Source: mining industry
The XXIV Olympic Winter Games, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, will open today (February 4, 2022). The Olympic Games is a festival of universal celebration and the largest comprehensive games in the world. The holding of the Winter Olympic Games has made Beijing create history and become the first "double Olympic city" - a city that has hosted both the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games.
Compared with European and American countries, China's winter Olympic sports started late. In 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games were held in Chamonix, France. It was not until 1980 that China participated in the 13th Lake Placid Winter Olympic Games in the United States for the first time. With the progress of the times, China's sports have achieved many good results in the world and won world applause.
In today's extremely rich material life, enjoying sports games has become a demand of our life. Author As a geological research worker, I found that many sports in the Winter Olympics contain geological principles, especially curling. Curling looks like a big stone, but it is not a simple big stone. Today, the author will take you to learn about the interesting curling.
On February 2, Chinese athletes made a good start in curling at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games
Writing | Dong Hanwen
The Origin of Curling
In the academic world, there are still arguments about the origin of curling, mainly including two views: European continent origin theory and Scottish origin theory. However, curling is a sport with a long history. The oldest extant curling pot was found at the bottom of Dunbrandt Pond in Scotland. It was carved in 1511.
Curling stone engraved with 1511 is the oldest curling stone preserved so far. It was preserved in the Smith Museum of Fine Arts in Stirling, Scotland
This sport is also recorded in the works of the Renaissance, such as the Dutch painter Peter Bruegel Sr （ Pieter Bruegel） Hunter in the Snow （1565） It can be seen that curling has become a great pleasure for farmers in the cold winter. According to historical records, the ice sports carried out in the low-lying countries of the European continent in the 16th century have some similarities with modern curling, but there are still great differences. With the evolution of time, this sport, together with the stone in Scotland, has also improved its form, and finally developed into the curling sport seen today.
The Hunter in the Snow (1565) by the Dutch painter Pieter Bruegel in the Renaissance
Where is curling stone special?
The curling pot currently used internationally is mainly composed of a pot body, a handle and bolts. The pot body can be further divided into a pot body, a pot top and a pot bottom. According to the regulations of the Chinese Curling Association (2014), the circumference of curling used for competitions shall not exceed 91.44 cm (36 inches), the height shall not be less than 11.43 cm (4.5 inches), and the weight including the handle and screws shall not exceed 19.96 kg (44 pounds) and not be less than 17.24 kg (38 pounds).
Introduction
COMPETITION INTRODUCTION
Rules of curling competition: "In curling competition, each game is played by two teams, each team is composed of four players. The game lasts 10 rounds. Each player of the two teams has two curls, that is, two opportunities to throw the ball.". The two teams throw the ball alternately according to the order of first base, second base, third base and main players. When one player throws the ball, two members of the team hold a brush to quickly brush the ice surface left and right in front of the curling bottle to make the curling bottle reach the center of the camp accurately. At the same time, in order to keep the curling away from the center of the circle, the opposing team members can also wipe the ice surface in front of the curling. " (Quoted from Baidu Encyclopedia)
Curling competition rules determine the particularity of curling stones. (1) Impact resistance, Mainly for the side of curling. In order to score, athletes will constantly hit the players or the other party's curling on the field, which requires that the curling stone is in the shape of block, hard, even material composition, and fine mineral particles; (2) Impermeable , mainly for the bottom of curling. As curling moves on the ice surface, the bottom surface is in direct contact with the ice for a long time, which requires that the curling stone is not only wear-resistant, but also dense and impermeable. Therefore, the curling pot we saw was not simply made of a stone pier, but was assembled from two different rock materials.
Common Ailsa and Blue Hone are two kinds of common curling stones, which are used for curling body and bottom respectively
At present, curling stones used in the world mainly come from two places: Ailsa Craig in Scotland and North Wales, of which the former accounts for two-thirds and is known as the best curling stone. The Common Ailsa and Blue Honey mentioned above are from Ailsa Craig.
Previous studies have shown that curling stones on the island of Isaacregg were formed at 62 Ma (Millions of years) It is an alkaline granite. The fresh surface of the rock is grayish white, medium fine grained granite structure, massive structure, mainly composed of potassium feldspar, quartz, plagioclase, hornblende (Dark mineral) The composition is uniform. The particles of Common Ailsa used for curling body are thicker, while the particles of Blue Hone used for the bottom are thinner and denser, which is also considered to be the best stone for curling bottom.
It is reported that to make a curling pot, mining and cutting are necessary (Blank) , Drilling (according to the handle) , polishing, bottom installation, polishing and other links. Not only that, each link also includes multiple processes, such as polishing, which requires the use of sandpaper with different precision, from coarse polishing, fine polishing to final fine polishing.
This is an interesting curling. I believe you will have a different experience and gain if you understand the curling stories and watch the curling competition in the Winter Olympics.
I wish China's Olympic athletes good results!
About the author: Dong Hanwen, associate researcher of the Institute of Geology of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, master's supervisor, member of the Youth Working Committee of the Chinese Geological Society, vice chairman of the China Committee of the World Young Geoscientists Alliance (YES Alliance), and visiting scholar of the University of British Columbia in Canada.
