Champ Island stone balls.

30s of the XX century, Costa Rica... A group of workers from the famous United Fruit Company clears dense thickets of tropical plants to establish another banana plantation.

And suddenly... Among the wild jungle they stumble upon something unimaginable and incredible - huge stone balls of absolutely regular shape.

Multi-ton "balls"

The largest ones reached three meters in diameter and weighed about 16 tons. And the smallest ones were no larger than a child’s ball, having only ten centimeters in diameter. The balls were located singly and in groups of three to fifty pieces, sometimes forming geometric shapes. In 1967, an engineer and lover of history and archeology, working in Mexico

in silver mines, told American scientists that he had discovered the same balls in the mines, but much larger in size. After some time on Acqua Blanca plateau near the village of Guadalajara (Guatemala) at an altitude of 2000 m above sea level, an archaeological expedition found hundreds more.

stone balls

Similar stone balls were also found near the city,

With the light hand of Erich von Däniken, the balls were dubbed “the balls that the gods played with.”

Some geologists attributed their appearance to volcanic activity. A ball of ideal shape can be formed if the crystallization of volcanic magma occurs evenly in all directions.

According to the leading researcher at the Central Research Institute of Geology of Rare Earth and Non-Ferrous Metals, Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences Elena Matveeva, the balls could come to the surface as a result of the so-called exofolization - weathering, which operates in areas with large daily differences. In the same place where the temperature is more stable, similar balls are found, but already underground.

However, no matter how convincing these assumptions may sound, there is still no final solution to the phenomenon. First of all, they are not able to explain the appearance of granite balls.

The first scientific study of the balls was undertaken by Doris Stone directly upon their discovery by workers United Fruit Company. The results of her research were published in 1943 "American Antiquity", the leading academic journal of archeology in the United States.

Samuel Lothrop, a staff archaeologist at the Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnography at Harvard University, conducted the major fieldwork on the balls in 1948. A final report on the results of his research was published by the Museum in 1963.

It contains maps of the sites where the balls were found, detailed descriptions of pottery and metal objects found near the balls, and many photographs, measurements and drawings of the balls, their relative positions and stratigraphic contexts.

Additional research into the balls by archaeologist Matthew Stirling was reported on National Geographic in 1969.

In the 1980s, the areas with the balls were explored and described by Robert Drolet during his excavations.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Claude Baudez and his students from the University of Paris returned to Lothrop's excavations to undertake a more thorough analysis of the pottery and obtain more precise dating of the stratigraphic contexts of the balls. This study was published in Spanish in 1993, with an abstract in English language, which appeared in 1996.

Also in the early 1990s, John Hopes carried out field work around Golfito, documenting the easternmost known examples of these balls. At the same time, Enrico Dala Lagoa, a student at Kansas State University, defended his dissertation on the topic of balls.

The most thorough study of the balls after Lothrop, however, was the field work undertaken in 1990-1995 by archaeologist Iphigenia Quintanilla under the auspices of National Museum Costa Rica.

She was able to unearth several balls in their original state. As of 2001, much of the information she had collected had not yet been published, although it was the subject of her graduate research at the University of Barcelona.

Unlike geologists, archaeologists recognize the artificial origin of the Costa Rican balls.

Almost all balls are made from granodiorite, a hard lava rock, outcrops of which are located in the foothills of the outskirts Talamanca. There are several examples made from coquina, a hard material like limestone that forms from shells and sand in coastal sediments. According to archaeologists, the balls were made by processing round boulders into a spherical shape in several stages. In the first stage, the boulders were subjected to alternately intense heating and cooling, causing the top of the boulders to peel off like the leaves of an onion.

Granodiorite, from which they are made, as it was revealed, still retains traces of strong temperature changes. When they approached the shape of a sphere, they were further processed with stone tools made of a material of the same hardness. At the final stage, the balls were placed on the base and polished to a shine.

Often in funds mass media There are claims that these balls have a perfect spherical shape with an accuracy of 2 millimeters. In reality, there is no basis for such categorical statements.

The fact is that no one has ever measured Costa Rica's balls with this level of accuracy. Lothrop wrote:

“To measure the circumference, we used two methods, neither of which is completely satisfactory. When large balls were buried deep in the ground, it might take several days to dig a trench around them. Consequently, we examined only the top half and then measured two or three more diameters using a tape and a plumb line. Measurements have shown that small specimens, typically 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 0.9 meters) in diameter, have differences of 1 or 2 inches (2.5 to 5.1 centimeters) in diameter."

