Mexico's Pena de Bernal Monolith Is World's Tallest Freestanding Rock Crystal Gammon - LiveScience
go to original May 9, 2013

exxichallenge.com - Rock climbing at Peña de Bernal, México. (cfpescadors)

Rising 1,421 feet (433 meters) above the North-Central Mexican state of Querétaro, Peña de Bernal Natural Monument is the tallest freestanding rock in the world.

The monolith — a large geologic feature made up of a single massive stone — marks the entrance to the Sierra Gorda, a mountainous area that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization declared a Biosphere Reserve in 2001. More recently, in 2009, the rock itself was named an Intangible Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO. Yet, despite all its accolades, Peña de Bernal has largely remained a mystery to geologists; uncertainties surround its origin, its age, even its composition.

Now, a new study led by researchers at the National Autonomous University of Mexico fills many of these gaps.

The findings, published online April 4 in the journal Geosphere, include the first accurate measurement of Peña de Bernal's height, which ranks it as the tallest monolith on the planet, surpassing the Rock of Gibraltar on the Iberian Peninsula (which comes in at 1,398 feet [426 meters]) and Brazil's Sugarloaf Mountain (1,299 feet [396 meters]). Earlier guesses of Peña de Bernal’s height ranged from 945 to 1,181 feet (288 to 360 meters), and likely underestimated the true height because reaching the summit is difficult.

Read the rest at LiveScience

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