A pinnacle, tower, spire, needle or natural tower (, ''Felsturm'' or ''Felszinne'') in geology is an individual column of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

, isolated from other rocks or groups of rocks, in the shape of a vertical shaft or spire. is a natural

geomorphological Geomorphology () is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topography, topographic and bathymetry, bathymetric features generated by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. Ge ...

shape and a structural

denudation Denudation is the geological process in which moving water, ice, wind, and waves erode the Earth's surface, leading to a reduction in elevation and in relief of landforms and landscapes. Although the terms erosion and denudation are used interchang ...

shape of the relief. It is about an isolated, tall and often also slender column or prism, reminiscent of a tower in its shape. A specific type of rock tower is the rock needle.

Formation

The rock tower was created as a result of mechanical

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

, namely the gradual breakdown and destruction of a flat plateau or a rocky mountain

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

. Its shape is the result of mechanical

weathering Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals (as well as wood and artificial materials) through contact with water, atmospheric gases, sunlight, and biological organisms. It occurs '' in situ'' (on-site, with little or no move ...

and the attitude of the rock, or the subsidence of the slope. On the sea coast, rock towers are created by abrasion and isolation of the more resistant parts of the worn and abraded coast (

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. ...

Distribution

Rock towers are found in various parts of the world. They are found on the edges of high mountains and tabular plateaus, such as the

butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

s in

arid Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

regions, or on heavily disturbed rocky coasts. However, they are most often found in the area of sandstone rock towns. Examples are the summits of the

Aiguille du Midi The Aiguille du Midi (, "Needle at midday") is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif within the French Alps. It is a popular tourist destination and can be directly accessed by cable car from Chamonix that takes visitors close to Mont Blanc. Ca ...

in the Mont Blanc massif in France, the almost 43-metre-high Barbarine on the south side of the Pfaffenstein hill near Königstein in Germany, or the Bischofsmütze, the Drei Zinnen and the Vajolet Towers in the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( ), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range in northeastern Italy. They form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Va ...

, which are rich in such towers. An area of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

formations within

Nambung National Park Nambung National Park is a national park in the Wheatbelt (Western Australia), Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, northwest of the state capital Perth, and south of the small coastal town of Cervantes, Western Australia, Cervantes. The park ...

, near the town of

Cervantes, Western Australia Cervantes is a town in Western Australia located about north-north-west of the state capital, Perth, in the Shire of Dandaragan local government area. At the 2016 census, Cervantes had a population of 527. The town was named after a ship tha ...

, is known as The Pinnacles.

Gallery

File:Cerro Torre.jpg,

Cerro Torre Cerro Torre is one of the mountains of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in South America. It is located on the border dividing Argentina and Chile, west of Fitz Roy (also known as Cerro Chaltén). At , the peak is the highest of a four mountai ...

3,133 m (south flank ~2,150 m),

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

, Argentina/Chile File:Barbarine001.jpg, The Barbarine (43 m high),

Saxon Switzerland Saxon Switzerland (, ) is a hilly climbing area and national park in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It is located around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany, adjoining Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic. Toge ...

, Germany File:Vajolett-Tuerme.jpg, The Vajolet Towers 2,790 m (main tower 120 m high),

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

, Italy File:TH Phang Nga - James Bond Island.jpg, Khao Ta Pu (known as

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

Island) off

Khao Phing Kan Khao Phing Kan (, ) or Ko Khao Phing Kan (, ), commonly known in English as James Bond Island, is an island in Thailand, in Phang Nga Bay northeast of Phuket. About from the shores of Khao Phing Kan lies a tall islet called Ko Ta Pu (, ) or ...

, Thailand File:Pinnacles gnangarra-62.jpg, The Pinnacles,

, Western Australia File:Rock pinnacle, Yaverland, IW, UK.jpg, Small

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

rock pinnacle at

Yaverland Yaverland is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sandown, on the Isle of Wight, England. It is just north of Sandown on Sandown Bay. It has about 200 houses. About of a mile away from the village is the Yaverland Manor an ...

, Isle of Wight, UK, formed as a result of cliff erosion File:Top of the Rock, Branson, Missouri, USA.jpg, Top of the Rock Golf Course Limestone Pinnacles (excavated to a depth of 60 m in areas), Branson, Missouri, USA File:Debre Sema'it rock chuch.jpg,

Debre Sema'it Debar ( ; , sq-definite, Dibra or Dibra e Madhe) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, near the border with Albania, off the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality. Debar has an ethnic Albanian majority ...

rock church on the top of a pinnacle in Ethiopia

References

Bibliography

* Jiří Adamovič,

Václav Cílek Václav Cílek (born 11 May 1955) is a Czech geologist, climatologist, writer, philosopher, science popularizer and translator of Tao and Zen texts. Biography In his youth, Cílek moved to Tanzania, where his father worked as a geologist. Fro ...

, Radek Mikuláš : Atlas of Sandstone Rock Cities, Academia Praha 2010, * Josef Rubín, Břetislav Balatka,

Vojen Ložek Vojen was the third of the seven Bohemian mythical princes between the (also mythical) founder of the Přemyslid dynasty Přemysl the Ploughman and the first historical prince Bořivoj. The names of the princes were first recorded in Cosmas chro ...

, Miroslav Malkovský, Vlastimil Pilous, Jan Vítek : Atlas of rock, earth and soil forms, Academia Prague, 1986, 1st edition, 388 pages, 21-033-86

External links