A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock, such as some mountains. Erosion usually exposes the geological formations, which are often made of very hard and solid igneous or metamorphic rock. Some monoliths are volcanic plugs, solidified lava filling the vent of an extinct volcano. In architecture, the term has considerable overlap with megalith, which is normally used for prehistory, and may be used in the contexts of rock-cut architecture that remains attached to solid rock, as in monolithic church, or for exceptionally large stones such as obelisks, statues, monolithic columns or large architraves, that may have been moved a considerable distance after quarrying. It may also be used of large glacial erratics moved by natural forces. The word derives, via the Latin monolithus, from the Ancient Greek word μονόλιθος (monólithos), from μόνος (mónos) meaning "one" or "single" and λίθος (líthos) meaning "stone".
Geological monoliths Large, well-known monoliths include:
Africa Aso Rock, Nigeria Ben Amera, Mauritania Brandberg Mountain, Namibia Sibebe, Eswatini Zuma Rock, Nigeria Mount Lubiri, Angola Mount Poi, Kenya Great Sphinx of Giza Oruku Rock, Ososo, Edo State, Nigeria
Antarctica Scullin monolith
Asia
Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India Gilbert Hill, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Kailasa temple, Ellora, Maharashtra, India Namakkal Fort, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India Malaikottai, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India St. Thomas Mount, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Bellary Fort, Bellary, India Madhugiri Betta, Karnataka, India Yana, Karnataka, India Bhongir, Telangana, India Ekasila, Warangal, India Mount Kelam, Indonesia Mount Pico de Loro, Philippines Mount Pulumbato, Philippines Sangla Hill, Pakistan Savandurga, Karnataka, India Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
Australia Bald Rock, near Tenterfield, New South Wales Mount Augustus (Burringurrah), Western Australia (NOTE: this is not actually monolith as popularly claimed, but, rather, a monocline) Mount Coolum, Queensland Mount Wudinna, South Australia Pine Mountain, Victoria Uluru, Northern Territory
Europe
Kalamos, Anafi, Greece Katskhi Pillar, Georgia Levski G., Sofia, Bulgaria Logan Rock, Treen, Cornwall, United Kingdom Monolithe de Sardières, Sollières-Sardières, France Penyal d'Ifac, Calpe, Valencian Community, Spain Peña de Arcos, Arcos de la Frontera, Andalusia, Spain Peña de los Enamorados, Antequera, Andalusia, Spain (a World Heritage Site) Rauk, Sweden Rock of Gibraltar, Gibraltar Rock of Monaco, Monaco-Ville, Monaco Rock Cappa, San Luca, Italy
North America
United States
Angels Landing, Zion National Park, Utah Beacon Rock, Columbia River Gorge, Washington Bottleneck Peak, Sids Mountain, Utah Castle Rock, Pineville, West Virginia Chimney Rock, Bayard, Nebraska Chimney Rock, Chimney Rock, North Carolina Courthouse and Jail Rocks, Bridgeport, Nebraska Devils Tower, Wyoming El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California Enchanted Rock, Llano County, Texas Frog Woman Rock, Mendocino County, California Great White Throne, Zion National Park, Utah Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California Haystack Rock, Clatsop County, Oregon Looking Glass Rock, Transylvania County, North Carolina Moro Rock, Sequoia National Park, California Quincy Quarries Reservation, Quincy, Massachusetts Scotts Bluff National Monument, Gering, Nebraska Shiprock, San Juan County, New Mexico Stone Mountain, Stone Mountain, Georgia Stone Mountain, Stone Mountain, North Carolina Tooth of Time, Cimarron, New Mexico Wolf Rock, Linn County, Oregon
Canada Stawamus Chief, Squamish, British Columbia Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, Quebec' ' '
Mexico La Peña de Bernal, Queretaro; claimed to be the world's third-largest monolith Las Piedrotas, near the town of Tapalpa, Jalisco.
South America
Cochamó Valley, Several granitic monoliths, Chile El Peñón, also known as El Peñol Stone or simply La Piedra, Colombia Pão de Açúcar, Brazil Pedra da Gávea, Brazil the world's largest monolith on the coastline Pedra da Galinha Choca, Brazil Torres del Paine, Chile
Outside Earth Phobos monolith on Phobos Mars monolith
Monumental monoliths
A structure which has been excavated as a unit from a surrounding matrix or outcropping of rock.
Aztec calendar stone – "Stone of the Sun" The Church of Saint George in Lalibela, Ethiopia – one of a number of monolithic churches in Ethiopia. The vast monoliths which went into the walls of Osaka Castle, Japan. Coyolxauhqui Stone – an Aztec monolith Ellora Caves – UNESCO World Heritage Site Great Sphinx of Giza – "The Egyptian Sphinx" Gommateshwara statue of Bahubali at Sravanabelagola, Carnataca, India Obelisks – both ancient obelisks and modern obelisks Ogham stones – inscribed standing stones throughout Ireland Vishapakar – ancient dragon stones in the Armenian highlands Runestones Standing stones Stelae Stone circle Stone of the Pregnant Woman, Baalbek Stonehenge in present-day England The Longstones (or "the Devil's Quoits") in Avebury, Wiltshire, England Architecture of Vijayanagar in present-day south India
See also
References
External links
Regarding Uluru/Ayers Rock and earlier representations of it as the largest monolith: GA.gov.au, ABC.net.au, Wayoutback.com.au