Pinnacle (geology)

A pinnacle, tower, spire, needle or natural tower (German: Felsnadel, Felsturm or Felszinne) in geology is an individual column of rock, isolated from other rocks or groups of rocks, in the shape of a vertical shaft or spire.

Examples are the summits of the Aiguille du Midi in the Mont Blanc massif in France, the almost 43-metre-high Barbarine on the south side of the Pfaffenstein hill near Königstein in Germany, or the Bischofsmütze, the Drei Zinnen and the Vajolet Towers in the Dolomites, which are rich in such towers. An area of limestone formations within Nambung National Park, near the town of Cervantes, Western Australia, are also known as The Pinnacles.

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  Cerro Torre 3,133 m (south flank ~2,150 m), Patagonia, Argentina/Chile
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  The Barbarine (43 m high), Saxon Switzerland, Germany
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  The Vajolet Towers 2.790 m (main tower 120 m high), South Tyrol, Italy
• 
  Khao Ta Pu (known as James Bond Island) off Khao Phing Kan, Thailand
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  The Pinnacles, Nambung National Park, Western Australia
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  Small sandstone rock pinnacle at Yaverland, Isle of Wight, UK, formed as a result of cliff erosion
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  Top of the Rock Golf Course Limestone Pinnacles (excavated to a depth of 60 m in areas), Branson, Missouri, USA
• 
  Debre Sema'it rock church on the top of a pinnacle in Ethiopia

See also

• Hoodoo
• Kigilyakh
• Pyramidal peak
• Stack (geology)
• Totem pole (Monument Valley)
• Trango Towers

External links