How are joints formed and where are they found?

-- Jihan Antrobus (antrobus@oswego.edu), February 28, 2001

Answers

Joints are formed during the physical weathering process of unloading. Unloading occurs when rock, or other matter is removed form on top of, or next to rock, and the rock left behind slightly expands, forming fractures, or "joints" in the rock. Unloading can be due to weathering or humans(blasting an area of rock to build a road). I think a good place to find an example of this would be somewhere along a highway, where workers had to blast through a large amount of rock to build the road.

-- Heather Derrigo (hderrigo@oswego.edu), February 28, 2001.