Pinnacle (geology)

A pinnacle, tower, spire, needle or natural tower (German: Felsnadel, Felsturm or Felszinne) in geology is an individual column of rock, isolated from other rocks or groups of rocks, in the shape of a vertical shaft or spire.

Examples are the summits of the Aiguille du Midi in the Mont Blanc massif in France, the almost 43-metre-high Barbarine on the south side of the Pfaffenstein hill near Königstein in Germany, or the Bischofsmütze, the Drei Zinnen and the Vajolet Towers in the Dolomites, which are rich in such towers.

• 
  Cerro Torre 3,133 m (south flank ~2,150 m), Patagonia, Argentina/Chile
• 
  The Barbarine (43 m high), Saxon Switzerland, Germany
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  The Vajolet Towers 2.790 m (main tower 120 m high), South Tyrol, Italy
• 
  Khao Ta-Pu (known as James Bond Island) off Khao Phing Kan, Thailand

See also

• Stack (geology)
• Totem pole (Monument Valley)
• Trango Towers
• Hoodoo

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Natural towers.