Jakarta –
The earth and everything in it contains various phenomena ranging from the strange to astonishing us. Scientists seek to study the oddities in the places they encounter.
There are at least five mysterious places that make scientists confused and curious to specifically examine them, detikINET summarized from various sources, Wednesday (22/3/2023):
1. Split Stone in Saudi Arabia
The giant Al Naslaa rock formation located in the Tayma oasis, Saudi Arabia, about eight hours’ drive from the capital city of Riyadh, has given rise to various speculations. The strange shape of the shards makes many people think it was aliens.
The stone was split very neatly like being cut using a laser. Apart from that, this stone with a height of about 9 meters and a width of 7.6 meters also has another uniqueness because it is decorated with petroglyphs, aka stone carvings made using chisels and stone hammers. The petroglyphs look like a man and a horse.
Geologist Cherry Lewis said the split was probably the work of nature. Lewis, who is an honorary fellow at the University of Bristol, described the rock as an extraordinary sight.
“The rock could have formed due to a process called ‘freeze-thaw’ weathering which occurs when water gets into small cracks in the rock. When the temperature drops, the water freezes and expands which causes the cracks to widen and lengthen,” he said.
2. Stone Well
A well called Mother Shipton in Knaresborough, England, can turn various objects into stone. It’s not mystical, this happens because of the uniqueness of the local geology.
The Mother Shipton well’s water originates about a mile underground, through a body of rock called an aquifer, where minerals are dissolved.
“The water contains iron, zinc, magnesium, aluminum, calcium carbonate,” said Park Assistant at Mother Shipton Cave, John Wynne, quoted from IFL Science.
A 2013 paper refers to an 1896 report that claimed that a liter of water from this well weighs 0.65 grams, or 0.023 ounces more than a liter of ordinary water, which is about 1140 milligrams per liter (0.18 ounces per gallon). ) dissolved solids.
The paper also notes that sulphate- and carbonate-rich water also supports the deposition of calcareous tuffs. Tuff is a type of limestone. Well, these petrified wells are made of tuff and a harder type of sedimentary rock called travertine, which is also made of calcium carbonate, and it is this calcium carbonate that is the secret behind this petrification phenomenon.
3. Gates of Hell
In the middle of the Karakum desert in Turkmenistan there is a crater called Darvaza Crater and nicknamed the Gate of Hell. This area is actually a burning natural gas field.
The crater is 69 meters wide and 30 meters deep. Scientists call this fire arising from the presence of natural gas from under the crater. However, since it was explored from 1971 until now, the gas has not been used up.
4. Birthstone
The existence of trovant makes scientists curious. This stone found in Romania is alive and can grow like plants and animals, and can even reproduce.
This uniqueness made ordinary people think that Trovant came from outer space. The results of the study stated that trovant really came from Earth and was naturally formed by geological processes.
Trovant stones were found in a small village in Romania called Costeşti, about 80 km west of the capital Bucharest. These living rocks start as pebbles and grow at about 2 cm per 1,000 years. Trovant rock contains a unique mineral structure that mimics plant and mammal life.
5. Blue Fire, Kawah Ijen
Ijen Crater is a volcano in East Java, Indonesia that defies science. This crater displays the phenomenon of blue flames called blue fire.
The blue fire phenomenon is an event where sulfur gas comes out of rock crevices with a temperature of approximately 600 degrees Celsius, then meets the cold ambient temperature, causing it to turn blue.
Blue fire usually appears at 02.00-04.00 WIB in the middle of the dark night, creating a beautiful flame of light to the eye. Because of its beauty, many domestic and foreign tourists are willing to climb Mount Ijen in the very cold early morning.
Not many people know that blue fire is a rare natural phenomenon and there are only two in the world. Apart from the Ijen Crater, East Java, similar blue fires can be found in Iceland.
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(rns/fay)