Lothrop also measured balls that were completely out of the ground by applying a piece of tape around five circles. He's writing:

“Evidently the large balls were of the highest quality, and they were so nearly perfect that measuring the diameters with a tape and a plumb bob showed no difference. Therefore, we measured the circles horizontally and, as far as possible, at an angle of 45 degrees to the four main points.

We usually did not measure the vertical circumference because the large balls were too heavy to move. This procedure was not as easy as it sounds because several people had to hold the tape and all measurements had to be checked. Since the difference in diameters was too small to be detected by the eye even with a plumb line, the diameters were calculated mathematically."

Obviously, differences "too small to be detected by the eye" cannot be translated into a claim of accuracy "within 2 millimeters."

In fact, the surface of the balls is not completely smooth and has irregularities clearly exceeding 2 millimeters in height. In addition, the balls often show significant surface damage. Therefore, it is impossible to determine how smooth they may have been at the time of manufacture.

In fact, no one knows for sure what exactly these balls were made for.

By the time of the first Spanish conquests, the balls were no longer being made, and they remained completely forgotten until they were rediscovered in the 1940s.

Some archaeologists believe that the balls were placed in front of the houses of noble people as a symbol of their power or secret knowledge.

It is also believed that the very creation and movement of the balls had great religious or social significance, no less than their final location.

As already mentioned, a significant part of the stone balls were located in certain groups. Some of these groups formed straight or winding lines, triangles and parallelograms. One group of four balls was determined to be aligned along a line oriented toward magnetic north.

This led Ivar Zappa to speculate that they may have been placed by people familiar with the use of magnetic compasses or celestial orientation.

However, Ivar Zappa's hypothesis that groups of stone balls were navigational devices pointing to Easter Island and Stonehenge appears to be poorly founded.

This group of four balls occupies (according to Lothrop's measurements) only a few meters, which is clearly not enough to avoid errors in planning over such long distances.

In addition, with the exception of the balls located in Isla del Caco, most balloons are too far from the sea to be useful to ocean navigators.

There is also a version that the location of the stone balls resembles some celestial constellations. In accordance with this, the balls of Costa Rica are often considered by some “researchers” to be a kind of “planetarium”, “observatory” or landmarks for spaceships.

However, despite the attractiveness of such versions for the general public, it should be noted that the authors of such versions relied more on their imagination than on the results of field research.

Many of the balls, some of them in groups, were found on top of mounds. This has led to speculation that they may have been preserved inside buildings created on top of mounds, which would have made them difficult to use for observation.

Moreover, all but a few groups have now been destroyed, so measurements taken almost fifty years ago cannot be verified for accuracy.

Virtually all known balls have been moved from their original location by agricultural activities, destroying information about their archaeological contexts and possible groups.

Some of the balls were blown up and destroyed by local treasure hunters who believed fables that the balls contained gold. The balls were rolled into ravines and gorges or even under water on sea ​​coast(how in Isla del Caco).

Nowadays, a significant part of the balls are used as simple lawn decorations. It is quite possible that at least some of the balls were also once used for similar purposes.

(in Central America, balls could be displayed in front of the house of noble people, thereby showing their status.)

So, for example, in located at Pacific Coast On the border with Guatemala, the center of Izapa, which existed a little later than the Olmecs, small round balls were discovered next to small stone pillars, which could well have served as stands for them.

The time of production of the balls remains unknown.

Since reliable methods for dating stone products do not currently exist, archaeologists are forced to rely only on stratigraphic studies and determine the date of manufacture of the balls from cultural remains found in the same deposits.

Such remains found during excavations are now dated by archaeologists in the range from 200 BC. to even 1500 AD. But even such a wide range cannot be considered final.

The fact is that stratigraphic analysis always leaves a lot of doubt about the dating of such artifacts. If only because if the balls are now moving from place to place, then nothing can exclude the possibility of such a movement of the balls at the very time that stratigraphy gives.

Consequently, the balls may well turn out to be much more ancient. Up to hundreds of thousands and millions of years (there are such hypotheses).

In particular, the version expressed by George Erickson and other researchers that the balls are more than 12 thousand years old is absolutely not excluded. For all the skepticism of archaeologists regarding such a date, it is by no means without foundation.

