One of the oddest features of a volcanic landscape are stretches of weird hexagonal blocks of basalt, fractured lava beds that look like bundles of straws, or floor tiles. The columns look man-made; indeed, in at least one place in Iceland, people discovering the tops of the columns in a field thought they had found an ancient church floor, the “tiles” were so regular. (Kirkugolf).

The escarpment is about 2km long, stretching along parallel to the road, and at its tallest point stands about 50m tall. The columns are mostly hexagonal, although a few have four sides and a few have up to twelve. The basaltic columns are formed when lava cools slowly, splitting along fault-lines internally into tall columns. Depending on the speed of the cooling, the columns can be huge or spindly.

These distinctive columns show up all over the world. We’ve seen them at the Giant’s Causeway, Fingal’s Cave, and along volcanic rifts throughout Europe and in America.