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Geological Formations

Zuma Rock

Inselbergs and Crystalline Monoliths

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Zuma Rock is a large monolith of igneous and metamorphic rock rising about 725 meters above the surrounding plain near Abuja, Nigeria. It is an inselberg, a hill of rock left standing after the softer rock around it was stripped away by deep chemical weathering across the West African craton over tens of millions of years under a hot, humid tropical climate, leaving the more resistant rock body exposed as an isolated dome. Weathering has also produced a natural pattern of dark patches on the rock face that has long been popularly described as resembling a human face, and the formation has become closely associated with the Nigerian capital region since Abuja was built nearby.

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Weathering, Processes

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