Huasca de Ocampo, Mexico, March 25, 2007

Year: 2007 (March 25, 2007)

11″ x 8.5″

Media: Canon® Pro Platinum High Gloss Photo Paper

Printers: Canon® PIXMA

Color

Art: Photo

Artist: Luc Paquin

Huasca de Ocampo

Prismas Basálticos

Basalt is a dark, fine-grained, basic (low silica) igneous rock, often extruded as molten lava from volcanic fissures. Its low silica content means it can flow easily, often building up over the years to form large plateaus. As the basaltic lava cools, it contracts and solidifies. An extensive network of cracks often develop in basalt, which may extend many meters deep. These cracks tend to leave columns between them which are roughly hexagonal (6-sided) in shape.

The best known location in Mexico to see basalt columns is about an hour’s drive north of Mexico City, at Santa María Regla, in the state of Hidalgo. These columns, attractively located on the side of a canyon, with a waterfall tumbling over some of them, were visited by the famous Prussian scientist/geographer Alexander von Humboldt, during his exploration of Mexico in 1803-04. Some individual columns are 40 meters tall.

Luc