I suspect that everyone reading this blog posting will be familiar with polygonal mud crack patterns on the surface of sedimentary rocks and with columnar jointing in basalts and other volcanic rocks. For mud cracks that result from desiccation a similar theory for their formation applies to the formation of columnar jointing in basalts. When cracks and joints form in contracting layer or substance, whether due to desiccation or thermal contraction, they tend to form rectilinear, T-junction-dominated patterns or hexagonal patterns, with Y-junctions. The shape in which cracks intersect reflects the order in which the cracks appeared, as later cracks curve to intersect earlier ones at right angles, with cracks obeying a simple elastic energy balance as they grow, with rectilinear patterns evolving to hexagonal patterns (See Goehring 2013; and Goehring and Morris, 2014; Brooker et al., 2018; Loope et al., 2020). Interestingly, because of NASA’s Mars probes the study of mud cracking, and the study of rectangular to polygonal rock crack patterns, is back in fashion as scientists try to explain the polygonal patterns on the surface of Mars by comparing the cracks on Mars with examples on earth (for example, Webster et al., 2017; Brooker et al., 2018; Chan et al., 2007, Chan et al., 2008) in part because the polygonal patterns on Mars may indicate the presence of surface water or terrestrial polygonal patterns might lead to insights on weathering processes on Mars.
Below is a photograph of a specimen of limestone that I collected in 2019 from Tackaberry’s quarry in Westport and left outside over the winter to weigh down a barbeque covering. The rock cracked in a pattern reminiscent of mud cracks, and, on a larger scale, of cracks on outcrops.
Polygonal jointing and cracks are common in weathered granite and sandstone. Leonard (1929) reports polygonal cracking in granite as a weathering phenomena. García-Rodríguez et al. (2015) discuss polygonal cracking in granite. Williams and Robinson (1989) discuss polygonal cracking in granite and sandstone. Netoff (1971) reported polygonal jointing in sandstone near Boulder, Colorado. Kocurek and Hunter (1986) reported polygonal fractures in the Navajo and Page sandstones in Arizona. Loope et al., 2020, for the Navajo sandstone of south-western USA, reported polygonal fracturing, noting that “On steep outcrops, polygonal patterns are rectilinear and orthogonal, with T-vertices. Lower-angle slopes host hexagonal patterns (defined by the dominance of Y-vertices). Intermediate patterns with rectangles and hexagons of similar scale are common. ... [H]exagons on sandstone surfaces (like prismatic columns of basalt) have evolved from ancestral orthogonal polygons of similar scale.
In the references below I’ve mentioned a few of the more interesting reports of polygonal and columnar rock structures. Some of the hexagonal patterns in sedimentary rocks are said to have been derived from desiccation and mud cracking , and some from thermal expansion and contraction. I will first mention the reports of the large desiccation cracks. While I expect that everyone reading this is familiar with columnar jointing in basalts, one interesting fact that some will have overlooked is that columnar jointing is found in clay, in sedimentary rocks, and in contact metamorphosed sedimentary rock. The same theories for formation of columnar jointing in basalts have been applied to columnar jointing in clay, columnar jointing in sedimentary rocks, and columnar jointing in contact metamorphosed sedimentary rock. Different theories apply to the formation of orthogonal joint sets (e.g., tessellated pavement) formed by stress (see Li, 2020).
I have not provided references to columnar structures in basalts as I assume the reader has visited the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, or Brier Island, Digby, Nova Scotia, or any of the hundreds of other sites worldwide exhibiting columnar basalts. Worth noting is that Murchison (1839, page 187) mentions columnar syenite.
Giant Desiccation Cracks in Sediment and in Sedimentary Rock
Gilbert (1877) reported mudcracks in the Shinarump shale in the Henry Mountains of Utah that penetrate 10 feet downward into the shale. Grabau (1913) commented that “where fossil mud-cracks penetrate a formation to the depth of ten feet, as is the case in the upper Shinarump (Jura-Triassic ) shales of Utah (Gilbert), it is difficult to believe that they could be formed under other conditions than those permitting prolonged exposure such as is found only in the playas of the desert, where ten years or more may elapse between rainfalls.”
