俄勒冈海岸佩蓓角的雷神之井 Thor's Well at Cape Perpetua on the Oregon coast (© Cavan Images/Offset by Shutterstock)

俄勒冈海岸佩蓓角的雷神之井 Thor's Well at Cape Perpetua on the Oregon coast (© Cavan Images/Offset by Shutterstock)

Welcome to the 'drainpipe of the Pacific'

We are standing here on the craggy Oregon coast looking out to Thor's Well with the help of a photographer's telephoto lens. Only the most daring of visitors would stand this close to the gaping sinkhole at high tide. One misstep combined with a forceful surge from the raging Pacific Ocean, and into the plunging well we'd go.

Thor's Well is one of several defining features of Oregon's magical coastline. Dubbed a 'gaping sinkhole,' the 'drainpipe of the Pacific,' and even a 'gate to hell,' it's accessible by foot at low tide, when you can peer in to see its mechanisms at work. Geologists believe it was once a sea cave formed in the basalt rock by ocean waves. The 'well' was formed when the cave's roof collapsed, creating openings at the top and bottom through which the ocean surges and sprays like a geyser, only to recede, creating the waterfalls we see here.

欢迎来到“太平洋排水管”

我们站在俄勒冈州崎岖的海岸上，借助摄影师的长焦镜头向外眺望托尔的水井。只有最勇敢的游客才会在涨潮时站在这么近的大坑里。一次失误，加上汹涌的太平洋汹涌而来的巨浪，我们就进入了我们要去的深井。

托尔水井是俄勒冈州神奇海岸线的几个决定性特征之一。它被称为“张开的深坑”、“太平洋的排水管”，甚至是“地狱之门”，在低潮时你可以步行进入，这时你可以窥视它的运行机制。地质学家认为，这曾经是一个由海浪在玄武岩岩石中形成的海洞。这个“井”是在洞穴的顶部坍塌时形成的，在顶部和底部形成了一个开口，海洋像间歇泉一样涌动和喷涌，最后退去，形成了我们在这里看到的瀑布。