Sequential fragmentation: The origin of columnar quasi-hexagonal patterns

Details Sequential fragmentation: The origin of columnar quasi-hexagonal patterns Sequential fragmentation: The origin of columnar quasi-hexagonal patterns

2000-03-17

arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0003312v2

Physics

Condensed Matter

Statistical Mechanics

8 pages, 8 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. E

Scientific paper

We present a model that explains the origin and predicts the statistical properties of columnar quasi-hexagonal crack patterns, as observed in the columnar jointing of basaltic lava flows. Irregular fractures appear at the surface of the material, induced by temperature gradients during cooling. At later times fractures penetrate into the material, and tend to form polygonal patterns. We show that this ordering can be described as a tendency to minimize an energy functional. Atomistic simulations confirm this interpretation. Numerical simulations based on a phenomenological implementation of this principle generate patterns that have remarkably good statistical agreement with real ones.

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