A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term rock formation can also refer to specific sedimentary strata or other rock unit in stratigraphic and petrologic studies.

A rock structure can be created in any rock type or combination:

• Igneous rocks are created when molten rock cools and solidifies, with or without crystallisation. They may be either plutonic bodies or volcanic extrusive. Again, erosive forces sculpt their current forms.
• Metamorphic rocks are created by rocks that have been transformed into another kind of rock, usually by some combination of heat, pressure, and chemical alteration.
• Sedimentary rocks are created by a variety of processes but usually involving deposition, grain by grain, layer by layer, in water or, in the case of terrestrial sediments, on land through the action of wind or sometimes moving ice. Erosion later exposes them in their current form.

Geologists have created a number of terms to describe different rock structures in the landscape that can be formed by natural processes:

Here is a list of rock formations by continent.

Asia

Armenia

China

Hong Kong

• Amah Rock, New Territories
• Lion Rock, New Kowloon/New Territories

Jordan

• Petra, Amman
• Wadi Rum Desert

India

• Jabalpur Marble Rocks, Madhya Pradesh
• Rock Formations in Rayalseema Andhra Pradesh, Hampi Karnataka
• Yana

Israel

• Rosh Hanikra
• Timna Arch, Eilat
• Karnei Hattin

Lebanon

• Cape Lithoprosopon
• Raouché, Beirut

Mongolia

• Turtle Rock, Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, Töv Aimag/Nalaikh

Pakistan

• Rock formations at Hingol National Park

Thailand

• Lalu (ละลุ), rock formations caused by erosion at the eastern end of the Sankamphaeng Range in Sa Kaeo Province
• Phae Mueang Phi ("Ghost Canyon") near Phrae in the Phi Pan Nam Range
• Phu Phra Bat Buabok in Udon Thani Province

Turkey

• Paşabağı, Cappadocia
• Goreme National Park

Other countries

Africa

Kenya

• Tsavo Rocks

Libya

• Jebel Akhdar

Madagascar

• Andringitra Massif
• Tsingy d'Ankarana
• Tsingy de Bemaraha
• Tsingy de Namoroka
• Tsingy Rouge

Mauritania

• Ben Amera

Namibia

• Bogenfels

Nigeria

• Olumo Rock, Abeokuta
• Riyom Rock, Jos
• Zuma Rock, Abuja

South Africa

• Cedarberg Wilderness Area, Western Cape
• Kagga Kamma, Ceres, Western Cape
• Three Sisters (Northern Cape)

North America

United States

Canada

Caribbean

Mexico

• Sierra de Organos National Park, Sombrerete, Zacatecas
• Piedras Encimadas Valley, Zacatlán, Puebla
• Peña de Bernal, Bernal, Querétaro
• Copper Canyon, Chihuahua
• Los Arcos Rocks, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur
• Hierve el Agua, San Lorenzo Albarradas

Central America

• Bosque del Cabo, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
• Los Ladrillos, Boquete, Panama

South America

Argentina

• Quebrada de Humahuaca, Humahuaca
• Ongamira Valley, Córdoba
• Ischigualasto, San Juan Province
• Monte Fitz Roy, El Chalten

Bolivia

• Dali's Desert, Potosi
• Valle de Las Rocas, Uyuni
• Canon de Duene

Brazil

• Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain), Rio de Janeiro
• Ponta Grossa, Paraná
• Pedra do Jacaré (Aligator Stone), São Paulo
• Dedo de Deus (God's Finger Rock), Serra dos Órgãos, Rio de Janeiro
• Pedra do Cão Sentado, Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro
• Pedra da Galinha Choca, Quixadá, Ceará

Chile

• Valle de la Luna, Antofagasta
• Playa de la Calabocillos, Constitucion
• Silla del Diablo

Colombia

• El Peñón de Guatapé (La Piedra de Peñol), Antioquia
• Laguna de La Plaza, Sierra Nevada del Cocuy

Ecuador

• Cerro de Arcos, Loja
• Pinnacle Rock, Bartolome Island, Galápagos Islands

Falkland Islands

• Princes Street Stone Run

Paraguay

• Amambay

Peru

• Colca Canyon, Arequipa

Uruguay

• La Piedra Pintada, Parque Congreso de Abril

Venezuela

• Tepui, Roraima, Canaima National Park
• Piedras de San Martin, La Vela de Coro, Estado Falcón

Europe

Albania

Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Hajdučka vrata, Čvrsnica mountain

