Monolith

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia, is often referred to as the biggest monolith. While the surrounding rocks were eroded, the rock survived as sandstone strata making up the surviving Uluru 'monolith'.
Gavea Rock, a monolith next to the sea, near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock, such as some mountains. For instance, Savandurga mountain is a monolith mountain in India. Erosion usually exposes the geological formations, which are often made of very hard and solid igneous or metamorphic rock. Some monoliths are volcanic plugs, solidified lava filling the vent of an extinct volcano.

In architecture, the term has considerable overlap with megalith, which is normally used for prehistory, and may be used in the contexts of rock-cut architecture that remains attached to solid rock, as in monolithic church, or for exceptionally large stones such as obelisks, statues, monolithic columns or large architraves, that may have been moved a considerable distance after quarrying. It may also be used of large glacial erratics moved by natural forces.

The word derives, via the Latin monolithus, from the Ancient Greek word μονόλιθος (monólithos), from μόνος (mónos) meaning "one" or "single" and λίθος (líthos) meaning "stone".

Geological monoliths[]

Large, well-known monoliths include:

Africa[]

Antarctica[]

  • Scullin monolith

Asia[]

Savandurga, India, from the northern side
Sangla Hill, Pakistan

Australia[]

Europe[]

North America[]

United States[]

Beacon Rock, Washington, viewed from the west
El Capitan in Yosemite
Stawamus Chief as seen from Valleycliffe neighborhood in Squamish, British Columbia

Canada[]

Mexico[]

South America[]

El Peñón, monolith in Colombia, located in Antioquia

Outside Earth[]

Monumental monoliths[]

A structure which has been excavated as a unit from a surrounding matrix or outcropping of rock.[7]

See also[]

  • Bornhardt – A large dome-shaped, steep-sided, bald rock
  • Butte – Isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top
  • Kigilyakh – Natural tall rock pillars in Yakutia
  • Megalith – Large stone used to build a structure or monument
  • Menhir – Large upright standing stone
  • Monadnock (or inselberg)
  • Monolith (Space Odyssey) – Fictional artifacts from Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey novels
  • Monolithic architecture – Buildings carved or excavated from a single material, usually rock
  • Monolithos (Rhodes)
  • Utah Monolith

References[]

  1. ^ Lee (2018-01-31). "A Guide To The Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur". The Culture Trip. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  2. ^ Siddeshwar (2017-06-03). "Journeys across Karnataka: Ekasila Gutta, Warangal fort". Journeys across Karnataka. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  3. ^ López Domínguez, Leonor (May 2001). "Villa de Bernal and its Magic Mountain". México Desconocido #291. Archived from the original on 2015-03-13.
  4. ^ "Peña de Bernal - Bernal - Queretaro" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 27 October 2006. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  5. ^ Raul Carrillo (2007). Northrop, Laura Cava; Dwight L. Curtis; Natalie Sherman (eds.). Let's Go Mexico: On a Budget. Macmillan. p. 370. ISBN 978-0-312-37452-5.
  6. ^ Escobar Ledesma, Agustín (1999). Recetario del semidesierto de Querétaro: Acoyos, rejalgares y tantarrias. Conaculta. p. 75. ISBN 978-970-18-3910-2.
  7. ^ "Glossary". Archived from the original on 2010-01-01.

External links[]

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