In particular, John Hopes mentions balls in Isla del Caco, which are underwater off the coast.

If these balls were not moved there at a later time and were there initially, then they could have been placed there only when the sea level was significantly lower than the modern one. And this gives them an age of at least 10 thousand years...

The method of transporting the balls (or blanks for them) also remains a mystery - from their locations to the places of supposed origin of the material for their manufacture, tens of kilometers, a significant part of which is in swamps and dense thickets of tropical forest...

Archaeologist Doris Z. Stone ended his very first report on the Costa Rican spheres with the words: “We must classify the perfect spheres of Costa Rica as incomprehensible megalithic mysteries.” It’s impossible to disagree with him on this...

And here we are already talking about the so-called Moeraki boulders, also known as "Watermelons of Elijah the Prophet" . Some take them for dinosaur eggs, others for the fruits of ancient sea plants, and some even suggest that these are the remains of a UFO.

The phenomenon is truly strange. Imagine an almost ideally shaped stone or iron ball with a diameter from ten centimeters to three meters. If someone happens to find such an “egg” broken, then inside he will find a cavity with crystalline formations along the inner surface.

The most famous collection of such eggs is located in a fishing village in New Zealand. The balls lie right on the beach. Moreover, all the stones have a different structure - some of them are impeccably smooth, others are rough, like a tortoise shell. Some are split into pieces or with huge cracks.

But in order to admire the “watermelons of Elijah the Prophet”, it is not at all necessary to go to New Zealand. As mentioned above, they are found in China and Israel. There are similar round stones in Costa Rica, where they are called “balls of the gods.” These stones are considered man-made, they are called the “eighth wonder of the world” and are under state protection. The largest "balls of the gods" in Costa Rica reach three meters in diameter and weigh about 16 tons. And the smallest ones are no larger than a child’s ball and are only ten centimeters across. The balls are arranged singly and in groups of three to fifty pieces, sometimes forming geometric shapes.

There are similar formations here in Russia (however, Russian “eggs” are not considered man-made). For example, mysterious stone balls were discovered in the village of Boguchanka, in the north of the Irkutsk region. Locals We are sure that this is a UFO, for the reason that the balls look like they are made of metal.

All stones have different structures - some of them are impeccably smooth; others are like a turtle shell, rough; some are split into pieces or have huge cracks.

Or here are some more facts:

In 1969, in Germany, in the Eifel, during a quarry explosion, a perfectly round ball with a diameter of five meters and weighing more than 100 tons rolled out of a slope.

In Kazakhstan, during the development of a sand quarry, several large stone balls were dug out from great depths.

Balls of unique beauty were discovered along the sides of the Bukobay ravine in the Sol-Iletsky district of the Orenburg region.

Several dozen more such stones were located in a ravine five kilometers west of Zhirnovsk Volgograd region. In 2002-2003, unfortunately, the most beautiful and expressive of them were destroyed by local oil industry bulldozers who were laying several pipelines.

(Balls in Volgograd region)

Full of balls (up to 2 meters in diameter) on arctic island Champa on Franz Josef Land. However, there are also very tiny ones.

In October 2007, at depths of 10-25 meters on the bottom of the Black Sea near Gelendzhik, the Kosmopoisk expedition found balls with a diameter of 0.7 to 1 meter. The smallest one was lifted and examined on the shore.

Geologists and historians concluded that the ball was artificially carved, and a “side” and an X-shaped cut were visible on its surface. Why they made such balls, which are too large for both the gigantic gunpowder cannons and the largest catapults, is unknown.

Boguchansky balls by no means claim to be the most mysterious. For more than 60 years, scientists have been puzzling over their more famous and massive cousins ​​- stone balls from Costa Rica (Central America) and other areas of South America.

(Some Boguchan balls are cut into slices.)

In the forties of the last century, they were discovered by workers cutting down thickets for banana plantations. Here you can find scatterings of small balls 10 centimeters in diameter, and giant “statues” three meters long, which weigh up to 20 tons. The material is different - from volcanic rock to granite.

Some of the balls at the time of discovery looked as if they had recently been brought to the site. Others were partially buried. Or they barely stuck out from the ground. And several specimens were found at a depth of two meters. Nobody dug deeper. However, it seemed as if the balls were crawling out of the depths.

Arctic island of Champa- one of the most unique places on Earth - all strewn with strange, perfectly round stones.

