On the coast of Northern Ireland, the basalt columns of the Giant's Causeway formed about 50 to 60 million years ago, as a result of volcanic eruptions and successive lava flows streaming toward the coast and cooling when they contacted the sea.
There are approximately 40,000 of these columns here, each typically with five to seven irregular sides. Some of the columns along the hillside stand up to 82 feet tall. They vary from 15 to 20 inches in diameter and create stairsteps up the hill and down to the ocean.
Legend holds that a giant named Finn McCool created the causeway so he could walk across to Scotland to meet another giant. Similar columns are found on the island of Staffa in Scotland.
The image is framed with a bronze metal frame.