Bulgaria

• Basarbovo Monastery, Rousse
• Belogradchik Rocks
• Iskar Gorge, Sofia
• Melnik Earth Pyramids, Melnik
• Sozopol
• Wonderful Bridges
• Golden Bridges ('Zlatnite Mostove'), Vitosha
• Golyamata Gramada ('Big Pile'), Vitosha
• Pobiti Kamani

Croatia

• Paklenica
• Bijele stijene (White Rocks) and Samarske stijene (Samar Rocks), Velika Kapela mountain

Czech Republic

• Teplice nad Metují
• Medvědí Stezka (Bear's path), Šumava mountains, Klatovy
• Vraní skála, Brdy
• Suché skály, Turnov
• Hruboskalsko

Denmark

• Bornholm
• Fur Formation
• Møns Klint, Møn
• Gedser Odde, Gedser
• Stevns Klint, Eastern Zealand
• Cliffs of Sangstrup, Djursland

Estonia

• Vormsi island

Finland

• Närpes
• Naantali

France

• Roussillon, Vaucluse
• Lesconil, Brittany
• Les Calanche, Corsica
• Rocher des Doms, Avignon
• Étretat, Normandy
• Cassis, near Marseille, Provence

Georgia

• Katskhi Pillar

Germany

• List of rock formations in the Harz
• Battert Rocks, Baden-Baden, Black Forest
• Externsteine
• Falkenfelsen
• Lange Anna, Heligoland
• Rotenfels, Nahe, Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg, Rhineland-Palatinate
• Teufelsturm, Elbe Sandstone Mountains
• Wasgau

Greece

• Meteora
• Monemvasia
• Samaria Gorge, Crete
• Sarti, Sithonia

Gibraltar

• Rock of Gibraltar

Bailiwick of Guernsey

• Les Autelets, Sark, Channel Islands
• Telegraph Bay, Alderney, Channel Islands

Iceland

• Vestmannaeyjar
• Jokulsa Canyon National Park, Mývatn
• Dimmuborgir, Mývatn
• Dyrhólaey
• Eystrahorn, Hvalnes

Ireland

• Beara Peninsula, Bantry, County Cork
• Skellig Rocks, Iveragh Peninsula, County Kerry
• Gap of Dunloe, Killarney, County Kerry
• Tory Island, County Donegal
• Achill Island, County Mayo
• Answering Stone, County Waterford

Italy

• Il Gargano, Vieste, Apulia
• Palmarola, Sicily
• Pietra di Bismantova, Reggiano Apennines
• Valle Seriana, Bergamo, Lombardy
• Golfo di Orosei, Cala Luna, Monte Tiscali, Sardinia
• Tarpeian Rock
• The thrown stones, Lazio

Latvia

• Vidzeme
• Pusena Kalns, Bartava

North Macedonia

• Stone town of Kuklica
• Markovi Kuli

Malta

• Dwerja, Gozo
• Dingli Cliffs, Dingli

Isle of Man

• Glen Maye, Isle of Man

Norway

• Skude, Beiningen, Haugaland
• Geirangerfjord
• Preikestolen
• Kjerag
• Troll Wall
• Nigardsbreen, part of the larger glacier Jostedalsbreen
• Sommarøy, Tromsø
• Jutulhogget (Rondane)
• Trolltunga

Poland

• Cudgel of Hercules – monadrock in Ojców National Park
• Mnich
• Słoneczna
• Dolina Koscieliska, Western Tatras
• Dunajec Gorge, Zakopane

Portugal

• Ponta da Piedade, Lagos, Algarve
• Albufeira
• Porto Moniz, Madeira
• Ponta de Sao Lourenco, Madeira

Romania

• Apuseni Mountains: Detunatele
• Bucegi Mountains: Babele, The Sphinx
• Ciucaș Mountains: Porumbelul Bratocei, Colții Bratocei, Turnul Goliat, Babele la sfat, etc.
• Făgăraş Mountains: Fereastra zmeilor
• Hășmaș Mountains: Piatra singuratică
• Piatra Craiului Mountains: La zaplaz, Cerdacul Stanciului, Turnul/Degetul lui Anghelide
• Gorges: Bicaz Gorge, Turda Gorge, Danube's Iron Gate (includes Babacai Rock), Cheile Dobrogei, Cheile Sohodolului, Cheile Doftanei (aka Brebului)
• Piatra Secuiului in Alba County
• Piatra Verde (or Muntele Verde) and the Salt Mountain in Slănic
• Râpa Roșie

