Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: William J. Toman
Taken: August 12, 2010
Caption: Related Marker on Tower Trail at Devils Tower
Additional Description:
All Cracked Up

Devils Tower is composed of symmetrical columns which are the tallest (some more than 600 feet) and widest (10 to 20 feet) in the world. Along this trail, columns lie toppled among the pine trees. Notice the shape of the columns. They are 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-sided. Look up at the face of the Tower. Try to imagine where the columns once stood.

Caption for first, "Stress Points," diagram: As the magma (molten rock) cooled and solidified, it shrunk and formed stress points.

Caption for second, "Cracks," diagram: To release the stress, the rock began to crack. These cracks grew outward from a central point in three directions at 120-degree angles.

Caption for third, "Columns," diagram: The cracks continued to grow outward and downward, eventually intersecting with other cracks to form columns. The cracks tended to create six-sided columns--nature's tightest and strongest fit.
Submitted: August 15, 2010, by William J. Toman of Green Lake, Wisconsin.
Database Locator Identification Number: p122804
File Size: 3.601 Megabytes

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