Tessellated pavement
![A tessellated pavement at Eaglehawk Neck, Australia, where a rock surface has been divided by fractures, producing a set of rectangular blocks](/Images/godic/202502/15/Tessellated-Pavement_Tasmania_closeup4127.jpg")
![Sunrise on the tessellated pavement at Eaglehawk Neck, Tasmania, illustrating the pan formation of tessellation](/Images/godic/202502/15/Tessellated_Pavement_Sunrise_Landscape4127.jpg")
In geology and geomorphology, a tessellated pavement is a relatively flat rock surface that is subdivided into more or less regular rectangles, blocks approaching rectangles, or irregular or regular polygons by fractures, frequently systematic joints, within the rock. This type of rock pavement bears this name because it is fractured into polygonal blocks that resemble tiles of a mosaic floor, or tessellations.