A pinnacle, tower, spire, needle or natural tower (german: Felsnadel, ''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 Wales ...
, isolated from other rocks or groups of rocks, in the shape of a vertical shaft or spire.
Examples are the summits of the
Aiguille du Midi
The Aiguille du Midi () 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.
Cable car
The idea fo ...
in the
Mont Blanc massif
The Mont Blanc massif (french: Massif du Mont-Blanc; it, Massiccio del Monte Bianco) is a mountain range in the Alps, located mostly in France and Italy, but also straddling Switzerland at its northeastern end. It contains eleven major indepen ...
in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, the almost 43-metre-high
Barbarine
The Barbarine is the best-known free-standing rock formation in the German part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It is a rock pinnacle, high, and is the symbol of Saxon Switzerland. It was first climbed on 19 September 1905.
Location
The Barb ...
on the south side of the
Pfaffenstein
The Pfaffenstein, formerly called the ''Jungfernstein'', is a table hill,[''"Der Pfaffenste ...](_blank)
hill near
Königstein in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, or the
Bischofsmütze, the
Drei Zinnen
The Tre Cime di Lavaredo (; ), also called the Drei Zinnen (; ), are three distinctive battlement-like peaks, in the Sexten Dolomites of northeastern Italy. They are probably one of the best-known mountain groups in the Alps. The three peaks, f ...
and the
Vajolet Towers
The Vajolet towers are six summits in the Dolomites in Val di Fassa, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterrane ...
in the
Dolomites
The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form pa ...
, which are rich in such towers. An area of
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
formations within
Nambung National Park
Nambung National Park is a national park in the Wheatbelt (Western Australia), Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 200 km northwest of Perth, Australia and 17 km south of the small coastal town of Cervantes, Western Australia, Cervan ...
, near the town of
Cervantes, Western Australia
Cervantes is a town in Western Australia located off of Indian Ocean Drive 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 ...
, is known as
The Pinnacles.
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 in Argentina and Chile, west of Fitz Roy (also known as Cerro Chaltén). The peak is the highest of a four mountain chain: the other peak ...
3,133 m (south flank ~2,150 m), Patagonia
Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...
, Argentina/Chile
File:Barbarine001.jpg, The Barbarine
The Barbarine is the best-known free-standing rock formation in the German part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It is a rock pinnacle, high, and is the symbol of Saxon Switzerland. It was first climbed on 19 September 1905.
Location
The Barb ...
(43 m high), Saxon Switzerland
Saxon Switzerland (german: Sächsische Schweiz) is a hilly climbing area and national park around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany. Together with the Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic it forms the Elbe Sand ...
, Germany
File:Vajolett-Tuerme.jpg, The Vajolet Towers
The Vajolet towers are six summits in the Dolomites in Val di Fassa, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterrane ...
2,790 m (main tower 120 m high), South Tyrol
it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol
, settlement_type = Autonomous area, Autonomous Provinces of Italy, province
, image_skyline = ...
, Italy
File:TH Phang Nga - James Bond Island.jpg, Khao Ta Pu (known as James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
Island) off Khao Phing Kan
Khao Phing Kan ( th, เขาพิงกัน, ) or Ko Khao Phing Kan (, ) 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 Ko Tapu (, ).
Th ...
, Thailand
File:Pinnacles gnangarra-62.jpg, The Pinnacles, Nambung National Park
Nambung National Park is a national park in the Wheatbelt (Western Australia), Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 200 km northwest of Perth, Australia and 17 km south of the small coastal town of Cervantes, Western Australia, Cervan ...
, Western Australia
File:Rock pinnacle, Yaverland, IW, UK.jpg, Small sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
rock pinnacle at Yaverland
Yaverland is a village on the Isle of Wight, just north of Sandown on Sandown Bay. It has about 200 houses. About of a mile away from the village is the Yaverland Manor and Church. Holotype fossils have been discovered here of ''Yaverlan ...
, 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 ( mk, Дебaр ; Albanian: ''Dibër''/''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 ha ...
rock church on the top of a pinnacle in Ethiopia
See also
*
Hoodoo
*
Kigilyakh
Kigilyakh or kisiliyakh ( rus, кигиляхи; sah, киһилээх, meaning "stone person") are tall, pillar-like natural rock formations looking like tall monoliths standing more or less isolated. Usually they are composed of granite or ...
*
Pinnacles National Park
Pinnacles National Park is an American national park protecting a mountainous area located east of the Salinas Valley in Central California, about east of Soledad and southeast of San Jose. The park's namesakes are the eroded leftovers of t ...
*
Pyramidal peak
A pyramidal peak, sometimes called a glacial horn in extreme cases, is an angular, sharply pointed mountain peak which results from the cirque erosion due to multiple glaciers diverging from a central point. Pyramidal peaks are often examples ...
*
Stack (geology)
*
Totem pole (Monument Valley)
*
Trango Towers
__NOTOC__
The Trango Towers ( ur, ) are a family of rock towers situated in Gilgit-Baltistan, in the north of Pakistan. The Towers offer some of the largest cliffs and most challenging rock climbing in the world, and every year a number of expedi ...
External links
Landforms
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