The World’s Most Bizarre Rock Has An Unexplained Straight Slit Down The Middle
It is known as the Al Naslaa rock formation, and in addition to being particularly interesting geologically, it also provides insight into the past. If you look closely, the first thing you’ll notice about it is that it has an almost perfectly straight split carved right down the middle of it.
No, that wasn’t created by humans in some sort of quarrying, and it wasn’t a conceptual artist’s creation that was left in the desert to be worn away by the sand. It is entirely organic, and its current state may have developed as a result of natural erosion.
But the simple fact is that no one can say with certainty how that crack developed. Ancient petroglyphs with images of animals and other shapes can be found next to the split that runs straight down the big rock, providing proof that the rock formation has been studied by many people over the ages.
Though they might not have had access to the same scientific knowledge that we do today, it is likely that they were just as fascinated by how it came into being.
The Rock Is Six Metres Tall
Disdero/Wikimedia Commons
The split runs directly through the middle of the rock before widening to a pair of pedestals at the bottom, which serve as the structure’s balancing points.
The two boulders are six metres tall, or about 20 feet, and they never touch above ground. What are the theories regarding its creation, then? As can be seen in places like Monument Valley in the United States, sedimentary rocks erode at various rates depending on which layer is being exposed.
Pedestal-like structures and odd formations that seem to be about to collapse can be left behind as the sediment is eroded away.
Another theory, which is dubious but undoubtedly plausible, is that the rock has a joint or fracture. As we’ve already mentioned, this rock formation will eventually crumble and disintegrate, just like many others around the world, most recently the Durdle Door in the UK.
Even so, it’s worth taking advantage of them while we still have them because nature is capable of coming up with some pretty bizarre things on its own.
What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments.
