石蛋生笋
世界岩溶奇观——石蛋生笋
在万华岩景区建设的论证阶段对其价值的评估就有了明确的结论：旅游价值、探险价值和科研价值。洞内形状各异美轮美奂的钟乳石每年吸引了近百万游客来观光，于旅游价值而言自不必赘言。
Karst wonders in the world -- stone egg raw bamboo shoots
In the demonstration stage of the construction of wanhuayan scenic spot, the evaluation of its value has a clear conclusion: tourism value, exploration value and scientific research value. The beautiful stalactites with different shapes in the cave attract nearly one million tourists every year, which is needless to say in terms of tourism value.
▲形态各异、琳琅满目的钟乳石
▲旅游价值——络绎不绝的游客
景区1988年对外开放以来，几十支知名探险队慕名而来，其中不乏世界顶尖级的欧美探险队进入支洞科考探险，至今也未能完全揭开支洞神秘的面纱，目前尚有多支队伍在等待审批，探险价值不言而喻。
▲探险价值——支洞探险（英国队员）
从上世纪七十年代末开始，科研工作者就对万华岩各种地质遗迹进行广泛深入的调查研究，将诸多谜团一一解开，取得了丰硕的科研成果，万华岩的科研价值熠熠生辉。
Since the late 1970s, scientific researchers have conducted extensive and in-depth investigation and Research on various geological relics of Wanhua rock, solved many mysteries one by one, and achieved fruitful scientific research results. The scientific research value of Wanhua rock is shining.
▲科研价值——科研工作者岩溶科考实地研究、采样
在万华岩溶洞内约600米处的河床中有一块巨大的鹅卵石，上面 “生长”着两棵石笋，矮的那棵从侧面看很像一妇人怀抱孩子面向大海远眺，盼望亲人归来，一直以来导游员都以“海岛盼归”为景点名向游客介绍。直到千禧年后中国地质科学院派出科研工作者对万华岩地下河进行专题研究才赫然发现，这是一处非常罕见的、独特的岩溶地质奇观，之前国内相关的科考中从未发现过，国际上也从未见过类似的报道。
There is a huge pebble in the riverbed about 600m away from the Wanhua karst cave There are two stalagmites "growing". The short one looks like a woman embracing a child from the side, overlooking the sea and looking forward to the return of relatives. The tour guide has always introduced to tourists under the name of "looking forward to the return of the island". It was not until the millennium that the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences sent scientific researchers to conduct special research on the wanhuayan underground river that it was impressively found that this is a very rare and unique karst geological spectacle, which has never been found in relevant domestic scientific research and has never been reported in the world.
▲世界岩溶奇观——石蛋生笋
许多疑问接踵而来：万华岩方圆几十公里都是石灰岩，怎么出现了花岗岩？这块磨圆度极高的花岗岩砾石（鹅卵石）从哪里来的？调查中发现整个地下河的河床里堆积了大大小小数量庞大的花岗岩砾石，有些重达数吨，是什么力量把它们“搬运”进来的？为什么只有这一块长出石笋来？
Many questions came one after another: tens of kilometers around Wanhua rock are limestone. How did granite appear? Where did this highly rounded granite gravel (Pebble) come from? During the investigation, it was found that a large number of large and small granite gravels, some weighing several tons, were accumulated in the riverbed of the whole underground river. What force "carried" them in? Why only this one grows stalagmites?
▲地下河中散落的大大小小的花岗岩砾石（鹅卵石）
科研工作者开始进行更深入的调查研究，万华岩所在的地貌是喀斯特地貌（即岩溶地貌），原始的母岩是石灰岩，是海洋中溶解的物质经化学沉淀作用，同时还有海洋生物和碎屑物质机械沉积作用而形成，岩石分类中属沉积岩，主要成分是碳酸钙，形成于距今3.5亿年前的晚古生代石炭纪下统。花岗岩砾石则是由地下深处（一般都在距地表3Km以下）炽热的岩浆在强大压力作用下上升侵入地表失热冷凝而成，岩石分类属岩浆岩，主要成分是二氧化硅、长石和云母，形成时间涵盖古生代（距今6亿年始），中生代（距今2.25亿年始）和新生代（距今0.7亿年始），各个地质年代都有，时间跨度很长。两种岩石成因、形成时间、化学成分等有着天壤之别，很明显：花岗岩砾石的“祖籍”不是万华岩！
科研工作者于是沿地下河逆流而上寻找蛛丝马迹，出南洞口后又沿着古河道追寻，经过努力最终在万华岩西南方20余公里处发现了大量裸露的崩塌花岗岩块石，终于找到了万华岩洞内花岗岩砾石的“老家”，此时这里的海拔已由万华岩的240米左右上升到了1400米左右，进入了五岭山脉中骑田岭的余脉。
Scientific researchers began to conduct more in-depth investigation and research. The landform where Wanhua rock is located is karst landform (i.e. karst landform). The original parent rock is limestone, which is formed by chemical precipitation of dissolved substances in the ocean and mechanical deposition of marine organisms and clastic materials. It belongs to sedimentary rock in rock classification, and the main component is calcium carbonate, It was formed in the lower Carboniferous of the late Paleozoic era 350 million years ago. Granite gravels are formed by the heated magma in the deep underground (generally below 3km from the surface) rising under strong pressure, invading the surface, losing heat and condensing. The rocks are classified as magmatic rocks, mainly composed of silica, feldspar and mica. The formation time covers Paleozoic (from 600 million years ago), Mesozoic (from 225 million years ago) and Cenozoic (from 70 million years ago), Each geological age has a long time span. The genesis, formation time and chemical composition of the two rocks are very different. It is obvious that the "ancestral home" of granite gravel is not Wanhua rock!
