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A guy at the quarry said the basalt columns were 'just a big crack job'
I was picking up some crushed rock in Tacoma last week and heard a worker call the columnar jointing in the basalt 'just a big crack job'. It made me think, is that the best way to explain it to someone? On one side, it's technically accurate, it's about cooling and cracking. On the other, it feels like it misses the whole amazing process that creates those perfect shapes. How do you guys explain columnar basalt to people who aren't into rocks?
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wren_smith445mo ago
Honestly, that's a pretty solid way to put it for a quick laugh. Calling it a 'crack job' gets the basic idea across without a whole science lecture. But yeah, it totally sells short how cool it is that lava just does that on its own.
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charlesj465mo ago
Yeah, it's one of those things that sounds simple until you see it up close. My buddy went to Hawaii a few years back and sent me a video of a lava flow just... making its own tube right in front of him. It wasn't some fast crack, it was this slow, steady river building its own roof over itself, like it was putting itself to bed. That's the part @wren_smith44 is talking about, the cool self-made part a quick joke misses. He just stood there watching it for like an hour, said it was the most patient thing he'd ever seen. Makes you realize how much actually goes on that we just call a crack.
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nelson.finley5mo ago
Putting itself to bed" is the perfect way to describe it. I saw something similar on a documentary and it just locks you in, watching it build its own path. That slow-motion focus is way better than any quick joke about cracks.
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