What is the tallest rock in the world? How tall is it and where is it located? Ball's Pyramid is the largest rock in the sea (8 photos) What is the tallest rock in the world

We have already looked at the highest blank wall near skyscrapers, here it is, and now let’s move on to natural objects.

Mount Thor ( official name Thor Peak is a granite peak recognized as the highest vertical slope in the world. The slope is located in national park Auyuittuq on Baffin Island (Canada). The height of the peak is 1250 meters, and the slope of the wall is 105 degrees.

Take a look and find out more about it...-

The height of the peak reaches 1250 m, and the slope of the wall is 105 degrees. For comparison, for example, the Burj Khalifa reaches a height of 828 meters, the Eiffel Tower - 324 meters, the CN Tower - 553 meters, and the Empire State Building - 381 meters.

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Mount Thor, of course, is not the most high mountain in the world, but despite its rather remote location, it is very popular among numerous climbers and thrill-seekers who come to this place to overcome difficult route climb, listen to the sound of the blizzard and merge with pristine nature.

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Tor Peak is made of granite and is part of mountain range Baffin, and those, in turn, are part of the majestic mountain range of the Arctic Cordillera. Mount Thor is Canada's most popular peak.

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The first to reach the top of the slope were members of the Alpine Club of Canada. This happened in 1965 under the leadership of the famous climber Pat Baird. And in the summer of 2006, with the help of special climbing equipment, the first successful descents from the steep slope of Mount Tor were carried out.

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The most favorable months for climbing Tor Peak are July and August. Conquest is impossible without good preparation and a serious approach. A successful climb requires experience, special equipment, and the importance of logistics and good weather conditions should not be underestimated.

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I can also remind you of some interesting rock formations: look at this spectacular one or like this

We have already looked at the highest blank wall near skyscrapers, here it is, and now let’s move on to natural objects.

Mount Thor (officially known as Thor Peak) is a granite peak recognized as the highest vertical slope in the world. The slope is located in Auyuittuq National Park on Baffin Island (Canada). The height of the peak is 1250 meters, and the slope of the wall is 105 degrees.

Take a look and find out more about it...

Photo 3.

Mount Thor, of course, is not the highest mountain in the world, but, despite its rather remote location, it is very popular among numerous climbers and thrill-seekers who come to this place to overcome a difficult climbing route, listen to the sound of a blizzard and merge with the pristine nature.

Photo 4.

Thor Peak is made of granite and is part of the Baffin mountain range, which in turn is part of the majestic Arctic Cordillera mountain range. Mount Thor is Canada's most popular peak.

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Monolithic rocks are natural formations, of which there are few on planet Earth. By visiting them during your upcoming summer vacation, you will learn a lot of interesting things about the past of the Earth and what awaits our planet in the future.

Uluru (Ayers)

Uluru (Ayers) is located in Australia, the rock is located three hundred thirty-five kilometers from the city of Alice Springs, it is the largest monolith in the world, consisting of sandstone. The rock constantly changes its color depending on its lighting, so at sunset (Ayers) it acquires a purple or blue color and fiery red in the morning during sunrise.

Torres del Paine (translated: Three Blue Towers) received and national park in Chile, where the rocks are located. The park is located in the southern part of the Patagonia region. The rocks are located in the central part of the park and are one of its attractions. The three granite Pine Towers were formed during the Ice Age by a combination of large amounts of natural factors. According to scientists, it was glacial ice that played a key role in the formation of three giant monolithic granite needles. The tallest monolith has a height of two thousand meters above the surface of the plain and two thousand eight hundred and fifty meters above sea level. In 1959, the park was declared a UNESCO biosphere reserve.

