On the origin, and mechanism of production, of the prismatic or columnar structure of basalt

Mallet, Robert

doi:10.2475/ajs.s3-9.51.206

Cited by 11 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…The jointing is inherent to the uplifted and tilted lava, and is not a result of the impact process. On Earth, entablature-style columnar jointing in mafic lavas has been empirically correlated with water-cooling (e.g., Raspe, 1776;Mallet, 1875;Iddings, 1886;James, 1920;Tomkeieff, 1940;Long and Wood, 1986). This observation is supported by theory.…”

Section: Columnar Jointingmentioning

confidence: 72%

Hydrovolcanic features on Mars: Preliminary observations from the first Mars year of HiRISE imaging

Keszthelyi

Jaeger

Dundas

et al. 2010

Icarus

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Section: Columnar Jointingmentioning

confidence: 72%

Hydrovolcanic features on Mars: Preliminary observations from the first Mars year of HiRISE imaging

Keszthelyi

Jaeger

Dundas

et al. 2010

Icarus

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“…It is possible to continuously deform a rectilinear crack network into a hexagonal one (allowing vertices to pass each other, if necessary [24]), if the pattern is allowed to evolve. Development towards a hexagonal pattern might thus be expected by noting that a hexagonal tiling minimizes the ratio of the crack-length (perimeter) to area of the polygons [10]. However, as discussed in the previous section, a growing crack tip can only respond to the local strain energy release rate at the position and moment where it is opening.…”

Section: A Model For Evolving Crack Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In lava, columnar joints form by the gradual extension of thermal contraction cracks into a cooling body, with the cracks growing perpendicular to the isothermal surfaces at the time of cracking [10]. At any particular time, the crack tips represent a network in a thin region near the surface defined by the glass transition temperature isotherm [57] and the columnar forms can be interpreted as a record of this network as it evolved in time, while propagating through space.…”

Section: Columnar Jointsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolving fracture patterns: columnar joints, mud cracks and polygonal terrain

Goehring

2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

103

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When cracks form in a thin contracting layer, they sequentially break the layer into smaller and smaller pieces. A rectilinear crack pattern encodes information about the order of crack formation, as later cracks tend to intersect with earlier cracks at right angles. In a hexagonal pattern, in contrast, the angles between all cracks at a vertex are near 120°. Hexagonal crack patterns are typically seen when a crack network opens and heals repeatedly, in a thin layer, or advances by many intermittent steps into a thick layer. Here, it is shown how both types of pattern can arise from identical forces, and how a rectilinear crack pattern can evolve towards a hexagonal one. Such an evolution is expected when cracks undergo many opening cycles, where the cracks in any cycle are guided by the positions of cracks in the previous cycle but when they can slightly vary their position and order of opening. The general features of this evolution are outlined and compared with a review of the specific patterns of contraction cracks in dried mud, polygonal terrain, columnar joints and eroding gypsum–sand cements.

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“…During the cooling of both intrusive and extrusive lava units, fractures form in solidified rock when tensile stresses caused by thermal contraction exceed the tensile strength of the rock. Thermally induced fractures such as columnar joints [e.g., DeGraff and Aydin , ] and subparallel tensile fractures [ Peck and Minakami , ] grow perpendicularly away from cooling surfaces and normal to maximum tensile stresses [ Mallet , ]. Cooling fractures propagate close behind the solidus isotherm toward the interior of a cooling body until they reach the glass transition temperature [e.g., Ryan and Sammis , ; Grossenbacher and McDuffie , ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…such as columnar joints [e.g., DeGraff and Aydin, 1987] and subparallel tensile fractures [Peck and Minakami, 1968] grow perpendicularly away from cooling surfaces and normal to maximum tensile stresses [Mallet, 1875]. Cooling fractures propagate close behind the solidus isotherm toward the interior of a cooling body until they reach the glass transition temperature [e.g., Ryan and Sammis, 1981;Grossenbacher and McDuffie, 1995].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cooling fractures in impact melt deposits on the Moon and Mercury: Implications for cooling solely by thermal radiation

Xiao

Zeng

et al. 2014

J. Geophys. Res. Planets

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We study the distribution, morphology, and geometrical properties of fractures in several young impact melt deposits on the Moon and Mercury, and the ways that these fractures may form from cooling by thermal radiation. In each impact melt complex, the topography of the underlying terrain determines the orientation of cooling fractures, such that interior fractures that formed in the relatively thick interior areas of the melt unit are wider and have a larger spacing than marginal fractures that formed in the relatively thin areas near the unit's margins. Solid debris entrained in molten deposits provides prefracture flaws that can seed cooling fractures, but too much solid debris prevents cooling fractures from growing to macroscopic sizes. The appearance of subparallel fractures is mainly caused by subsidence of the deposits during the process of cooling and solidification. Tensile stresses caused by thermal radiation are large enough to initiate cooling fractures on both the Moon and Mercury, which may represent the initial stage of columnar joints formation, but the cooling rate caused solely by thermal radiation is not large enough to form well-organized columnar joints that feature polygonal colonnades. We therefore propose that thermal conduction and convection are the major contributors in the formation of columnar joints on planetary bodies.

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On the origin, and mechanism of production, of the prismatic or columnar structure of basalt

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Hydrovolcanic features on Mars: Preliminary observations from the first Mars year of HiRISE imaging

Hydrovolcanic features on Mars: Preliminary observations from the first Mars year of HiRISE imaging

Evolving fracture patterns: columnar joints, mud cracks and polygonal terrain

Cooling fractures in impact melt deposits on the Moon and Mercury: Implications for cooling solely by thermal radiation

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