Without claiming the final truth, we can draw the following preliminary conclusion. Of course, the stones from Champa can be classified as spherical nodules. Concretions - from the Latin word concretio- accretion, thickening.

These are nodules, rounded mineral formations in sedimentary rocks. The centers of such accumulation can be mineral grains, rock fragments, shells, teeth and bones of fish, and plant remains.

Most of them are formed in porous sedimentary rocks - sands and clays. In structure, concentrically layered ones are most often found - as if composed of several shells.

They usually consist of calcium carbonates, iron oxides and sulfides, calcium phosphates, gypsum, and manganese compounds.

The formation of nodules occurs something like this: growths appear on the walls, which, growing towards each other, close together and form various shapes. On Earth, the predominant nodules are spherical, disc-shaped, less often found in the shape of an ellipse or irregular - fused.

There are as many opinions about the origin of stone balls as there are researchers. According to Viktor Boyarsky, every geologist who has visited Champa at least once has heard his own explanation of this phenomenon.

Viktor Boyarsky does not rule out that there are still places where spherical stones are concentrated on Franz Josef Land: “I wouldn’t be surprised if new expeditions report something similar. Geologically, this corner of the planet is capable of presenting a lot of unexpected surprises.”

Proximity mysterious civilizations and them places of worship like the pyramids, naturally gives rise to supernatural hypotheses. To the point that the balls were made by aliens either from outer space or from Atlantis. Or at least under their leadership.

Indeed, some actually show traces of processing. And inscriptions. And some of the balls from Costa Rica were originally lined with some ornaments - it seemed that their designs corresponded to the location of the constellations.

However, now the finds have been rearranged and taken to personal farmsteads and museums. And it is no longer possible to restore the previous picture.

The famous researcher of the anomalous and great dreamer Erich von Däniken generally dubbed the balls “balls played by the gods.” He hinted at football. Although they are more suitable for playing golf or croquet.

Arctic Champ Island.

Spherical stones on the island of Champa, part of the Franz Josef Land archipelago, form cosmic natural landscapes. Perfectly round boulders scattered throughout the island seem to grow out of the ground. Melting glaciers expose the surface of the island, washing out rounded shapes. The size of the stones ranges from a few centimeters to a couple of meters; some are perfect cannonballs. Many stones due to impact strong wind, water and low temperatures lost their rounded shape, becoming like cobblestones.

Large studies on the island of Champa - due to the territorial fragmentation of the archipelago and the great distance from the mainland - have not been carried out, but there are several theories about the origin of the mysterious stones. One of them, by the Austrian geologist Sepp Friedhuber, explains the appearance of boulders as a result of the accumulation of sedimentary material transported from land to sea. Underwater, these rounded sandstone shapes were formed, with an organic core in the center. However, the phenomenon of round stones on the island of Champa has not yet been studied - and there is no official version of their origin; Each geologist arriving on the island has his own.

Ball-shaped stones on the island of Champa // Yaroslav Nikitin

Landscapes of Champa Island in the Franz Josef Archipelago // Yaroslav Nikitin

Round stones on the island of Champa // Yaroslav Nikitin

Rounded sandstone shapes on Champa Island // Yaroslav Nikitin

Since the vast majority of tourists end up on Champa Island on their way to the Arctic, photographing the desert landscapes without curious travelers in the frame is unlikely to be possible. Tourists - about a hundred people - are transported from the icebreaker to the coast by boat, so if you want to take pictures of deserted landscapes, you should either board the first boats or sail away on the last one.

Ball-shaped stones are concentrated on the coast. In the depths of the island there is a flat ice plateau with an endless horizon and gray landscapes.

How to get there

Champa Island is administratively located in the Primorsky district of the Arkhangelsk region. Getting to the island is quite problematic. One option is expedition cruises to the Arctic, organized from mid-June to early August. Icebreakers traditionally make a stop at one of the islands of the Franz Josef Land archipelago, allowing tourists to stroll along the coast for several hours. However, the cost of such a trip is quite high. You can also get to the island as part of a scientific expedition.

Location

Champa Island is part of the Franz Josef Land archipelago in the north.

