标签 拱门 下的文章

精致拱门, 拱门国家公园, 犹他州, 美国 Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah (© mmac72/Getty Images)

大自然的耐心之作 Nature took its time

精致拱门, 拱门国家公园, 犹他州, 美国

这片景观并非一朝一夕形成，而是大自然历经漫长岁月的雕琢之作。你在美国犹他州拱门国家公园所见的一切，是3亿多年间地壳抬升、风化与侵蚀共同作用的结果。这些天然拱门最初由古海洋遗留下的盐层构成，在时间推移中，砂岩层开裂、位移并不断风化，最终形成了超过2000座天然拱门。这些地貌主要由恩特拉达砂岩与纳瓦霍砂岩构成。该地区于1929年被认定为国家纪念地，并于1971年正式升格为国家公园。

其中最著名的拱门，便是今日图像所展示的精致拱门。它是美国西南部最具代表性的天然拱门之一。早期曾被称为“马裤”或“盐溪拱门”，直到1930年代，一次科学考察团队将其描述为“外观精致”，从而得名“精致拱门”。如今，精致拱门已成为犹他州的非官方象征，频繁出现在该州车牌、广告宣传，甚至印在1996年为纪念犹他建州百年而发行的美国邮票上。前往精致拱门需完成一段中等难度的徒步路线，途中需攀登光滑岩面，贴近悬崖边缘前行。无论你是地质爱好者，还是寻求壮丽自然景观的旅行者，这座拱门都将为你带来难以忘怀的震撼体验。

Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah

This landscape wasn't built overnight—nature took its time to craft it. What you see at Arches National Park in Utah, is the result of over 300 million years of erosion, uplift, and weathering. Over time, layers of sandstone cracked, shifted, and slowly wore away, revealing more than 2,000 natural arches. The formations are made mostly of Entrada and Navajo sandstone. The area was recognized as a national monument in 1929 and was upgraded to national park status in 1971.

The distinctive shape of Delicate Arch, seen here, has made it one of the most recognizable natural arches in the Southwest. Originally known by several other names—including the Chaps and Salt Wash Arch—it wasn't officially called Delicate Arch until the 1930s. It is Utah's unofficial mascot, appearing on everything from state license plates to a US postage stamp issued in 1996 to mark 100 years of Utah statehood. The arch is accessible via a moderately difficult hike that climbs over bare rock and skirts steep drop-offs. Whether you're a geology enthusiast or simply looking for a view worth the effort, Delicate Arch delivers.

拱门国家公园，犹他州，美国 Evening light over North Window with Turret Arch in the distance, Arches National Park, Utah (© Anthony Heflin/Shutterstock)

一座天然拱门 A work of arch

犹他州拱门国家公园

如果你想沉浸式感受在时光中漫步的滋味，拱门国家公园是一个绝佳的选择！该公园拥有2000多座天然石拱，数百座高大的尖塔、大型石鳍和巨大的平衡石，是世界上风景最优美的旅游胜地之一。在两平方英里左右的空间内囊括了不少壮丽景观，包括北窗拱门（最具人气的巨环之一），炮塔拱门和双拱门。而以伊甸园、大象丘（5653英尺高）和大象巡游等名字命名的景点对游客而言，则意味着这里永远不缺壮观的景色。

这个地区曾经是隐藏在数千英尺地下的广阔且干涸的海床。然而，随着时间的流逝，地质力量逐渐改变了这里的地貌，形成了我们今天看到的壮观景象。人类在这里探索和生活了数千年，大约2000年前，这个地区的游牧民族开始种植农作物。然而，因气候变化而加剧的环境问题最终导致了农耕活动的减少。

Arches National Park, Utah

If you fancy a stroll through time, Arches National Park is the perfect gateway! With over 2,000 natural stone arches, hundreds of tall pinnacles, large rock fins, and giant balanced rocks, this park is among the world's most scenic destinations. In the popular Windows Section, covering just over 2 square miles, there are spectacular rock formations including North Window, Turret Arch, and Double Arch. Others include Garden of Eden, Elephant Butte, a 5,653-foot summit, and Parade of Elephants, so visitors are never short of awesome sights to enjoy.

