Friday, January 28, 2011

One Way Split Wedged Boulders Happen

Ted Hendrickson writes:
We were walking in the Groton, CT woods last month and came upon a interesting phenomenon. I saw a large erratic that had a split, so went to investigate for any wedged rocks. I was surprised to capture this natural process.
A small sapling had started growing in a crack on the right boulder, very near the split. The root system had recently gotten big enough to split away a chunk of rock into the opening, probably with the help of the recent freezing temperatures. The rock's natural faults are vertical, a you can see.From above you can see the root mat that forced the opening and allowed the water penetration and freeze expansion to take place.
This certainly does not explain many other examples that clearly look intentional, but it was interesting to see this very clear evidence of a natural mechanism at work.

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