Russia

• The Three Brothers, Busani, Buryatia
• Kamen Shahtai, Lake Baikal
• Kisilyakh Range, Yakutia, topped by kigilyakh formations
• Kisilyakh-Tas, Yakutia, topped by kigilyakh formations
• Kontalaksky Golets, Zabaykalsky Krai
• Kyun-Tas, Yakutia, topped by kigilyakh formations
• Lena Cheeks, Irkutsk Oblast
• Lena Pillars, Yakutia
• Monrepo Park, Vyborg, St. Petersburg
• Stolby National Park, Krasnoyarsk Krai
• Sail Rock, Krasnodar Krai
• Taganay National Park, Chelyabinsk
• Ulakhan-Sis, Yakutia, topped by kigilyakh formations

Serbia

• Đavolja Varoš (Devil's Town)
• Prskalo waterfall, Kučaj mountains
• Vratna Gates three natural stone bridges
• Đavoljev kamen near Trgovište

Spain

• Los Roques de Garcia, Tenerife Island, Canary Islands
• Las Canades, Tenerife Island, Canary Islands
• Ciudad Encantada, Castilla–La Mancha
• Picuezo and Picueza, Autol, La Rioja
• Fuente de los Azulejos, Gran Canaria Island, Canary Islands
• El Torcal de Antequera and Peña de los Enamorados, Antequera, Andalusia, a World Heritages Sites
• Roque Nublo, Gran Canaria Island, Canary Islands
• Montserrat, Catalonia
• Roques de Benet, Ports de Beseit, Catalonia
• Los Callejones de Las Majadas, Serranía de Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha
• El Guerrero Romano, Sierra Carrascosa, Aragon
• Mallos de Riglos, Las Peñas de Riglos, Aragon
• Peña Bajenza in La Rioja
• Las Médulas, Province of León, site of Roman gold mines
• La Peña, Arcos de la Frontera, Andalusia
• Peñón de Ifach, Calpe, Valencian Community

Sweden

• The islands Gotland, Fårö and Öland have many coastal stretches with stack formations.
• Busten, Glaskogens Nature Reserve, Kalleboda
• Stegborgsgarden, Stegborg
• Stenhamra, Uppland

Switzerland

• Mount Pilatus
• Val dal Botsch

Slovakia

• Lehotské skaly, near Handlová
• Haligovské skaly, near Stará Ľubovňa
• Súľovské skaly (part of the Súľovské vrchy Mountains)
• Zelené Pleso Valley (in the High Tatras)
• Devin Castle, Devin

Ukraine

• Hoverla, Carpathian Mountains
• Nikita, Ukraine, Yalta
• Skaly Taraktasky, Crimea
• Karadag, Crimea
• Cape Fiolent, Sevastopol

United Kingdom

Oceania

Australia

• The Three Sisters, Katoomba – Blue Mountains, New South Wales
• Devils Marbles, Northern Territory
• Kata Tjuta, also known as The Olgas, Northern Territory
• Rainbow Valley, Northern Territory
• Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, Northern Territory
• Murphys Haystacks, Nullarbor Desert, South Australia
• Remarkable Rocks, South Australia
• Twelve Apostles, Great Ocean Road, Victoria
• Mount Augustus, Western Australia
• Pinnacles Desert, Nambung National Park, Western Australia
• Wave Rock, Hyden, Western Australia

New Zealand

• Castle Hill Basin, Canterbury
• Koutu Boulders, Hokianga
• Māori Bay giant pillow lava, Muriwai
• Lion Rock, Piha
• Moeraki Boulders, Otago
• The Nuggets, Catlins Coast, Otago
• Pancake Rocks, Punakaiki
• Putangirua Pinnacles, Wairarapa
• Stony Batter, Waiheke Island
• Truman Track Beach, Punakaiki
• Horeke basalts, Hokianga
• Gog and Magog, southern Stewart Island/Rakiura

Other countries

• Fatu Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia
• Moso's Footprint, Samoa
• Talava Arches, Niue, South Pacific

See also

• Formation of rocks – Process of rock formations
• List of landforms
• List of rock formations that resemble human beings
• List of rocks on Mars – Alphabetical list of named rocks and meteorites found on Mars
• Rock cycle – Transitional concept of geologic time

References

External links

• Media related to Rock formations at Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition of formation at Wiktionary

Articles connexes

1. List of rock formations in the United States
2. List of rock formations that resemble human beings
3. List of rock formations of New Zealand
4. List of rock formations in the United Kingdom
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