俄羅斯海岸現神祕雪球 規模巨大天然形成

A strange and beautiful sight greeted locals in the Gulf of Ob, in northwest Siberia, after thousands of natural snowballs formed on the beach.

在成千上萬個天然雪球出現在沙灘上之後，西伯利亞西北部的鄂畢灣的當地人迎來了一種奇怪又美麗的景象。

An 11-mile (18km) stretch of coast was covered in the icy spheres. The sculptural shapes range from the size of a tennis ball to almost 1m across.

一條長達11英里（約合18公里）的海岸全部都被這種雪球覆蓋了。雪球大小不一，小的只有網球大小，而大的直徑接近1米。

They result from a rare environmental process where small Pieces of ice form, are rolled by wind and water, and end up as giant snowballs.

這是一種非常罕見的自然現象，小冰塊被風或水推着滾動，最終裹成一個巨大的雪球。

Locals in the village of Nyda, which lies on the Yamal Peninsula just above the Arctic Circle, say they have never seen anything to compare to them.

據俄羅斯內達村（該村位於亞馬爾半島北極圈內不遠的地方）的居民們表示，他們從來沒有看到過比這還要奇怪的事。

Russian TV quoted an explanation from Sergei Lisenkov, press secretary of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute:

俄羅斯電視臺引述南北極研究所新聞祕書謝爾蓋·利先科夫的話說：

"As a rule, first there is a primary natural phenomenon - sludge ice, slob ice. Then comes a combination of the effects of the wind, the lay of the coastline, and the temperature and wind conditions.

“一般來說，這是一個很簡單的自然現象，首先要有泥狀的冰雪、鬆軟得像泥一樣的冰存在。然後再受到風、海岸線走勢以及溫度等條件的組合影響。”

"It can be such an original combination that it results in the formation of balls like these."

“就是這些簡單因素的組合影響，最終形成了這些大雪球。”

A similar phenomenon was witnessed in the Gulf of Finland in December 2014, and on Lake Michigan in December 2015, the website said.

據網站表示，2014年12月在芬蘭灣、2015年12月在密歇根湖也發生了類似的現象。

Pictures of the snowballs have charmed Russians online.

這些大雪球的照片讓俄羅斯網民們都快樂瘋了。

A reader of the TJournal news site calling himself "Anton Antonov" joked: "Soon the peninsula will be invaded by hatched snowsaurs!"

Tjournal新聞網站上一名自稱“安東·安東諾夫”的讀者開玩笑說道：“很快亞馬爾半島就會被從蛋裏孵出來的雪怪入侵了。”