日落时的摩拉基大圆石，南岛，新西兰 Moeraki Boulders at sunset, South Island, New Zealand (© Douglas Pearson/eStock Photo)

日落时的摩拉基大圆石，南岛，新西兰 Moeraki Boulders at sunset, South Island, New Zealand (© Douglas Pearson/eStock Photo)

岩石与滚石 Rocks and rollers

摩拉基大圆石，南岛，新西兰

今天是“古老岩石日”，一个庆祝和学习古老岩石与化石的节日。岩石虽常见，但我们很少花时间思考它们的神奇之处。在火山中锻造或在千年压力下形成的这些固体矿物质，是我们了解地球如何形成的关键。岩石中还可能包含化石，即早已灭绝的生物遗骸，为科学家揭示地球45亿年历史中生命和植物的演化线索。

世界上最奇特的岩石景观之一位于新西兰的科伊科希海滩。摩拉基大圆石中有些直径达到7英尺，经过数百万年的自然雕琢形成。每一块巨石最初都起源于约6500万年前海底的一颗小石子。随着时间推移，泥沙在其周围逐渐堆积，并被方解石粘合在一起。受侵蚀和海水运动的影响，这些巨石最终显露于世。如今，新的巨石仍不断形成，而原有的巨石则在自然作用下逐渐分解。

Moeraki Boulders, South Island, New Zealand

Are you ready to rock the new year? Today is Old Rock Day, a day for celebrating and learning about old rocks and fossils. Rocks are common and few of us take the time to consider how amazing they are. But forged in volcanoes or molded by millennia of pressure, these solid masses of minerals hold the key to understanding how our planet formed. Rocks can also contain fossils, the remnants of long-extinct organisms, which give scientists clues about what creatures and plants have lived on Earth during its 4.5-billion-year history.

One of the world's most curious rock displays can be found on Koekohe Beach in New Zealand. The Moeraki Boulders, some of which are 7 feet in diameter, have been shaped by nature over millions of years. Each boulder started as a pebble on the seabed around 65 million years ago. Over time, layers of mud and silt built up around them, cemented together by calcite. Thanks to erosion and the movement of the sea, the boulders eventually emerged. Today, new boulders are still appearing, while the elements are slowly breaking down existing ones.