[Rockhounds] Al Naslaa rock: Saudi Arabia's enigmatic sandstone block that's split perfectly down the middle

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

The Al Naslaa Rock Formation is a landmark in the Saudi Arabian desert
formed of two big blocks of sandstone separated by a mysterious,
pencil-thin gap. The gap is almost perfectly straight and smooth, dividing
what was once a massive rock into symmetrical twins.

The Al Naslaa formation is roughly 20 feet (6 meters) tall and 30 feet (9
m) wide. Scientists don't know how the strange gap between the two blocks
formed, but it appears to be of natural origin, according to *Geology
Science*
<https://geologyscience.com/gallery/geological-wonders/al-naslaa-rock/>, a
website that covers news and trends in geology. Researchers have proposed
several theories to explain the rock's middle parting, one of which
suggests that the gap opened as a result of plate tectonics.

Al Naslaa is located in a remote and arid region of northwestern Saudi
Arabia that occasionally experiences tectonic shifts, according to Geology
Science. Researchers think a sudden movement of Earth's crust may have
shifted and fractured Al Naslaa. The blocks are made of sandstone, meaning
the stone is layered and therefore relatively fragile. But something must
then have polished the fracture, as a fissure resulting from plates moving
beneath the rock would be unlikely to turn out so smooth.

https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/geology/al-naslaa-rock-saudi-arabia-s-enigmatic-sandstone-block-that-s-split-perfectly-down-the-middle