Scientific researchers then went upstream along the underground river to find clues. After leaving the south entrance, they followed the ancient river path. After efforts, they finally found a large number of exposed collapsed granite blocks more than 20 kilometers southwest of wanhuayan, and finally found the "Hometown" of granite gravel in wanhuayan cave. At this time, the altitude here has increased from about 240 meters of wanhuayan to about 1400 meters, Entered the remaining vein of Qitian mountain in the Wuling mountains.
▲万华岩风景区西南方约20公里处，
江口乡境内的七姊石山顶上的花岗岩块石。
地质学家分析，万华岩洞内的花岗岩砾石是远古时期花岗岩块石在水流推动作用下向下游移动，推移过程中互相碰撞不断磨蚀失去棱角，外力作用下不断提高磨圆度，在极其强劲的水流推动下不断向下游滚落，最后滚入了万华岩洞内(有人据此推断史前大洪水的传说是真实存在的)。地壳运动过程中，亚欧板块、印度板块、太平洋板块互相挤压使万华岩西南方地面不断抬高隆起形成高山，可补充的水源逐渐减少，地下河水流变缓，这颗失去推动力的“石蛋”终于安静了下来，停在这里一动不动，这一呆就是几万年、几十万年甚至上百万年！这是极其漫长的一段时间，要知道地球上现代人是1.2万年前才出现的。
这期间万华岩又发生了一件重大的地质事件，因为地壳运动万华岩溶洞顶部的岩层发生错裂出现了裂缝，这条裂缝基本沿着现溶洞空间走向的方向裂开，地表水开始渗入进来，琳琅满目的钟乳石就是那时（约二十万年前）开始形成。更为巧合的是，在这颗“石蛋”的上方出现2-3个滴水点，水珠滴在“石蛋”上，碳酸钙开始在“石蛋”表面沉积，先是将“石蛋”包裹，滴水的落点较集中、稳定而连续，碳酸钙沉积得更快些，经年累月形成了如今的两棵石笋。
这也是一个非常漫长的过程，大家可以想想看：“国宝”水下晶锥生长速度是1厘米∕100年，在滴水不断的情况下石笋要略快些，约1厘米∕80年，石笋高约300厘米，高的这棵石笋至少20000岁了！而两种质地完全不同的岩石巧妙地结合在一起是需要怎样的机缘巧合才能实现啊！有人说：这真是千年等一回！我想说：这是名副其实的万年等一回！正是因为需要这么多的苛刻条件才能形成如今的“石蛋生笋”，央视10台科教栏目《地理中国》才制作专题片播出，进行科普宣传教育。
目前“石蛋生笋”还在持续研究中，许多问题还没有得出最后结论，如花岗岩砾石（石蛋）母岩形成的确切时间，何时开始停留在这里的，石笋开始形成的确切时间，滴水点出现的时间等，这需要对岩石内部采样分析，用碳14测定法进行测定，对钟乳石样本的化学分析则能还原石笋生长的各个时期五岭山脉大片区域的气候、水文、大气、地质等的变化情况，对远古时期区域内环境有更深入的了解，对人类未来的发展、生存有极大的指导意义。
According to the analysis of geologists, the granite gravels in Wanhua cave are granite blocks in ancient times. Driven by the water flow, they move downstream. In the process of moving, they collide with each other, constantly abrade and lose edges and corners. Under the action of external force, they continuously improve the roundness. Driven by the extremely strong water flow, they keep rolling downstream and finally roll into Wanhua cave (some people infer that the legend of prehistoric flood is true). In the process of crustal movement, the Eurasian plate, Indian plate and Pacific plate squeezed each other, causing the ground in the southwest of wanhuayan to rise and uplift to form high mountains. The replenishable water source gradually decreased, and the flow of groundwater was slow. This "stone egg" lost its driving force Finally, he calmed down and stopped here motionless. This stay was tens of thousands of years, hundreds of thousands of years or even millions of years! This is an extremely long period of time. You know, modern people on the earth only appeared 12000 years ago.
During this period, another major geological event occurred in wanhuayan. Because of the crustal movement, the rock stratum at the top of wanhuayan karst cave was staggered and cracked, and the crack basically cracked along the direction of the current karst cave space, and the surface water began to seep in. A wide range of stalactites began to form at that time (about 200000 years ago). More coincidentally, in this "stone egg" There are 2-3 drip points above the. The water drops drop on the "stone egg", and the calcium carbonate begins to deposit on the surface of the "stone egg". First, the "stone egg" is wrapped. The drip point is concentrated, stable and continuous, and the calcium carbonate deposits faster, forming today's two stalagmites over the years.
This is also a very long process. You can think about it: "national treasure" The growth rate of underwater crystal cone is 1cm / 100 years. The stalagmite should be a little faster under the condition of continuous dripping. About 1cm / 80 years, the stalagmite is about 300cm high, and the stalagmite is at least 20000 years old! And what kind of coincidence does it take to skillfully combine two rocks with completely different textures? Someone said: it's really a thousand years! I want to say: This is a vice president In fact, once in a million years! It is precisely because so many harsh conditions are needed to form today's "stone eggs and bamboo shoots". CCTV's science and education column "geography China" produced a feature film to broadcast and carry out science popularization publicity and education.
At present, the "stone egg raw bamboo shoot" is still under continuous research, and no final conclusion has been reached on many problems, such as granite gravel (stone egg) The exact time when the parent rock was formed, when it began to stay here, the exact time when the stalagmite began to form, the time when the drip point appeared, etc. This requires the internal sampling and analysis of the rock and the determination of carbon 14 method. The chemical analysis of stalactite samples can restore the changes of climate, hydrology, atmosphere and geology in a large area of Wuling mountains during each period of stalagmite growth A deeper understanding of the regional environment in ancient times is of great guiding significance to the future development and survival of mankind.