You're probably thinking: what kind of nonsense is that in the title?! But after reading the article to the end, you will understand everything. Champ Island geographically belongs to the Franz Josef Land archipelago. At the same time, this is the southernmost island of Zichy. The territory of the island is the property of Russia (Primorsky district, Arhangelsk region). Champ is relatively small in area - 375 km2. It is separated from the nearest island to the north (Luigi Island) by a fairly narrow strait, and from the northeast by a larger strait (from Salisbury Island).

You can often come across the name “Champa”, but the correct name is still “Champ”.

Geographic coordinates of the island: 80°40′26″ n. w. 56°14′13″ E. d.

STORY

The island got its name from William Champ, who was very close to W. Ziegler (an American businessman). It was Champa who led the search expedition to find Ziegler himself, who disappeared in polar waters. In 1904, this expedition came to the island.

CLIMATE

RELIEF. FLORA AND FAUNA

The most high point Champy – 507m. In total, several peaks rise above the island. From each of them glaciers descend to the sea. The slopes are quite steep, there are a lot of stones. Cape Fium is the highest.

Stone balls are most concentrated on the coast. If you go deep into the island, you can get to a large plateau from which you can see the horizon and local landscapes.

Interestingly, not the entire territory of the island is covered with glaciers. So, in the southwest they are not.

They say that the island is very tasty spring water(in spring and summer whole streams run to the sea).

On about. Champ grows red mosses (mainly due to excessive moisture).

Of course, polar bears and polar birds live in these parts. The latter even set up a bird market. These are mainly guillemots (not to be confused with penguins).

TOURISM AND ATTRACTIONS

A little help:

Spherulites are spherical formations consisting of the finest fibers of an indefinable crystalline substance, radially located around a certain center.

Let's not get too clever and just call them “stone balls”. The fact is that there are a lot of such balls on Champa. They consist of sandstone. The highlight is that how these stones appeared is not known to any scientist exactly. But there are a number of theories and assumptions. Some believe that the spherulites of Champ Island are the result of waves washing ordinary stones. There are “experts” who claim that this is the work of extraterrestrial civilizations. In short, people have nothing to do with it.

About the stones. V. Boyarsky (researcher of the polar regions) said very well:

“When a geologist gets to the island, he gives his explanation of the nature of this phenomenon. And so it is with everyone.”

The bulk of Champa's tourists are travelers heading to the Arctic. It should be noted that it is very difficult to take a photo where there are no people in the frame (landscape photos). There is only one solution to the problem: be the first to go ashore or the last to leave the island.

HOW TO GET TO CHAMP ISLAND?

It should be noted that getting to Champ is far from an easy task. The most popular option is to take an expedition cruise to the Arctic (you'll have a few hours to explore and take pictures). The downside is that not everyone can pay for such a cruise.

Today we will talk about extraordinary island called Champ, which became famous throughout the world thanks to its megaliths. These are stone balls of different sizes. And no one has yet been able to solve THIS secret, but maybe it is here that you will find the very key that has been hiding the secret from human minds for many centuries.

Secrets of the island, stone balls

Champ, as an island, has long been particularly popular among tourists, and for good reason, because this particular land is considered a practically unexplored corner of our planet. The island itself is, in principle, quite small in size. These travelers are attracted for many reasons: unusually exotic Arctic landscapes, untouched by modern man ancient civilization, and most importantly, strange ones of various shapes.

The fact is that these are not just round structures - they are real balls of ideal shape with a smooth surface, and their sizes are both huge and small. How did they appear in these harsh and wild places? Who created them? Most of the stones have retained their round and smooth shape to this day, but there are also those that, due to poor conditions, have become like round cobblestones.

Tourists arriving at Champ Island, note that when you look at this place not from a picture, but in real life, it seems as if huge cannonballs are growing from the surface of the earth or were scattered like balls by an ancient giant. A feeling of mystery and magic floats in these parts...

Megaliths of Champ Island

Although from afar, it seems that the ball is made of stone, but in fact the balls are made of sand, which is densely packed. The amazing thing is that their origin cannot be determined - they were not created due to volcanic activity, and some of them even have imprints of ancient shark teeth! This is simply incredible! There are many theories of their origin, but all of them are incomplete and not entirely thorough.

Some are inclined to believe that these spherical ones are the work of an alien life form or the remnants of the Hyperborean civilization. Others believe that this is simply washing stones with water until they are perfectly round. But sometimes a person just needs to accept the fact ancient secret and do not try to explain it scientifically.

