The Lonely Mountains Called Inselbergs

An inselberg is an isolated rock hill rising abruptly from a flat plain. Geologist Wilhelm Bornhardt coined the term in 1900.

Bornhardt used it for arid eastern Africa. Bornhardt clearly picked the wrong continent.

In New Hampshire, Mount Monadnock rises 610 metres above its surrounding terrain. Geologists borrowed the Abenaki word monadnock.

Mount Monadnock stands taller than any neighbor nearby.

Anthony Young classified six types of inselbergs in 1969. The list includes buttes, conical hills, and rock domes.

Inselbergs form when erosion destroys softer rocks like limestone. Harder granite remains standing alone as the landscape lowers.

Bare granite surfaces host cyanobacteria forming dark biofilms. Cyanobacteria are terrible houseguests for granite.

Soil trapped by inselbergs supports dense trees while the surrounding land holds only short grass.