Rock of Gibraltar or Mount Tariqa

The Rock of Gibraltar is four hundred twenty-six meters high. The monolith is located in the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula in the Strait of Gibraltar. The rock is located in Gibraltar, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The Rock of Gibraltar is one of the Pillars of Hercules. In antiquity, this concept was used to designate the hills framing the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. The rock consists of limestone, the rock is quite porous, for this reason the rock is gradually destroyed under the influence of natural factors, water, wind and temperature changes. It is noteworthy that a species of Barbary macaques lives on the rock. Naturally, this place is a protected area, and to visit it you must obtain the appropriate permission. This species of primate is the only one in Europe.

Pena de Bernal is one of the largest monoliths in the world. Translated, the name of the monolith means “Bernal Peak”. The monolithic rock is located in Mexico in the state of Queretaro. The height of the rock is three hundred and fifty meters above the surrounding area and two thousand five hundred and ten meters above the level of the world ocean. Experts say that the monolith was formed about a hundred million years ago during the Jurassic period.

El Capitan

El Capitan is one of the largest monoliths in North America, it is located in Yosemite National Park in California, USA. The peak of the mountain is located at an altitude of nine hundred and ten meters above Yosemite Valley and at an altitude of two thousand three hundred and seven meters above sea level. The rock is composed mainly of granite, and on the eastern slope of El Capitan there is a waterfall, the name of which reflects its “Horse Tail” shape. The rock is very popular among both climbers and tourists. The first ascent to the top of the mountain took place in 1958 and lasted forty-seven days. Currently using modern equipment allows you to climb in a matter of hours. BASE jumping founder Karl Boenisch made his first jump from Mount El Capitan. This event took place in 1978.

The Ben Amer monolith is located in Mauritania, it is located in the middle of the sandy desert, away from tourist routes. The height of the rock is four hundred meters above the surface of the plain, it consists of a monolith of black granite. Despite the fact that its height is only four hundred meters, the monolith ranks second in the world in terms of its overall size.

Devil's Tower

The height of the rock is three hundred eighty-six meters above the surrounding area. The tower is located in the USA in northeastern Wyoming, in Crook County. Devils Tower was declared a US National Monument by US President Roosevelt. This event took place in 1906 and became the largest national monument that exists in the United States of America. The mountain gained worldwide fame after films were released one after another in which Devils Tower appeared in the background. The tower became especially famous after Steven Spielberg filmed a film near the tower and himself played one of the main roles in 1977. The monolith has an unusually regular shape. Because of this, it was believed for a long time that it was artificial structure. But who could have created a man-made pyramid with a height of three hundred and eighty meters two hundred million years ago, and it was during this period, according to scientists, that the tower appeared. It was decided to attribute the creation of the tower to the devil's creations. Scientific research has proven that the tower is a monolith of volcanic origin.

Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is not just the largest monolithic rock in the world, but at the same time the oldest among similar monoliths. It is approximately 680 million years old. And it is located almost in the middle of Australia - in the state of Northern Territory, near the city of Alice Springs.

This huge sandstone stone has simply incredible dimensions: almost 350 meters in height and as much as nine kilometers in circumference.

And that's not the most amazing thing! Tourists are attracted here by the remarkable ability of Mount Uluru to change color depending on how the sun's rays fall on it.

In the morning, when dawn comes, the rock is painted in dark purple tones, but by noon its color becomes golden, then orange, increasingly acquiring terracotta notes. By sunset, Ayers Rock darkens again, plunging into gray-brown tones. Sometimes the color of the rock is closer to blue and light blue shades.

And although such a play of light is not at all uncommon for mountains (just look at the paintings of Nicholas Roerich to be convinced of the whimsical coloring mountain landscapes), but Uluru is striking in such changes because it stands alone in the middle of a huge desert plain, from which nothing like this happens.

Of course, scientists have often wondered where a huge monolith could have come from in such a flat landscape. Various versions have been put forward, including the celestial origin of the rock: a meteorite crashed into the desert, remaining there forever.

However, a more plausible theory claims that Ayers Rock is the surviving link of an ancient mountain range, named after the famous German cartographer Petermann. Over millions of years, the rock weathered, and only a monolithic rock was able to resist for so long, although it was subject to significant erosion, acquiring a rounded outline.

