Scientists Still Can't Explain What Devils Tower Really Is

Something about Wyoming’s Devils Tower has confused scientists for more than a century. Rising dramatically above the surrounding landscape, Devils Tower is composed of a rare igneous rock known as phonolite porphyry and is famous for its enormous vertical columns. While geologists agree that the formation originated from magma, the exact process that created its unusual structure remains debated. Several theories have been proposed. Devils Tower could be the eroded remains of a volcanic neck, the exposed portion of a shallow underground intrusion such as a laccolith, or part of a more complex volcanic system involving groundwater and explosive activity. Millions of years of erosion have removed much of the surrounding geological evidence, making the original formation difficult to reconstruct. Scientists estimate that the Tower formed around 50 million years ago and was exposed much later, likely between 5 and 10 million years ago. So what was Devils Tower originally? A volcano? An underground intrusion? Or something far more unusual? The evidence suggests that this iconic Wyoming landmark may have a much more complicated history than it first appears.