• Mount Edziza Volcanic Complex, British Columbia
• Kelowna, British Columbia (Mt. Boucherie, Spion Kopje)
• Devils Woodpile, British Columbia (Cathedral Provincial Park)
• Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec
• Rossport Islands, Rossport, Ontario

Caribbean

• Pain de sucre (sugar bread) Îles des Saintes

United States

• Block Mountain, Montana (along the lower Big Hole River)
• Cascade Range, Oregon, in Eugene and southeast of Molalla
• Columbia Plateau, Washington
• Columns of the Giants, Stanislaus National Forest, California
• Compton Peak in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia^[11]
• Devil's Postpile, California
• Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming
• Elk River Falls, Idaho
• Hughes Mountain, Missouri
• Hyalite Falls, Gallatin Mountain Range, Montana
• Latourell Falls, Oregon
• Mount Tom (Massachusetts)
• Palisades Sill, New Jersey and New York, along the Hudson River
• Sheepeater Cliff & multiple other areas in Yellowstone National Park
• Spokane, Washington (W Airport Dr. onramp)
• Stanford Rock, Lake Tahoe, California
• Sweetwater Canyon, Madison County, Montana
• Turtleback Mountain, Moultonborough, New Hampshire
• Whatcom County, Washington^[12]

Mexico

• Prismas Basálticos in Huasca de Ocampo, Hidalgo
• Salto Chico in Cuernavaca, Morelos

Oceania

Australia

• Battery Rock Rest Area, Located on the Golden Highway, 15 kilometres southeast of Merriwa and 19 kilometres northwest of Sandy Hollow on the western side of the highway.^[13]
• Glass House Mountains, Queensland
• Fingal Head, New South Wales
• Mount Scoria Conservation Park, Thangool, Queensland^[14]
• Narooma Basalt, Narooma, New South Wales
• Organ Pipes National Park, Victoria
• Black Point, D'Entrecasteaux National Park, Western Australia
• Sawn Rocks, Mount Kaputar National Park, New South Wales^[15]
• Ruined Castle, Falls Creek, Victoria ^[16]

Federated States of Micronesia

• Pwisehn Malek, Pohnpei, Caroline Islands

New Zealand

• Blackhead and nearby Second Beach, Dunedin^[17]
• Chatham Islands
• The Organ Pipes, Mount Cargill, Dunedin^[18]
• Mt Somers^[19]
• Bridal Veil Falls (Waikato), Raglan

South America

• Ancud Volcanic Complex, Chile
• Mocho Volcano, Chile
• Pino Hachado Caldera, Neuquén Province, Argentina
• Pedras do Cambira, Apucarana, Brazil

Mars

Columnar jointed rocks in unnamed crater wall, Marte Vallis region, Mars. Image courtesy of the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, Arizona State University.

Several exposures of columnar jointing have been discovered on the planet Mars by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, which is carried by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

• Marte Vallis^[20]

Uses

A now-ruined thirteenth-century religious complex called Nan Madol was built using columnar basalt quarried from various locations on the island of Pohnpei.

References