阿立補註:
金扇玉郎在《江南同鄉》壇詢問大圓石如何形成的?確實需要補充說明一下。
這是新西蘭旅遊網(100% Pure New Zealand)的介紹:
“Moeraki is now most famous for its boulders; mysteriously spherical stones scattered across a beach. Each boulder weighs several tonnes and is up to two metres high.Scientists explain the boulders as calcite concretions formed about 65 million years ago. According to Maori legend, the boulders are gourds washed ashore from the great voyaging canoe Araiteuru when it was wrecked upon landfall in New Zealand hundreds of years ago(摩拉基現在最出名的是它的巨石,這些神秘的球形石頭散布在海灘各處。每塊巨石重達數噸,高達兩米。科學家將這些巨石解釋為方解石結核,形成於約 6500 萬年前。根據毛利人的傳說,這些巨石是幾百年前,巨大的航行獨木舟 Araiteuru 在新西蘭登陸時失事,被衝上岸的葫蘆)”
方解石(calcite concretions)亦稱碳酸鈣結核(calcium carbonate concretions),它們通常沉澱在化石物質的核心周圍,包括植物物質、貝殼甚至魚類殘骸。