Mushroom rocks
Mushroom rocks are solitary rocks with a narrow base and a wide top that can arise through different processes under different climatic conditions.
In an arid climate , mushroom rocks are created by wind grinding close to the ground ( corrasion ): In an environment without vegetation, sandstorms occur, which process isolated rocks like a sandblasting blower . The heavier, larger, harder and therefore more abrasive grains of sand cannot be kept in suspension by the wind and therefore prefer to move near the ground, which means that the rock is abraded more sharply than further up, where more rock - the typical "mushroom cap" - is preserved remains.
In a humid climate , mushroom rock forms can arise as a result of different weathering and erosion resistances in the rock. The prerequisite is a less resistant layer overlaid by resistant rock in a single cliff. Such prerequisites are given above all in sedimentary rocks and especially in silicicoplastics .
Also fluvial erosion and coastal erosion (due to the surge ) can produce mushroom rock. The principle is the same as with mushroom rock in arid regions. The abrasive medium, which preferentially attacks the foot of the rock, is in this case not sand-laden wind, but sand- and gravel-laden flowing water.
Known mushroom rocks
- Kelchstein in the Zittau Mountains
- Hickelkopf in Saxon Switzerland
- Skalne Grzyby in the Heuscheuergebirge , Poland
- Devil's table in Franconian Switzerland
- Devil's table in the Palatinate Forest
- Rock table in the northern Vosges near Stürzelbronn , Lorraine
- Árbol de Piedra in the desert near Uyuni , Bolivia
- The Steinerne Agnes in the Lattengebirge above Hallthurm , Berchtesgadener Land district
