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Straight Lines in Nature
Jul. 25th, 2009 11:09 amThere's a lot of myths out there which are accepted as truth by those with a casual education in the associated fields. One of them is that there are no straight lines in nature. This is demonstrable nonsense, even on a large scale. Look up The Devil's Postpile, a formation of long (as in tens of meters) crystals with hexagonal cross sections. Those are long and straight, and there are thousands of them.
Some types of rock naturally tend to cleave along straight lines. Under certain circumstances, this can create large blocks which the uninformed believe to be man made. When mud dries slowly it can contract into large, hexagonal blocks. After geological processes have turned this into stone and erosion as brought it back to the surface, the resulting layer of rock can look very much like a deliberately laid road or plaza.
Geologists often refer to a flat, uniform surface as a pavement. Unfortunately, most English speakers today only use the word in connection with streets and parking lots. So when a geologist refers to a layer of flat rock under water off the coast of an island in the Atlantic - especially when it has straight fracture lines (see above) - the ignoratti cry "They've found the lost continent of Atlantis and refuse to admit it!"
No, they've found natural straight lines. Deal with it.
Some types of rock naturally tend to cleave along straight lines. Under certain circumstances, this can create large blocks which the uninformed believe to be man made. When mud dries slowly it can contract into large, hexagonal blocks. After geological processes have turned this into stone and erosion as brought it back to the surface, the resulting layer of rock can look very much like a deliberately laid road or plaza.
Geologists often refer to a flat, uniform surface as a pavement. Unfortunately, most English speakers today only use the word in connection with streets and parking lots. So when a geologist refers to a layer of flat rock under water off the coast of an island in the Atlantic - especially when it has straight fracture lines (see above) - the ignoratti cry "They've found the lost continent of Atlantis and refuse to admit it!"
No, they've found natural straight lines. Deal with it.
