A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock, such as some mountains. Erosion usually exposes the geological formations, which are often made of very hard and solid igneous or metamorphic rock. Some monoliths are volcanic plugs, solidified lava filling the vent of an extinct volcano. In architecture, the term has considerable overlap with megalith, which is normally used for prehistory, and may be used in the contexts of rock-cut architecture that remains attached to solid rock, as in monolithic church, or for exceptionally large stones such as obelisks, statues, monolithic columns or large architraves, that may have been moved a considerable distance after quarrying. It may also be used of large glacial erratics moved by natural forces. The word derives, via the Latin monolithus, from the Ancient Greek word, from meaning "one" or "single" and meaning "stone".

Geological monoliths

Large, well-known monoliths include:

Africa

Antarctica

Asia

Australia

Europe

North America

United States

Canada

Mexico

South America

Outside Earth

Monumental monoliths

A structure which has been excavated as a unit from a surrounding matrix or outcropping of rock.