Such objects exist not only in Franz Josef Land, but also in South America, in the forests of Costa Rica, and also in Northern Europe. If you have the opportunity, visit this island, as this unusual sight is gradually disappearing from the face of the earth, crumbling into two halves.

Champa Island is very popular among tourists sailing on Arctic cruises. And it is not surprising - there are objects on it, the origin of which is still not clear, and in the near future there is no solution to this riddle.

Let's look at them in more detail and speculate a little...

Location

Mysterious spherulites of Champa Island

Champa Island is one of the many islands of the Arctic archipelago of Franz Josef Land, which belongs to the most remote corners of Russia and is practically unexplored. The territory of this island is relatively small (only 375 sq. km), and is attractive not so much for its picturesque, untouched by civilization, Arctic landscapes, but for the mysterious stone balls of quite impressive size and perfectly round shape, which make one get lost in numerous guesses regarding their origin on these uninhabited lands .

The island is dotted with many strange round stones of different sizes - from those exceeding human height to very small ones - the size of a ping-pong ball; some are perfect cannonballs. Due to exposure to strong wind, water and low temperatures, many stones have lost their rounded shape, becoming like cobblestones.

Perfectly round boulders scattered throughout the island seem to grow out of the ground. Melting glaciers expose the surface of the island, washing out rounded shapes.

The spherulites of Champa Island are stones made of tightly compressed sand. They are clearly not of volcanic origin, and in some of them scientists even discovered the teeth of ancient sharks.

from the comments: And these are they lying in the Izhma River near the village of Maloye Galovo, Komi.

The dimensions of many balls reach several meters (some of them are difficult to fully grasp even for three people), although there are also perfectly round stone balls from several centimeters in diameter.

Some balls seem to be buried in the ground, others just stand on the surface. Here you can also find many stones that look more like cobblestones - under the influence of wind, water and cold they have lost their ideal roundness.

When you look at this amazing picture, you get the impression that some giants once played football here.

Today, there are several theories about the origin of these mysterious balls, although each of them is imperfect and generally does not answer numerous questions related to these mysterious objects on Champa Island.

According to one version, these balls are the result of washing ordinary stones with water to such a perfectly round shape.

But if this version still sounds plausible with small stones, then in the case of three-meter balls it is somehow not very convincing.

Some are even inclined to believe that these balls are the result of the activities of an extraterrestrial civilization or the mythical civilization of the Hyperboreans. Official version no, and everyone who has visited the island creates their own theory of the origin of these mysterious balls.

Natural mystery
Franz Josef Land is not the only place on the planet where round stones are found. IN South America and in Northern Europe they have long been a subject close attention geologists. In the forests of Costa Rica, when cutting down trees for banana plantations, stone balls were encountered here and there. And in the fall of 2003, Itogi correspondents found a huge plateau with spherical stones on Mangyshlak.

Balls are found both where people once lived or still live (as, for example, in Mexico), and where people have never settled (the best example is the island of Champa). This suggests that round stones can be of either natural or man-made origin - in some parts of the planet in ancient times, stones were specially processed for economic or architectural purposes. Some researchers even suggested that the spherical stones were the work of space aliens, forming some as yet undeciphered anagrams. But this is too exotic a version...

What do geologists think about this? Experts distinguish several types of stone balls: obsidian (dark volcanic glass), granite and sandstone. According to Sepp Friedhuber, the amazing natural formations of the island of Champa may belong to the latter category:

The geological department of the University of Hamburg is struggling with the solution to the round stones. The only thing we have been able to understand so far is that the stones “round up” very quickly. Their core is organic matter. I believe they were born in sea ​​water, formed in soft sediments from the remains of shells that once sank and became stuck in the sandy bottom. The shells consisted of quartzite, a sedimentary rock that, when exposed to heat or pressure, takes on the appearance of a crystalline structure, and marcasite, a mineral that is a compound resulting from chemical reactions of iron and sulfur. And it was marcasite, as analysis showed, that was the main connecting element in the balls. After Franz Josef Land rose from the depths of the sea and the resulting glaciers began to melt, the sediments were eroded, resulting in these amazing rock forms.

There is, for example, the following explanation: water cascades down from a melted glacier, forming peculiar pools in the ice into which these stones fall. Due to the softness of the volcanic rock and constant friction under the influence of water flow, the stones acquire a round shape. And if in the case of small stones this version sounds logical, then, looking at three-meter “balls”, you begin to doubt it.

