Chickens lay eggs, so do the ostrich, and well, all sorts of birds do. Heck, even platypus lays eggs, but you would have never heard of a mountain laying eggs. While it is unknown to many, there is a cliff named Chan Da Ya in China that lays unbelievably round or oval stone eggs.
The Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Region of China’s Guizhou Province are home to Chan Da Ya, that translates to “egg-laying cliff.” The phenomenon has been a mystery to geologists for decades. The cliff only measures 9 feet in height and spreads over a length of 65 feet. The entire formation looks like a usual cliff with super rough and uneven surface with round stones that look like ornaments on a Christmas tree.
As the stone of the cliff continues to depreciate, the eggs grow out further and become more exposed. Then finally, they fall out of their sockets. People in the nearby village Gulu claim that the cliff takes 30 years to lay the strange round stones.
The phenomenon is so unique to Chan Da Ya that geologists from all over the world have traveled to those remote mountains to study it in person. Several tests conducted on the Mount Gandeng showed that it is mostly made of harder sentiments, but the portion of that particular cliff is mostly calcareous and erodes easily. The round eggs, however, are made of much harder rock that takes a considerably longer time to erode than its surroundings.
The explanation raises another question as to how such a calcareous section formed during the Cambrian period could have survived even after 500 million years? More importantly, how the eggs are perfectly round with no sharp edges at all?
The unusual phenomenon has been known to local people for many generations who visit the place to touch the eggs for good luck. Almost all families in Gulu own at least one of these eggs as a good luck charm, and the village collection includes much more. Whenever new eggs reach the stage and are ready to fall off, they are often stolen.
While Chan Da Ya is the most popular and the largest cliff on Mount Gandeng that lays the stone eggs, it is not the only one. Photos from some other areas show eggs poking out of mountains and even sideways.
Can you think of an explanation for this fascinating phenomenon? Feel free to share in the comments’ section below!