List of rock formations

A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term rock formation can also refer to specific sedimentary strata or other rock unit in stratigraphic and petrologic studies.

Rocks formations and the Dedo de Deus (God's Finger) peak in the background, Serra dos Órgãos National Park, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil

Raouché or Pigeons' Rock in Beirut, Lebanon

Druid Arch, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, USA

View of Meteora, Greece

Rock formations in Ongamira Valley, Sierras de Córdoba, Argentina

Belogradchik Rocks, Balkan Mountains, Bulgaria

"Jaws", an erosional fin in Little Finland, Nevada, USA

"Hajdučka vrata" on Čvrsnica, Herzegovina

Paklenica, Croatia

Hoodoos in Devil's Town, Serbia

A rock structure can be created in any rock type or combination:

• Igneous rocks are created when molten rock cools and solidifies, with or without crystallization. They may be either plutonic bodies or volcanic extrusives. Again, erosive forces sculpt their current forms.
• Metamorphic rocks are created by rocks that have been transformed into another kind of rock, usually by some combination of heat, pressure, and chemical alteration.
• Sedimentary rocks are created by a variety of processes but usually involving deposition, grain by grain, layer by layer, in water or, in the case of terrestrial sediments, on land through the action of wind or sometimes moving ice. Erosion later exposes them in their current form.

Geologists have created a number of terms to describe different rock structures in the landscape that can be formed by natural processes:

• Butte
• Cliff
• Escarpment
• Gorge
• Inselberg, or monadnock
• Mesa
• Peak
• Promontory
• River cliff
• Sea cliff
• Stack
• Stone run
• Tor

Here is a list of rock formations by continent.