The Devil's Playground
Keetmanshoop
Karas Region
South Namibia
June 15, 2024
Hello,
Geological Wonders of Namibia explains the The Devil's Playground as "a chaotic pile of huge dolorite blocks." **
"Giant Dyke Swarms (GDS), which naturally appear in very old geological formations, have been detected not only on Earth but also on Mars and Venus.
In times of great geodynamic activity, like the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean, pressurized magma violently fractures the crust, while simultaneously injecting itself through subsurface fractures, forming dykes. Some dykes reach the surface generating volcanic eruptions.
Giant Dyke Swarms are composed of a network of dykes. The presence of such a network is proof of extremely powerful geodynamic activity having taken place. Giant dykes typically exceed 30m in width and 100 km in length.
Dolorite is the name given to magma that has not reached the surface and has crystalized just below the crust. Most of the dykes in Namibia are dolorite dykes. Millions of years of weathering have eroded the top layers of crust that had originally buried them. They can appear as striking black lines that can run across mountain slopes.
When the country -or host- rock that surrounded the dykes has been totally eroded, the dykes appear as a chatic pile of huge dolorite blocks."
I get it! Buried. Eroded. Pile of blocks.
Chaotic yet playful.
Violent yet humbling.
Fractured yet peaceful.
Fascinating and beguiling.
Jan