Sea Stacks: Natural Wonders

Sea stacks are natural wonders of the world. Many stacks are the result of volcanic action with lava flowing to the sea. After cooling, it becomes hardened as basalt overtime. The basalt is then buried under marine sediment for millions of years. As the climate shifts and sea-level recedes, rocks are revealed.

They are often steep and vertical and near coasts and formed by wave erosion.

The Dun Bristie Stacks are found in Downpatrick Head, County Mayo, Ireland. They are over 150 feet tall and formed over 350 million years ago. They are also called "Broken Forest" They are favored by birdwatchers and photographers for the variety of birds found there.

Some of the birds found on Dun Briste are Black-Backed Gulls, Kittiwakes, Cormorants, and Puffins.

Ten Famous Sea Stacks:

Dun Bristie, Ireland

Sail Rock, Russia

Old Man Hoy, Scotland

Risin og Kellingin, Faroe Island

Ko Tapu, Thailand

Ball's Pyramid

Kicker Rock, Ecuador

Old Harry, UK

The Twelve Apostles, Australia

Tri Brata, Russia

Ocean waves have tremendous energy and contribute to erosion. The sediment acts as sandpaper slowly eroding the rocks.

I spent some 30 years in Florida next to the ocean. There it was nothing but the flat sea and waves. Then I spent about a year in Brookings, Oregon, located along the southwest of Oregon. When I first saw the ocean there, I was shocked. The landscape of the coast was very, very different than in Florida.

It almost appeared as if the ice age threw huge boulders as they were scattered around. There are several sea stacks along the Oregon coast. I saw Arch Rock at Harris Beach Park just a few miles north of Brookings. Sea Stacks are genuinely wonders of our planet. They are simply magnificent!