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Columnar structure

   Also found in: Encyclopedia 0.21 sec.
(Geol.) a structure consisting of more or less regular columns, usually six-sided, but sometimes with eight or more sides. The columns are often fractured transversely, with a cup joint, showing a concave surface above. This structure is characteristic of certain igneous rocks, as basalt, and is due to contraction in cooling.<- as at Giant's Causeway, Ireland ->
See under Columnar.

See also: Columnar Structure



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360) has compared the fissures by which the columnar structure seems to be determined, to the joints that traverse nearly all rocks, but which are best seen in the non-stratified masses.
The Voyage of the Beagle by Darwin, Charles View in context
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