Hunt et al. ( 1953) mapped the geology of the Henry Mountains, Utah and reported that “On the west side of Mount Ellsworth mud cracks in the top layers of the Chinle [formation] are filled by sandstone belonging to the Wingate. The wedges of sandstone in the mud cracks project downward as much as 7 in., and the cracks in the Chinle can be traced downward as much as 3 ft.”
Tomkins, (1965) reported large sandstone polygons in the Carmel Formation of Jurassic age and suggested that these were formed by eolian infilling of mud cracks with sand, followed by lithification and partial removal of easily eroded siltstone “mold” material.
O'Sullivan (1965) reported polygonal-shaped features parallel to the bedding and as much as 7 feet across which he considered to be casts of large mudcracks, which were formed at the top of a shale bed and later filled with sand.
Neal (1965a) reported giant contraction polygons, up to 3 feet wide and 3 feet or more in depth at Rogers Playa in California.
Neal (1965b) reported and figured large contraction polygons from the San Augustin Plains, New Mexico, many of which are 200 feet or more across, and from Rogers Playa, California and Bicycle Playa, California. He also reported and figured pressure-ridge polygons as much as 100 feet across from the Winnemucca Playa, Nevada.
Neal, Langer and Kerr (1968) reported giant desiccation polygons of Great Basin clay playas, with the polygons of a width of 300 meters.
Tucker (1981) describes giant polygons (up to 14 m wide) on the bedding surfaces of Triassic salt deposits of Cheshire, England, and suggests thermal contraction as the most likely method of their formation.
Loope and Haverland (1988) reported giant desiccation fissures filled with calcareous eolian sand with the downward-tapering fissures as much as 18 cm wide and 5.7 m deep defining orthogonal polygons 10 m or more in diameter.
Columnar Structures in Clay
Salisbury (1885) reported on hexagonal columnar structures in a five foot thick clay layer at a railway cut in Wisconsin, noting that “The columns varied in diameter from ten to fifteen or sixteen inches. They were uniformly, but not regularly, six-sided, and could be divided easily across their longer axes, parallel to the bedding planes, so that each column was separable into regular sections.” Harvey et al. (1977) suggest that Salisbury’s columnar clay structures are synergesis polygons.
Columnar and Polygonal Structures in Limestone
Lesley (1892), Van Ingen and Clark (1903), Kindle (1914), Norman (1935), White (1882) and O'Neill (1941), Chadwick (1940) and Wilson (2018) reported columnar structures in limestone .
Lesley (1892, page 933) described the Upper Silurian Bossardville Limestone of Pennsylvania, noting “It also possesses a genuine columnar structure,...the rock possessing a prismatic structure like the basaltic columns in lava... but confined to certain beds.”
Van Ingen and Clark (1903) described similar structures in the Silurian Rondout limestone of New Jersey. They reported two beds which break into polygonal blocks: “the “prismatic” or “five point [bed],” 32 inches thick breaks up into mostly pentagonal blocks 4 to 6 inches in diameter; the "paving block" or "mud crack [bed]," 15 inches thick, breaks into larger polygonal blocks of 6 to 10 inches diameter;”. They suggested that the structures “formed apparently by shrinkage cracks similar to those seen in drying mud”. Their plate 6 shows the prismatic beds.
Kindle (1914) provides the best description and photographs of columnar structures in a Canadian sedimentary rocks. He report on columnar structures in the lower two-thirds of a bed of limestone at the base of Mount Wissick on the shore of Temiseouata lake opposite Cabano, Quebec. Here is Kindle’s photograph of the columnar bed..
Norman (1935) reported columnar Jointing in a vertically dipping dolomitic limestone found on the North shore of Hood Island, Lake Ainslie Map-area, Nova Scotia. He noted that “In this limestone a very conspicuous columnar structure (See Plate III B) is developed in a 2-foot bed at the base of the limestone and consists of vertical prisms bounded by a variable number of sides, and averaging 5 inches in diameter. ... It is probable, therefore, that the columnar structure was produced by the desiccation of calcareous muds deposited in shallow water.”
White (1882) and O'Neill (1941) report on columnar Silurian Limestone in Pennsylvania where the rock exhibits a prismatic structure like basaltic columns.
