In the heart of the Australian continent, there is a "mysterious boulder" that can change color. It is mysterious not only because it can be "discolored", but also because it is the only independent rock in the world, surrounded by endless desert plains, and there are no other stones and mountains.
The boulder, called "Ayers Rock", is about 3 km long, about 2 km at its widest point, 9.4 km in circumference (it takes 3 hours to walk around it) and 863 meters above sea level. It is worth mentioning that the boulder is 348 meters high from the ground, equivalent to more than 100 floors high. And according to the probe, its depth can reach 6 kilometers.
The entire rock is smooth due to weathering and rain erosion, and the surrounding area is extremely steep and very difficult to climb.
Ayers Rock is currently the largest monolith in the world and is known as the "Red Heart" of Australia. It will change colors with the weather and seasons, even in 24 hours of the day, it will show different colors, which can be called the "chameleon" of the stone world!
When the weather is clear, it is fiery red, and when it rains, it turns silvery gray and black.
Within a day, its color will change from orange-red to amber with the change of sunlight, then to deep red, purple, and at sunset it will appear like a fiery orange-red color due to the sunset, and finally become silvery-gray in the night. It is said that locals once saw boulders change seven colors in one day.
According to geologists, Ayers Rock is discolored because it is mainly composed of red gravel, which has a very high iron content. The iron on the surface of the rock is oxidized and changes different colors with the different angles of sunlight.
So how exactly did Ayers Rock "rise out of thin air" from the flat ground? There are currently two views on its causes. Some people think it is an "extraterrestrial visitor", formed by the asteroid's deorbitation and falling into the Earth. The enormous impact force causes most of the meteorite to embed in the earth, revealing only a portion of the surface. But there is a loophole in this statement, that is, when the meteorite hits the ground, does not such a large impact force make the stone shatter?
Another claim has a higher degree of credibility. Many people believe that Ayers Rock is formed by the Amadeus Basin where it is located, due to geological movements squeezing out a large number of rocks, in the process of which the rocks squeeze, collide, uplift, and overlap each other.
Due to weathering and rain erosion, Ayers Rock has now become smooth on top, surrounded by thousands of ravines, and may disappear under various actions in the near future. In 2019, the Australian government has banned climbing Ayers Rock.
