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Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology / Large flat rock on mountain summit - natural or human made?
« on: 12/08/2018 05:43:58 »
Hi everyone,
I was hiking up a mountain, and, near the summit, noticed an area of rock that is surprising flat.
In the 1st picture, it's a little bit below in the centre of the photo. The 2nd picture shows it much closer. In the 3rd picture, I am standing on the flat area.
At first, I though that people had gone and cut off a section of the mountain to create a flat area. But when I stood on the flat area, I could not see any signs of human cutting - but if humans had cut the rock, maybe the signs have eroded away.
On the mountain, this is the only place where I saw this distinctive feature, and I want to know if this flatness was somehow made by human cutting, or by some natural process? If this was caused by some natural process, what kind of process would create such a flat area, in a place where everything else is irregularly shaped?
The elevation of the summit in the pictures is 1,449 m = 4,754 ft. The mountain is in the North American Pacific Northwest.
There are a few stacks of rock that are definitely made by people; but how did the large flat area come into being?
Thank you for your answers.
Jason
Picture 1.jpg (261.87 kB . 1500x877 - viewed 4047 times)
Picture 2.jpg (352.18 kB . 1500x884 - viewed 3933 times)
Picture 3.jpg (277.18 kB . 1500x884 - viewed 4047 times)
I was hiking up a mountain, and, near the summit, noticed an area of rock that is surprising flat.
In the 1st picture, it's a little bit below in the centre of the photo. The 2nd picture shows it much closer. In the 3rd picture, I am standing on the flat area.
At first, I though that people had gone and cut off a section of the mountain to create a flat area. But when I stood on the flat area, I could not see any signs of human cutting - but if humans had cut the rock, maybe the signs have eroded away.
On the mountain, this is the only place where I saw this distinctive feature, and I want to know if this flatness was somehow made by human cutting, or by some natural process? If this was caused by some natural process, what kind of process would create such a flat area, in a place where everything else is irregularly shaped?
The elevation of the summit in the pictures is 1,449 m = 4,754 ft. The mountain is in the North American Pacific Northwest.
There are a few stacks of rock that are definitely made by people; but how did the large flat area come into being?
Thank you for your answers.
Jason
Picture 1.jpg (261.87 kB . 1500x877 - viewed 4047 times)
Picture 2.jpg (352.18 kB . 1500x884 - viewed 3933 times)
Picture 3.jpg (277.18 kB . 1500x884 - viewed 4047 times)