Chadwick (1940) reported columnar limestone produced by sun cracking in the Olney limestone of New York State.
Wilson (2018) reports on, and includes a photograph of, hexagonal columnar joints in a four foot thick carbonate bed in the Jurassic rocks of Utah, noting that the “effect of the repeated hexagonal cracks is that the unit itself develops columnar joints, analogous to those often seen in basalt flows.” .
Columnar Structures in Metamorphosed Clay, Limestone and Sandstone
Columnar structures are common in contact metamorphosed sedimentary rocks.
Brown (1870) and Arnold-Bemrose (1899) report on a columnar, jointed, baked, indurated red clay in contact with basalt, dolerite and a vesicular and amygdaloidal toadstone, where the columns in the clay “sometimes attained a length of 8 or 9 feet, and a breadth of 6 inches.”
Geikie (1882) mentions that “A columnar structure has often been superinduced upon stratified rocks (sandstone, shale, coal) by contact with intrusive igneous masses.” He lists a number of example of prismatic sandstone caused by intrusion of dykes, including sandstone rendered prismatic by Dolerite at Bishopbriggs, Glasgow; sandstone altered by basalt, melaphyre, or allied rock, Wildenstein, near Budingen, Upper Hesse; Schoberle, near Kriebitz, Bohemia; Johnsdorf, near Zittau, Saxony. He notes that “Independently of the lines of stratification polygonal prisms, six inches or more in diameter, and several feet in length, starting from the face of the dyke, have been developed in the sandstone” Geikie also notes that “examples of the production of this structure have been described in dolomite altered by quartz-porphyry (Campiglia, Tuscany); fresh water limestone altered by basalt (Gergovia, Auvergne) ; basalt-tuff and granite altered by basalt 2 (Mt. Saint-Michel, Le Puy).”
Geikie (1882) also notes that “ Some of the most perfect examples of superinduced prisms may occasionally be noticed in seams of coal which have been invaded by intrusive igneous material. In the Scottish coal-fields sheets of basalt have been forced along the surfaces of coal-seams, and even along their centre so as to form a bed or sheet in the middle of the coal. The coal in these cases is sometimes beautifully columnar, its slender hexagonal and pentagonal prisms, like rows of stout pencils, diverging from the surface of the intrusive sheet.” Geikie says that this structure can be seen in “coal and lignite, with their accompanying clays, altered by basalt, diabase, melaphyre, &c, [at] Ayrshire, Scotland; St. Saturnin, Auvergne; Meissner, Hesse Cassel; Kttingshausen, Vogelsgebirge ; Sulzbach, Upper Palatinate of Bavaria : Funfkirchen, Hungary: by trachyte, Commentry, Central France; by phonolite, Northern Bavaria.”
Hume (1908), Beadnell (1926) and T’an (1927a, p. 38, fig. 20) describe columnar Nubian sandstone in contact with basic intrusive rocks. Cílek et al. ( 2015) describe a large outcrop of columnar-jointed Upper Cretaceous “Nubian” sandstone which they attribute to “dynamic fragmentation by expanding liquid and gas phases related to magma emplacement and a subsequent relaxation.” Splettstoesser and Jirsa (1985) report on columnar jointing in sandstone where it is intruded by dolerite. Velázquez et al. ( 2008) report and include photographs of dramatic columnar joints (with orthogonal columns from 3 to 10 cm in diameter, reaching 15 m in length) in reddish eolian sandstones adjacent to nepheline dikes. Blackstone (1963)
reports columnar jointing in sandstone adjacent to sills and dikes where the columnar jointing is similar in most aspects to columnar jointing described in igneous rocks, with the columns varying from 3 in. to 5 in. in diameter and are up to 3 ft long. Mullineux et al. (2020) report on columnar-jointed bentonite below a Doleritic Sill.
Buist (1980) and Young (2008) report on columnar jointing in Devonian and Early Carboniferous sandstones at two localities on the Island of Bute, Scotland. Buist suggests that the “columnar structure probably developed as a result of the emplacement of a basic dyke via a fissure.” Young noted “The host rocks are cut by Early Carboniferous volcanic necks or plugs, which acted as heat sources, but development of columnar jointing was strongly controlled by small sills and dikes of a recessive, purple, fine-grained rock.”
