banzai.barbara - May 9, 2007 6:46 pm - Voted 10/10
are these rocks basalts?I've seen similar formations on basalts and I've been told that lava air/gas -bubbles produce these kinda "holes" in the rocks during their solidification process.
(to be honest i'm not a geologist and don't know if this is the real explanation for this phenomenon...let me know if you find the answer. just curious. :-) )
cheers.
mrh - May 9, 2007 7:26 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: are these rocks basalts?Actually I believe they are basalt, but am not sure. I don't know my rocks as well as I should. Hopefully someone may know whats up here and let us know.
Dan Dalton - Jun 7, 2007 5:24 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: are these rocks basalts?It is hard for me to tell from the pic, but if there are well defined crystals in the rock, then it is most likely volcanic, and very well could be basalt based on the amount of iron. If this is the case, the holes might be created by gas escaping, these are called vugs or vessicles. They are usually fairly uniform in size and distribution though, so this is a little wierd. What is the scale on the pic? Nice addition to album at any rate.
Dan
mrh - Jun 7, 2007 6:34 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: are these rocks basalts?I don't recall crystals, but I didn't look. When Barbara gave her input, I remembered that the Columbia flow basalts oozed out to the coast from southeast Washington and spread up and down the coast a ways, so thought there was a good chance it could be basalt. I'll definitly have to pay attention next time I'm on the coast. The front rock in the pic is fairly large, perhaps 3 or 4 feet long, so the larger holes are large enough to put a fist in. Thanks for your input. We'll figure them out someday.
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