![]() Neither the spherical to subspherical shape or large size of the Moeraki Boulders is unique to them. Most are spherical or almost spherical, but a small proportion are slightly elongated parallel to the bedding plane of the mudstone that once enclosed them. Approximately one-third of the boulders range in size from about 0.5 to 1.0 metre (1.6 to 3.3 ft) in diameter, the other two-thirds from 1.5 to 2.2 metres (4.9 to 7.2 ft). The most striking aspect of the boulders is their unusually large size and spherical shape, with a distinct bimodal size distribution. In more recent times they have become a popular tourist attraction, often described and pictured in web pages and tourist guides. The boulders were described in 1850 colonial reports and numerous popular articles since that time. ![]() The picture is now in the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington. Mantell sketched the beach and its boulders, more numerous than now. ![]() This legend tells of the rocky shoals that extend seaward from Shag Point as being the petrified hull of this wreck and a nearby rocky promontory as being the body of the canoe’s captain. Local Māori legends explained the boulders as the remains of eel baskets, calabashes, and kumara washed ashore from the wreck of Arai-te-uru, a large sailing canoe. These boulders are grey-colored septarian concretions, which have been exhumed from the mudstone enclosing them and concentrated on the beach by coastal erosion. The erosion by wave action of mudstone, comprising local bedrock and landslides, frequently exposes embedded isolated boulders. They occur scattered either as isolated or clusters of boulders within a stretch of beach where they have been protected in a scientific reserve. The Moeraki Boulders are unusually large and spherical boulders lying along a stretch of Koekohe Beach on the wave-cut Otago coast of New Zealand between Moeraki and Hampden. Moeraki Boulders – New Zealand Moeraki Boulders – New Zealand
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