Suggestions for the Cause of Other Polygonal Crack Patterns in Rocks
In an earlier blog posting I mentioned that in addition to desiccation there are a large number of suggestions for the origin of polygonal crack patterns on the bedding surface of rocks These include a sub-aqueous origin at the water sediment interface (synaeresis), a microbial mat origin, organic burrowing, frost wedging, gravitational loading, gravitationally unstable density inversion, sand injectites, seismic shock, interstratal cracking, water- release (interstratal dewatering), and layer parallel contraction resulting from compaction due to burial. A few of the more interesting additional theories that I’ve noted since I wrote that earlier blog posting are:
- the control of mud crack patterns by small gastropod trails – Baldwin (1974) ;
- the control of mudcrack patterns by the infaunal bivalve Pseudocyrena – Kues and Siemers (1977).
I will also have to add contact metamorphism which forms columnar-jointed sedimentary rocks adjacent to igneous dikes and sills (e.g., Mullineux et al. ( 2020), Arnold-Bemrose (1899), Beadnell (1926), Velázquez et al. ( 2008).
Interestingly, for a particular suite of rocks in Scotland six different theories have been proposed in peer reviewed publications to explain the origin of the polygonal cracks (see Astin and Rogers, 1991; Barclay, Glover, Mendum, 1993; Astin and Rogers, 1993).
Christopher Brett
Ottawa, Ontario
References and Suggested Reading
Arnold-Bemrose, H. H., 1899
On a sill and Faulted Inlier in Tideswell Dale, Derbyshire. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, Vol. 55, page 239-250 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/109883#page/347/mode/1up
Astin, T.R. And D. A. Rogers, 1991
Subaqueous shrinkage cracks in the Devonian of Scotland reinterpreted. Journal of Sedimentary Research(1991),61(5): 850-859 http://dx.doi.org/10.2110/jsr.61.850
Astin, T. R. and , D. A. Rogers, 1993
"Subaqueous Shrinkage Cracks" in the Devonian of Scotland Reinterpreted: Reply
Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, Vol. 63 (1993)No. 3. (May), Pages 566-567
http://archives.datapages.com/data/sepm/journals/v63-66/data/063/063003/0566.htm
Bailey, L.W. and McInnes,William, 1989
Report on explorations and surveys in portions of northern New Brunswick, and adjacent areas in Quebec and in Maine, U.S. Geological Survey of Canada, Report for 1987-88, new ser., vol. III, pt. II, Part M., pages 1M-52M at p. 31M.” https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100315506
Baldwin, C.T., 1974.
The control of mud crack patterns by small gastropod trails. Journal of Sedimentary Research. 44, 695–7
https://doi.org/10.1306/74D72ADB-2B21-11D7-8648000102C1865D
Barclay, W. J. ; B. W. Glover ; J. R. Mendum, 1993
"Subaqueous shrinkage cracks" in the Devonian of Scotland, reinterpreted; discussion and reply;
Journal of Sedimentary Research (1993) 63 (3): 564–567.
https://doi.org/10.1306/D4267B72-2B26-11D7-8648000102C1865D
http://archives.datapages.com/data/sepm/journals/v63-66/data/063/063003/0564.htm
Beadnell, H.J.L., 1926
Columnar Structure in the Nubian Sandstone. Geological Magazine, vol. 63, p 271-272
Blackstone, D. L., 1963
Columnar jointing in sandstone. Rocky Mountain Geology (1963) 2 (1): 7–11
Branagan, D.F., 1983
Tesselated pavements. In: Aspects of Australian sandstone landscapes. R.W. Young; G.C. Nanson (eds.). Australian and New Zealand Geomorphology Group Special Publication nº 1,
Wollongong, pp. 11-20. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3290100516
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Sandstone weathering in the High Atlas, Morocco. Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie, 36, 413-429.
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On a Columnar Clay-bed in Tideswell Dale, and on so-called Pholas-borings in Millers Dale. Geological Magazine 7, 585–6.