Naturally, the rock, carried around by the wind, did not disappear from the mainland. It turned into small stones and grains of sand, distributed evenly throughout the plateau, and the ridge seemed to “sink” into them, leaving the very top, which now differs little in appearance from ancient volcanic rock outcrops. In size, perhaps. Geologists call such monoliths remnants.

The aborigines of the Anangu tribe, who have lived here since ancient times, consider the rock sacred. They gave it the name Uluru. When linguists tried to find out what this word means in translation from the language of the local population, it turned out that besides this rock itself, it does not mean anything else, but is also found among them as a human name.

But with the second name, Ayers Rock, everything is much simpler. So in honor of the then governor South Australia Henry Ayers, the mountain was named by William Goss, the British explorer who was the first European to climb the summit of Uluru and compiled detailed description rocks. And this is exactly how this miracle of nature was officially called until the 70s of the 20th century, when, after numerous appeals local residents the authorities returned the mountain to its original name.

Well, let's come closer to the rock. On its slopes you can see numerous furrows and almost round deep potholes. According to ancient Aboriginal legend, the latter are nothing more than the footprints of the giant dog Kura-Punya. She left them, approaching the camp of the hunters, who in a few minutes were themselves to become the prey of a predatory dog the size of a house.

However, the hunters were saved by a suddenly screaming kookaburra. This is an Australian bird that is also called the laughing kingfisher, because its cry resembles human laughter. And, thanks to the voice of this bird, people managed to escape from the gigantic predator. Apparently, their kookaburra is like our magpie: if anything goes wrong, it will immediately warn you.

But even the legend only explains the presence of dents on the slopes. And it still remains unclear who lined the entire rock so smoothly with parallel grooves? The depth of the furrows reaches two meters, and this relief is considered unique. However, something similar exists much closer to us - in the Ukrainian steppe, in the Kamennye Graves reserve, which was described in the previous post.

There is also something that Ayers Rock has in common with the amazing Russian landmark - Blue Stone. This is the already mentioned ability of the mountain to change color with the weather. This feature played an important role in the fact that both natural attractions have long been places of religious worship.

However, the veneration of Mount Uluru by the aborigines can also be explained from a utilitarian point of view. If we take into account the arid climate in Australia in general, and even more so in desert areas located far from the coast, it becomes clear why a mountain that provided shade and moisture began to be considered sacred.

Moreover, in the rock there are not only caves where you can immerse yourself in the coolness, but also underground lakes, fed by rainwater and springs penetrating through the cracks. And everyone knows what value water has in the desert.

Today Ayers Rock is official Aboriginal property, leased to the authorities, for which local tribes receive 20 percent of the value entrance tickets to the national park plus 75 thousand dollars annually. At the same time, although the natives put up with what is happening, they still consider it sacrilege for tourists to climb to the top.

Exactly punishment higher powers they explained that in the past, curious travelers periodically fell asleep during the ascent and even fell to their death. However, today in the most dangerous places metal railings were installed, and the number of falls from the cliff was reduced to almost zero.

True, almost every year one of the tourists who set out to conquer the peak dies of a heart attack. And this can be explained mystically. But, perhaps, it is more reasonable to say that it is better not to climb for two hours under the scorching sun without minimal physical preparation, and even more so without wearing a hat that properly protects from the sun and if you have any heart problems.

And so, if you are not superstitious, you can safely rush to the top, where an unforgettable view of the endless desert opens up.

The tallest vertical cliff in the world

We have already looked at the highest blank wall near skyscrapers, here it is - The tallest blank wall in the world, and now let’s move on to natural objects.

Take a look and find out more about it...

Thor Peak is made of granite and is part of the Baffin mountain range, which in turn is part of the majestic Arctic Cordillera mountain range. Mount Thor is Canada's most popular peak.

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