8. Giant’s Causeway: The Coastline That Looks Assembled From Building Blocks
Location: Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Nature is excellent at making irregular shapes, which is why this coastline looks so suspicious. Tightly packed stone columns rise in steps beside the sea. Many have six sides, giving parts of the surface the appearance of a giant honeycomb pavement.
The columns formed as ancient lava cooled, contracted, and cracked. The cracks divided the rock into a network of pillars. Their heights and shapes vary, and the occasional column with a different number of sides helps break the illusion that someone ordered them from the same factory.
Around 40,000 basalt columns make up the famous causeway. Some form broad platforms; others stack into taller walls and steps. The overall effect is remarkably architectural, especially where the formations meet the moving water. It is easy to understand why a landscape this orderly inspired stories about a giant. The geological explanation is wonderful in its own way: cooling rock can organize itself into something that looks deliberately constructed.
