Order and disorder in columnar joints

Details Order and disorder in columnar joints Order and disorder in columnar joints

2005-01-03

arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0501015v1

Physics

Condensed Matter

Soft Condensed Matter

7 pages, 5 figures, will appear in Europhys. Lett. This arXiv version has smaller, somewhat blurrier figures. For a sharper ve

Scientific paper

Columnar joints are three-dimensional fracture networks that form in cooling basalt and several other media. The network organizes itself into ordered, mostly hexagonal columns. The same pattern can be observed on a smaller scale in desiccating starch. We show how surface boundary conditions in the desiccation of starch affect the formation of columnar joints. Under constant drying power conditions, we find a power law dependence of columnar cross-sectional area with depth, while under constant drying rate conditions this coarsening is eventually halted. Discontinuous transitions in pattern scale can be observed under constant external conditions, which may prompt a reinterpretation of similar transitions found in basalt. Starch patterns are statistically similar to those found in basalt, suggesting that mature columnar jointing patterns contain inherent residual disorder, but are statistically scale invariant.

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