Dolerite in the context of "Castle Rock (Edinburgh)"

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⭐ Core Definition: Dolerite

Diabase (/ˈd.əˌbs/), also called dolerite (/ˈdɒl.əˌrt/) or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grained to aphanitic chilled margins which may contain tachylite (dark mafic glass).

Diabase is the preferred name in North America, while dolerite is the preferred name in the rest of the English-speaking world, where sometimes the name diabase refers to altered dolerites and basalts. Some geologists prefer to avoid confusion by using the name microgabbro.

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👉 Dolerite in the context of Castle Rock (Edinburgh)

Castle Rock (Scottish Gaelic: Creag a' Chaisteil, Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [ˈkʰʲɾʲekˈaˈxaʃtʰʲɪl]) is a volcanic plug in the middle of Edinburgh upon which Edinburgh Castle sits. The rock is estimated to have formed some 350 million years ago during the early Carboniferous period. It is the remains of a volcanic pipe which cut through the surrounding sedimentary rock, before cooling to form very hard dolerite, a coarser-grained equivalent of basalt. Subsequent glacial erosion was resisted more by the dolerite, which protected the softer rock to the east, leaving a crag and tail formation.

The summit of the castle rock is 130 m (430 ft) above sea level, with rocky cliffs to the south, west and north, rearing up to 80 m (260 ft) from the surrounding landscape. This means that the only readily accessible route to the castle lies to the east, where the ridge slopes more gently. The defensive advantage of such a site is clear, but the geology of the rock also presents difficulties, since basalt is an extremely poor aquifer. Providing water to the Upper Ward of the castle was problematic, and despite the sinking of a 28 m (92 ft) deep well, the water supply often ran out during drought or siege, for example during the Lang Siege of 1573.

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Dolerite in the context of Alþingishúsið

Alþingishúsið (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈalˌθiɲcɪsˌhuːsɪθ], The Parliament House) is a classical 19th-century structure which stands by Austurvöllur in central Reykjavík, Iceland. It houses Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament. The building was designed by Ferdinand Meldahl and built using hewn Icelandic dolerite from 1880 to 1881.

The reliefs on the tympanums of the four outermost windows on the first floor represent the four landvættir of Iceland: a dragon, a vulture, a giant and a bull, momentarily appeased by Ingólfur Arnarson when he first landed in Iceland.

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Dolerite in the context of North Pole Dome

The Miralga impact structure is an impact structure in the Pilbara Craton of Western Australia. With an initially estimated age of around 3.47 billion years dating to the Paleoarchean, it has been suggested to be the oldest known impact structure on Earth by over a billion years and the only one known from the Archean.

The structure is found in the East Pilbara Terrane, one of the oldest parts of the Pilbara Craton. The structure lies on a geological dome called the North Pole Dome which was initially suggested to represent the central uplift of the structure. Evidence of the impact is shatter cones found in the Antarctic Creek Member, a 20 metres (66 ft) thick layer of sedimentary rock including "felsic to mafic volcaniclastic rocks, chert, argillite, arenite and jaspilite intruded by dolerite", sandwiched between overlying and underlying volcanic rocks of the Mount Ada Basalt Basalt, which is 2–3 kilometres (1.2–1.9 mi) thick.

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Dolerite in the context of Mount Wellington (Tasmania)

Mount Wellington, also known as kunanyi (/kˈnɑːnj/) in palawa kani and gazetted as kunanyi / Mount Wellington, is a mountain in the south-east of Tasmania, Australia. It is the summit of the Wellington Range and is within Wellington Park reserve. Hobart, Tasmania's capital city, is located at the foot of the mountain.

The mountain rises 1,271 metres (4,170 ft) above sea level and is sometimes covered by snow, even in summer, and the lower slopes are thickly forested, but crisscrossed by many walking tracks and a few fire trails. There is also a sealed narrow road to the summit, about 22 kilometres (14 mi) from Hobart central business district. An enclosed lookout near the summit has views of the city below and to the east, the Derwent estuary, and also glimpses of the World Heritage Area nearly 100 kilometres (62 mi) west. From Hobart, the most distinctive feature of Mount Wellington is the cliff of dolerite columns known as the Organ Pipes.

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Dolerite in the context of Smalls Lighthouse

Smalls Lighthouse is a lighthouse that stands on the largest of a group of wave-washed basalt and dolerite rocks known as The Smalls approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Marloes Peninsula in Pembrokeshire, Wales, and 8 miles (13 km) west of Grassholm. It was erected in 1861 by engineer James Douglass to replace a previous lighthouse which had been erected in 1776 on the same rock. It is the most remote lighthouse operated by Trinity House.

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Dolerite in the context of Pemulwuy, New South Wales

Pemulwuy is a suburb in Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Pemulwuy is located 30 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the Cumberland Council. Pemulwuy is home to the highest point between the Blue Mountains and Sydney, the summit of Prospect Hill.

The quarrying of blue metal, basalt and dolerite was abundant in the area in the past two centuries. Pemulwuy, formerly part of Prospect, is a relatively new suburb, with development beginning in 2004 on the site of a former Boral quarry and CSIRO sites.

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