What makes rock formations like this?

[safara]

Bimbling around Google Streetview, and in the middle of China - what makes a grid rock formation like this?

https://maps.app.goo.gl/E4hXY2n3YBsGkJxJ8

[Valknut3301]

A bored hermit who has all his needs taken care of?

[Ratszinger]

If I had to guess I'd guess that this a noisy place to be. There is obviously some acoustics going on there to cause enough vibe to make those geometric symbols, probably with the wind howling combined with the movement of water and melt and freeze of the water to ice and back to water again. This repeating of that vibe over time would eventually put everything in it's place. I bet we could place a rock outide one of the geometric areas and over time it would move to line up with the others. It may not happen overnight and it may take years but I bet it would move.

[haroldsails]

Some agricultural purpose? Those rectangles look to be about 2 feet by 4 feet, maybe a little small for growing food. I can't imagine those features being "natural". Wouldn't it be fun to explore in person...damn the politics.

[Sunny-side-up]

Is it man made do yo know?
It all covers quite a vast area.
Only thing I could think of, (if it is man made is) is Water-Collection or salt production?
It looks like it is in a position of past water flow, all be it small.

[Brigantia]

It's definitely over a very large area, with the erosion pattern on a north-west to south-east axis. Maybe wind or rain erosion over time, though it does remind me of the numerous Carolina Bays that are also on roughly the same axis. If my memory serves me right, this is discussed in Allan and Delair's classic book Cataclysm, where they put forward the evidence for a disaster impacting the planet around 9500 BC. They suggested that it was a large meteor that impacted the planet, if it broke up in the atmosphere the fragments could also have also impacted Asia.

Otherwise, this patterning in China could have occurred from another meteor breaking up over this area at another time.

[Gwin Ru]

...

What makes rock formations like this?

... try differential erosion of magma-filled fractures (dikes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dike_(geology))) akin to Riedel shear fractures (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strike-slip_tectonics)... as for what generated the fractures and the magmatic event? God only knows.


Famous magma-filled fracture: Shiprock, New Mexico:


https://peakvisor.com/photo/New-Mexico-Ship-Rock-1.jpg

[Satori]

...

What makes rock formations like this?

... try differential erosion of magma-filled fractures (dikes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dike_(geology))) akin to Riedel shear fractures (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strike-slip_tectonics)... as for what generated the fractures and the magmatic event? God only knows.


Famous magma-filled fracture: Shiprock, New Mexico:


https://peakvisor.com/photo/New-Mexico-Ship-Rock-1.jpg

I have some fond memories of Shiprock. I lived on the Navajo reservation in Shiprock, NM, off and on over a period of 2 years in 1978-1980. I could see Shiprock on a daily basis at a distance. Very impressive geography.

As I remember, the Navajo believe that Shiprock is a bird that came to land there many untold years ago. It brought with it much meaning for the Navajo. I never could see a bird when looking at Shiprock from the ground. But then I saw some photos of it from the air. I could then see the bird.

This painting (or photo?) shows one “wing” that leads to the huge rock rising from the ground. What you don’t see is that on the other side of the rock, there is a similar “wing” spreading out from the rock. As I recall it shows more signs of erosion and is thus not photographed or painted as much as the one we see here. But at one time, both of those crevices must have been very pronounced and the wings were very apparent—from the air. Hence, the bird.

[Ewan]

I have some fond memories of Shiprock. I lived on the Navajo reservation in Shiprock, NM, off and on over a period of 2 years in 1978-1980. I could see Shiprock on a daily basis at a distance. Very impressive geography.

As I remember, the Navajo believe that Shiprock is a bird that came to land there many untold years ago. It brought with it much meaning for the Navajo. I never could see a bird when looking at Shiprock from the ground. But then I saw some photos of it from the air. I could then see the bird.

This painting (or photo?) shows one “wing” that leads to the huge rock rising from the ground. What you don’t see is that on the other side of the rock, there is a similar “wing” spreading out from the rock. As I recall it shows more signs of erosion and is thus not photographed or painted as much as the one we see here. But at one time, both of those crevices must have been very pronounced and the wings were very apparent—from the air. Hence, the bird.

https://live.staticflickr.com/7358/11117463155_0a301fb084_b.jpg

So it does. :)