Order and disorder in columnar joints

Goehring, L ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3858-7295 and Morris, SW, 2005. Order and disorder in columnar joints. Europhysics Letters (EPL), 69 (5), pp. 739-745. ISSN 0295-5075

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Abstract

Columnar joints are three-dimensional fracture networks that form in cooling basalt and several other media. The network organizes itself into ordered, mostly hexagonal columns. The same pattern can be observed on a smaller scale in desiccating starch. We show how surface boundary conditions in the desiccation of starch affect the formation of columnar joints. Under constant drying power conditions, we find a power law dependence of columnar cross-sectional area with depth, while under constant drying rate conditions this coarsening is eventually halted. Discontinuous transitions in pattern scale can be observed under constant external conditions, which may prompt a reinterpretation of similar transitions found in basalt. Starch patterns are statistically similar to those found in basalt, suggesting that mature columnar jointing patterns contain inherent residual disorder, but are statistically scale invariant.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Europhysics Letters (EPL)
Creators:	Goehring, L. and Morris, S.W.
Publisher:	EDP Sciences
Date:	March 2005
Volume:	69
Number:	5
ISSN:	0295-5075
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1209/epl/i2004-10408-x DOI
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	05 Sep 2016 10:59
Last Modified:	16 Oct 2017 14:25
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28384

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