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Dikes cross-cutting lava flows, near Kalalau, Kaua‘i
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The axis of one of the Wai‘anae Volcano rift zones is exposed in the cliff at Kāneana. Farrington Hwy. Makua cave
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Dike rock is usually more resistant to erosion than the lava flows that the dikes are cutting through. They end up standing above the more- eroded flows to form narrow blade-like ridges. Dikes exposed in the eroding wall of Haleakalā crater, E. Maui
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DIKE DIMENSIONS 10s of km Dike Length: the distance from the magma chamber to the eruption site (can be 30-40 km, or more) Dike Height: the distance from the deepest to the shallowest rock- breaking earthquakes during a dike-propagation event (usually 1-3 km) 1-3 km Dike Width: measured in old, eroded volcanoes (usually ~1 m) ~1 m
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Dikes often show columnar jointing, and because dikes are essentially vertical (and therefore have ~vertical cooling surfaces), their columnar joints are ~horizontal. It is these pre-broken fragments of dense dike rock that were often made into adzes by Polynesians. Dikes in Waihānau valley, E. Moloka‘i
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A dike cutting diagonally across lava flows on Kaua‘i Notice that even though the dike margins are at a strange angle, the cooling joints are still perpendicular to the margins
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Hundreds of dikes exposed in Kapa‘a Quarry, O‘ahu
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Dikes cutting through weathered flows, H-3 roadcut, Kāne‘ohe
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Mud cracks illustrate, in 2-d, the process of volume contraction. As the mud dries, its clay minerals contract, eventually pulling away from one another when the contraction stress exceeds the mud strength.
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In a lava flow, extend the mud crack process into the third dimension, and you have columnar joints
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Here, on the S. flank of E. Maui volcano, the tops of the columns are exposed in a gully. The surface is not horizontal because the flow itself was emplaced on a slope; the columns are almost always perpendicular to the cooling surface.
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Kepuni Gulch, East Maui
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Giant’s Causeway, Ireland http://www.gaschurman.com/world/europe/northern%20ireland/giant%20causeway/slides/giant%20causeway%2013.jpg
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Devil’s tower (Wyoming), a remnant of a thick lava flow or dome, is probably the most famous example of columnar jointed rock in the USA. Photos by Steve Mattox, from: http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_america/devils_tower.html
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