Granite dome

[1] As granitic plutons cool kilometers below the Earth's surface, minerals in the rock crystallize under uniform confining pressure.The most popular hypothesis is that they are the result of expansion and tangential fracturing consequent on erosional offloading or pressure release.Granite forms deep in the Earth's crust under conditions of high ambient or lithostatic pressure.In order for the granite to be exposed at the Earth's surface a considerable thickness of rock must be eroded.This is the case with some granite domes but the fracture related exfoliation joints are what controls the steep slopes.
Mount Bulka, a granite monolith in Bayanaul National Park , Kazakhstan.
Bayanaul National ParkdomicalgranitebornhardtsgneissplutonsErosionfracturesexfoliation jointsradial stressSugarloaf MountainRio de JaneiroBrazilLiberty CapYosemite National ParkCaliforniaUnited StatesStone MountainGeorgiaBald Rock National ParkCorcovadoEl CapitanExfoliating graniteEnchanted RockFresno DomeGranite BeltGranite DomeHalf DomeHuangshanLooking Glass RockStawamus ChiefTwidale, C. R.Bibcode