The famous Russian polar explorer Viktor Boyarsky believes that the stones of Champa Island may be of organic origin, since they consist of sandstone: “This is a soft rock that can be destroyed. While you are on the island, you will probably notice that some large stones have broken into two halves, and the largest stone is crumbling more and more every year.”

The balls lie here as if in the courtyard of a sculpture workshop - hewn by the hand of a skilled sculptor for some unknown purpose. However, scientists say: no one has ever lived on the island, which means this miracle was created by nature. It is curious that stone balls are found in different parts of the world: from Mexico and Costa Rica to New Zealand and Kazakhstan, and everywhere many speculations and romantic legends are associated with their origin. With the light hand of the Swiss writer Erich von Däniken, stone spheres began to be poetically called “balls played by the gods.” Geologists use a more mundane term - “spherical nodules”, from the Latin concretio (“accretion, condensation”). They usually consist of granite, obsidian or, as on the island of Champa, sandstone. How exactly these stones appeared here still remains a mystery.

According to Russian polar explorer Viktor Boyarsky, every geologist who has visited Champa at least once gives his own explanation of this phenomenon. There is, for example, the following version: melt water eroded glaciers and created unique natural pools in them. Once in such a pool, the soft rock stone gradually rounded under the influence of water currents. Another hypothesis - by the Austrian geologist Sepp Friedhuber - explains the appearance of boulders as a result of the accumulation of sedimentary material transported from land to sea. Underwater, these rounded sandstone shapes were formed, with an organic core in the center. - See more at: http://www.festivalnauki.ru/statya/11343/zagadka-zapolyarnogo-ostrova#sthash.KmURizDL.dpuf

Why are the stone balls concentrated specifically on the island of Champa, where did they come from...? There are many questions, but the answers have not yet been found.

Here's what Marina Menshikova writes:

Old Ham would probably envy me. I am writing a diary, in front of me is a porthole, through which I see the rocks of Champa Island. Two hours ago, when “Professor Molchanov” approached the island located in the very center of Franz Josef Land, the sun came out from behind the clouds, illuminating a picture of incredible beauty. A lagoon surrounded on all sides by islands dotted with glaciers. There are significantly more icebergs; they are larger than those we saw during the transition from Novaya Zemlya. Icebergs sparkle in the sun pure ice. Champa Island – it seems to me that it can be considered the heart of the Polar Region. There is everything you need for an impression here: a glacier, bird colonies, streams flowing like waterfalls from the mountains, our favorite saxifrage of a bright purple color. And most importantly - spherulites, spherical nodules. The absolutely round stones seemed to have been scattered by the giant owners of these places. And such places must have reliable owners who have been protecting the secrets of the islands for thousands of years. How amazing it is to be in the heart of the Arctic and breathe in its crystal glacial air...

Our team is not alone here. The icebreaker "Captain Dranitsyn" is coming out of the fog in the distance. Our tour leader, Viktor Boyarsky, agrees that we will be given two hours. We land on the island of Champa. I want to capture everything - the landscape overlooking the sea, the neighboring islands, the foothills of the black Champa Mountains, the spherulites. You know, when you sit on a mountain and look into the distance, at the horizon, at icebergs the size of a five-story building, you understand HOW beautiful our planet is, how much we need to see, how much we need to feel in order to then tell our friends and family. The Arctic is a special place. Here you need to meditate. This is where you need to be respectful, meek and real. Otherwise you will break...

Today we have the equator of the expedition. Exactly a week is over, exactly a week remains. If in the first days everyone was in some kind of nervous state - they were worried whether everything would go according to plan, whether we would see walruses, polar bear and so on, now I don’t see a single person who doesn’t smile. And the smiles became sincere and radiant. The cold Arctic cleanses us, removes the patina of civilization, everything unnecessary and feigned.

...Birds scream in the sky, glaciers sparkle, fogs envelop the ship in milk, we are happy. Champa Island will remain in my heart forever.

There is another question that remains unanswered. Why are unusual stones found on this island? Why did the gods, who decided to play with their gigantic balls, like him? In 2007, Swiss traveler Thomas Ulrich discovered a large round boulder on east coast Northbrook Islands, in another part of the archipelago.

Whether it always lay here or was in some incomprehensible way moved from Champa, whether there are the same stones on other islands - all this remains to be determined by polar researchers.