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The Quirky Geology Behind Olympic Curling Stones
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The quirky geology behind Olympic curling stones
By Andrea Thompson – Scientific American Athletes often have specialized equipment or apparel to make them run, swim, skate or ski their best, but curling takes things to another level. Curling rocks—as the round, roughly 40-pound stones are called—only come from two places on the planet: a little island in Scotland called Ailsa Craig and the Trefor granite quarry in Wales. But what makes the rocks from these places uniquely suited for sliding a…
The curling stones of the Olympic Winter Games all have something in common: they come almost exclusively from Ailsa Craig, a tiny Scottish island. It is on this piece of ground beaten by the winds that granite has been shaped for nearly a century that slides on the Olympic ice.
"This type of stone has stood the test of time. It's hard to believe that such a rough stone can become a masterpiece that someone throws to win a gold medal." The stones are so dense that they withstand all kinds of impacts and stresses that come with curling. Water and moisture cannot penetrate the stones. Scotland is the country of origin of curling. The stones at the Olympic Games weigh about 19 kg. Until 2006, material from a granite quarry…
The U.S. team won, March, silver medal at double-mixt curling, after it reached the end of the trial for the first time during the Winter Olympic Games.
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