This article first appeared in Issue 16 of our devoid digital magazineCURIOUS .
A dramatic sight awaits anyone drifting near the shoring of the Isle of Staffa where a unequaled sea cave is carved into the rugged coastline . be intimate asFingal ’s Cave , its name comes from an Irish myth in which Fionn MacCumhaill , nicknamed Fingal for “ ashen stranger ” , migrate to Scotland from Ireland . Fingal was trust to be the Maker of theGiant ’s Causeway , which boasts a similarly hexangular aesthetical .
The Isle of Staffa is small and uninhabited , but it attracts lots of tourists each year who are draw to its particular , hexagonal - shaped basalt columns . Most of the columns are true hexagons with six sides , but five - sided and seven - sided pillar can also be regain , according to theScottish Geology Trust .
The cave has been nicknamed “nature’s cathedral”.Image credit: Donna Carpenter/Shutterstock.com
Fingal ’s hexagons were stacking up around 60 million years ago at a meter when the Atlantic Ocean was still taking shape . They ’re the resolution of what unfold when molten lava cools and contracts , breaking aside in an orderly fashion – which is more than can be said for us under pressure .
“ Imagine a huge flow of red-hot , liquid magma that is square up , ” positsArizona State University . “ The outer level is starting to chill and darken in colour from orange to black . As it cools , it necessitate to funk a bit , as hot textile usually take up more space than cool ones . Because of this shrinkage , the Earth’s surface of the lava start to snap . But this cracking is n’t always random . In this casing , the lava lead off to crock up into steady shapes . ”
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Hexagons are just one of the manypatterns that we see in nature , and the uniform magic of Fingal ’s Cave is a admonisher that you ca n’t hide from math – not even in adecaying bush .
Resembling a giant honeycomb , the gridded geometric pillars stretch to heights of 22 m ( 72 feet ) . Some say it also resembles a duomo , which run us to another quirk of Fingal ’s Cave .
It has a low-down sound as well as appearance thanks to its remarkable acoustical place . The unique shape of its columns signify speech sound reverberates unco , make an otherworldly audile experience that ’s earned the cave the nickname “ nature ’s duomo ” . It ’s also known in Gaelic as “ An Uamh Binn ” , meaning “ the cave of medicine ” .
Fingal ’s Cave inspired “ Hebrides Overture ” by composer Felix Mendelssohn , who visited the cave in 1829 . As it bechance , there are a few natural caves that have examine to be a striking with instrumentalist , just necessitate the gleam worms inNew Zealand ’s Waitomo Cave .
How to get there : you’re able to explore Fingal ’s Cave by gravy boat from Oban , or as part of a swimming tour that ’ll take you into its mouth . If you ’re golden , you might even spot a basking shark , but you should remain out of theirs .
CURIOUS magazineis a digital magazine from IFLScience featuring audience , expert , mysterious dives , fun facts , intelligence , book excerpts , and much more . Issue 19 is out now .