The region was once a vast dry seabed hidden beneath thousands of feet of earth but was gradually transformed by geological forces to become the spectacular space we see today. Humans have explored and lived in this area for millennia. Around 2,000 years ago, its nomadic inhabitants began to cultivate crops. However, environmental challenges, possibly aggravated by climate shifts, eventually led to a decline in farming activities.

精致拱门，拱门国家公园，犹他州 Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah (© Mark Brodkin Photography/Getty Images)

藏在精致拱门里的百年时光 Centuries of time in a Delicate Arch

拱门国家公园，美国犹他州

精致拱门是美国最受欢迎的地质景点之一。在犹他州拱门国家公园的2000个石拱门中，精致拱门是最有名的那一座，也是这里最大的岩石拱门。犹他州的车牌和邮票也有印有精致拱门。只需徒步三英里，就能到达这座拱门，这也是公园里最棒的徒步旅行路线之一。每年都有近140万人前往拱门国家公园，只为一睹精致拱门的全貌。

Arches National Park, Utah

This stunning structure is Delicate Arch, the most famous of 2,000 stone arches scattered around Arches National Park in Utah. It is made up of Entrada Sandstone, the grains of which once formed a massive desert. They were cemented together by minerals, forming sandstone riddled with tiny holes. Over millennia, the rain seeped in and slowly dissolved the rock from the inside, forming these eye-catching sculptures. Most of the arches in the national park are formed from Entrada Sandstone and were once buried by other rock layers. They won't last forever, but over time, new shapes will emerge from the layers of rock below to replace them. Every year, close to 1.4 million people visit the park to see Delicate Arch and this slowly shifting landscape for themselves.

达尔文岛的达尔文拱门，厄瓜多尔加拉帕戈斯 Darwin's Arch with Darwin Island in background, Galápagos, Ecuador (© miralex/Getty Images)

著名海拱门的末日 Last days of a famous sea arch

Darwin's Arch

On Darwin Day, we visit Darwin's Arch, named for the famous English naturalist Charles Darwin who was born on this day in 1809. The last time the arch looked as it does in this image was May 17, 2021. That's when this sea arch collapsed due to natural erosion and became a pile of rubble between what is now two pillars. Some locals and scientists have renamed the rock formation the 'Pillars of Evolution,' a nod to Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.

Sea arches are found all over the world, often where cliffs meet the sea. They're formed as waves erode the underside of a rock, leaving the top. Darwin's Arch is located southeast of Darwin Island, part of the Galápagos Archipelago in the Pacific Ocean.

达尔文拱门

在达尔文日，我们参观达尔文拱门，以1809年出生于这一天的著名英国博物学家查尔斯·达尔文命名。最后一次拱形看上去像是在2021年5月17日。就在那个时候，这座海拱由于自然侵蚀而倒塌，变成了现在两根柱子之间的一堆瓦砾。一些当地人和科学家已将岩层更名为“进化的支柱”，这是对达尔文自然选择进化理论的认可。

海拱遍布世界各地，通常是悬崖与大海交汇的地方。它们是波浪侵蚀岩石底部，留下顶部时形成的。达尔文拱门位于达尔文岛东南部，达尔文岛是太平洋加拉帕戈斯群岛的一部分。

拱门国家公园，犹他州莫阿布 Arches National Park, Moab, Utah (© Whit Richardson/Alamy Stock Photo)

Art in the high desert

The desert doubles as an art studio this week at Arches National Park, as painters from all over congregate for the Red Rock Art Festival. This Moab-based event is a celebration of what the French call painting 'en plein air,' or painting outside. Sounds like a fabulous idea to us (and what a view!). The colorful landscape here at Arches National Park is home to the highest density of natural arches in the world—upwards of 2,000—as well as more pinnacles and dramatically balanced rocks. Combine that with the fiery sunsets, pinyon trees, and splashes of sage and yucca, and we’d say these artists are in for a treat. Lucky for them, October is a pleasant time to visit the harsh, desert landscape.