Famous Rocks / Geological formations

1.      Pilgrim’s Rock - 41°57′30″N 70°39′43″W

The rock is a memorial tribute to mark the landing of the 1^st pilgrims landed in Mayflower, USA marked 1620. It is a SYANITE a rare type of igneous rock and is memorialized on the shore of Plymouth Harbor in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It is usually found at where a continent was rifted apart by tectonic movement. This is touted to have been transported through glacial moments all the way from the nearby Cape Ann.

Ref: http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s5_7108.html

2.      Mount Rushmore - 43°52′44.21″N 103°27′35.37″W

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States. Sculpted by Danish-American Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln Borglum, Mount Rushmore features 60-foot (18 m) sculptures of the heads of four United States presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

3.      Statue of Gudeau - 48°51′40″N 2°20′11″E

Gudea was a ruler (ensi) of the state of Lagash in Southern Mesopotamia who ruled ca. 2144 - 2124 BC. His statue, now in Louvre Museum is carved out of Diorite an igneous rock that was sourced preciously from the Sultanate of Oman. Oman is blessed with a huge Ophiolite layer obduction which now contains an exposed suite of oceanic igneous rocks.

Ref: http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/gudea-prince-lagash-seated-statue-dedicated-god-ningishzida

4.      Devil’s Tower - 44°35′26″N 104°42′56″W

It is an igneous intrusion or volcanic lava plug located in the northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It is 5,114 feet (1,559 m) above sea level. It is the first declared United States National Monument, and encloses an area of 1,347 acres. During the Paleogene Period, around 50 to 60 million years ago, the Rocky Mountains and the Black Hills were uplifted and the magma rose through the crust, intruding into the existing sedimentary rock layers forming these volcanic plug.

5.      Giant Causeway - 55°14′27″N 6°30′42″W

The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. The columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea located in County Antrim on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland . Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven or eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres thick in places.

Also read about Fingal's caves in Staff Island here: http://www.southernhebrides.com/staffa.html 

Ref:  http://www.giantscausewayofficialguide.com/

6.      Code of Hammurabi - 48°51′40″N 2°20′11″E

The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved Babylonian law code of ancient Mesopotamia, dating back to about 1754 BC. It is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world carved in rock. The most complete code is carved on a diorite stele in the shape of a huge index finger 2.25 metre tall. The Code is inscribed in the Akkadian language, using cuneiform script carved into the stele. It is currently on display in the Louvre.

Ref: http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-hammurabis-code

7.      Ayer’s Rock - 25°20′42″S 131°02′10″E

Uluru or Ayers Rock is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory in central Australia. It lies 335 km (208 mi) south west of the nearest large town, Alice Springs. Uluru is sacred to the Anangu, the Aboriginal people of the area. The area around the formation is home to a plethora of springs, waterholes, rock caves, and ancient paintings. Uluru is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The rock is composed of coarse-grained arkose (a type of sandstone characterized by an abundance of feldspar) and some conglomerate. 

Ref: http://uluru-australia.com/about-ayers-rock/