Thanks for your response, yes that is one of four theories. Geologists have not come to a singular conclusion as far as I know, however. So the four competing formation theories are that it was a laccolith, a volcanic neck or plug - and more recently that it could have been a volcano that came in contact with ground water (Maar theory), or a stock. If you have further research I would like to read it!

I’m glad you asked! Devil’s tower is “one of a kind” because the formation of such features are rare. It consists of phonolite porphyry which is an intrusive igneous rock (meaning it formed from cooling magma inside the Earth). Most of the time when you see columnar jointing it is associated with basaltic igneous rocks which are much darker because they contain higher levels of Fe and Mg (mafic) compared to the more silica rich intermediate igneous rocks like the one in question. There are similar geological features, though, including some in Iceland and Scotland (see giants causeway) and as for the hexagonal shape it turns out nature just likes to naturally form them because its easy.
I guess to summarize, there are not many similar formations to compare Devil’s tower to, but those that do exist were formed from different magma (more mafic) and did not erode as gracefully as this formation.

Fun fact: this is the remains of an ancient volcano. The tower that you see here is what is left of a magma chamber or an intrusion of magma into the surrounding sedimentary rocks that solidified, creating hard igneous rock pillars (columnar joints). The rest of the volcano then weathered and eroded over a very long period of time leaving only the hardest rocks.

I’m writing a thesis that has significant support that the United States is and has, with the exception of about 30 years of progressive policy, been a plutocracy. The divisions in put country are by design. Division among racial lines, political affiliation, religious affiliation, professions, etc. are used to prevent the unification of the laboring class and dissuade us from collectively recognizing and challenging the status quo. The working people of this country have far more in common than not, but the political and moneyed class sow division via these wedge issues to prevent radical change - which would likely shift the US toward Scandinavian style social democracy.

I want to just write lol, but that doesn’t capture my actual laughter. I am glad to be here and hope these communities continue to grow and become a stable place that is unimpeded by corporate interests, data harvesting, and invasive monetization. But seriously, here’s a rat.

You can’t know everything, but someone knows what you don’t. Build a community and talk with people - ask questions and form relationships with other gardeners because the passion you feel is shared among many others.

Sounds frustrating. Thanks for doing what you do and letting us join your server! Hope the captcha works out.

I don’t miss a thing about reddit. I was using the platform for about 9 years and the whole debacle about who gets to profit off our content resulted in me moving to something less shitty. SO far, Lemmy has proven to be what the internet was before big corporations took over and I will stay here. I just started donating to the patreon for lemmy.world (or rather mastadon.world, but same dev) and I intend on staying here. I like the engagement so far and hope that the community sticks with this platform. Thanks to reddits malarkey I was introduced to the fediverse and for that I am thankful

Spot on. The “elites” and their puppets will not face consequences because they designed the system to benefit themselves. He will continue to be a corrupt parasite and make rulings that will take rights away from people not of the moneyed class.

We live in a plutocracy - the richest people in colonial US were the ones who wrote our governing documents and since then the government has been run by and for the wealthy. Clarence Thomas, although not born of the capitalist class, represents the power wealth wields in our republic. A person who makes rulings on the constitutionality of our laws should be beyond corruption, but here is a lifting of the veil on the reality we must face as citizens - we are almost powerless to stop this. He will not willingly step down, nor will congress obtain the necessary votes to impeach. I believe we will not have real change until the working people unite under a common banner and put a stop to the obvious and massive power imbalances in our republic.