The Moeraki Boulders are huge spherical stones that are scattered over the sandy beaches, but they are not like ordinary round boulders that have been shaped by rivers and pounding seas. These boulders are classed as septarian concretions, and were formed in ancient sea floor sediments. They were created by a process similar to the formation of oyster pearls, where layers of material cover a central nucleus or core. For the oyster, this core is an irritating grain of sand. For the boulders, it was a fossil shell, bone fragment, or piece of wood. Lime minerals in the sea accumulated on the core over time, and the concretion grew into perfectly spherical shapes up to three metres in diameter.
I was at a restaurant right above these and climbed down to the beach at 9.30pm to take this shot. The NZ beach is about 25 minutes away from our home.
Beautiful, MaggieMae -- I took many photos of those on my trip to NZ but never got the stones lined up like this. Love the composition and contrast and the little figure giving perspective to the scene. Fave
I love these boulders. We used to sleep here in the car on the way back to Dunedin sometimes, 25 odd years ago now. Love all the information you have included here!
Aren't you fortunate to have these beauties by you. I love learning new things about our earth. Thanks for the info. Great shot. Love the blues. Congrats on the PP fav
So many wonderful things to love about this photo! I love what I learned about those amazing boulders! I would love to see them! The neon color of the ocean! The POV and processing of the photo, the leading lines. Beautiful!
This is gorgeous Maggie. I have never seen anything like those boulders.