Brooker,L.M., M.R.Balme. S.J.Conway, A.Hagermann, A.M.Barrett, G.S.Collins, R.J.Soare 2018 Clastic polygonal networks around Lyot crater, Mars: Possible formation mechanisms from morphometric analysis. Icarus Volume 302, 1 March 2018, Pages 386-406
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2017.11.022
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Buist, DS , 1980
Columnar sandstone, Island of Bute, Scotland. Geological Magazine 117, 381–4.
Campbell, Marius R., 1923
The Twentymile Park District of the Yampa Coal Field, Routt County, Colorado, Bulletin 748, U.S. Geological Survey, p. 8 [plate IV, Polygonal structures on a bedding plane of the Twentymile sandstone and at the edge of the Trout Creek sandstone bed.]
Chadwick, G. H., 1940
Columnar Limestone Produced by Sun Cracking. G. S. A. Bulletin, volume 51, No. 12, p. 1923 [in the Olney limestone of New York State.]
Chan, Marjorie A., W. M. Seiler, R. L. Ford, and W. Adolph Yonkee, 2007
Polygonal cracking and “Wopmay” weathering patterns on earth and mars: implications for host-rock properties. Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVIII (2007)
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2007/pdf/1398.pdf
Chan MA, Yonkee WA, Netoff DI, Seiler WM, Ford RL, 2008
Polygonal cracks in bedrock on Earth and Mars: implications for weathering. Icarus 194:65–71
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.474.6164&rep=rep1&type=pdf
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On the classification and origin of joint structures, Proc. Boston Society Natural History, 1882-1883, v. 22, pp. 72-85 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/132041#page/7/mode/1up
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[Columnar joints in basaltic lava flow]
Fletcher, Hugh, 1877
Report of Explorations and Surveys in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Report of Progress for 1876-77, Geological Survey of Canada. 402-456; at 440, 442, 445 “columnar” limestone
García-Rodríguez, M. , M. Gomez-Heras , M. Alvarez de Buergo, R. Fort J. Aroztegu 2015
Polygonal cracking associated to vertical and subvertical fracture surfaces in granite (La Pedriza del Manzanares, Spain): considerations for a morphological classification. Journal of Iberian Geology 41 (3) 2015: 365-383
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Columnar structure in limestone; Geological Survey of Canada, Museum Bulletin no. 2, pt. 2, p. 35-44, https://doi.org/10.4095/104954
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Some factors affecting the development of mud cracks. Journ. Geology, vol 25, 135-144
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Separation of salt from saline water and mud. G. Soc Am, B 29: 80 (abst). 471-487
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A note on mud crack and associated joint structure : American Journal of Science, 5th ser . , vol. 5, pp . 329 - 330 , 1 fig . , April , 1923 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2475/ajs.s5-5.28.329
Kindle, E. M., 1923
Notes on Mud Crack and Ripple Mark in Recent Calcareous Sediments. The Journal of Geology, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Feb. - Mar., 1923), pp. 138-145
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Kindle, E. M , And Cole, L. H., 1938,
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Control of mudcrack patterns by the infaunal bivalve Pseudocyrena. Journal of Sedimentary Research (1977) 47 (2): 844–848.
https://doi.org/10.1306/212F726B-2B24-11D7-8648000102C1865D
Li L., Ji S., 2020
A new interpretation for formation of orthogonal joints in quartz sandstone. Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering
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Polygonal jointing in sandstone near Boulder, Colorado. Mountain Geologist 8, 17–24.
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Giant desiccation fissures filled with calcareous eolian sand, Hermosa Formation (Pennsylvanian), southeastern Utah. Sedimentary Geology, Volume 56, Issue 1, p. 403-413. [At two stratigraphic intervals within the upper member of the Upper Pennsylvanian Hermosa Formation, calcareous eolian sand fills downward-tapering fissures that are as much as 18 cm wide and 5.7 m deep. Fissure fillings define orthogonal polygons 10 m or more in diameter.]
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O'Neill, Wayne F. 1941
Columnar Silurian Limestone in Pennsylvania. Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science Vol. 15 (1941), pp. 75-81 (7 pages) https://www.jstor.org/stable/44109130
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