Tafoni

Tafoni (singular: tafone) are small cave-like features found in granular rock such as sandstone, with rounded entrances and smooth concave walls. They often occur in groups that can riddle a hillside, cliff, or other rock formation. They can be found in all climate types, but are most abundant in intertidal areas and semi-arid and arid deserts. Currently favored explanations controlling their formation include salt weathering, differential cementation, structural variation in permeability, and the length of the drying period between wettings. They also frequently occur in granitic rocks.

Salt Point State Park from Kglavin at Wikimedia

Black Room 641a

Pauldineen Galleries at Flickr

Image from Wikipedia.

Copy from Wikipedia. The links for all these images are from Google. The search for all these came from seeing Tafoni come on my radar from looking at the 18karat site.