Starling murmuration over the ruins of Brightons West Pier, England Jan 8, 2026

Starling murmuration over the ruins of Brightons West Pier, England

Today is a day that puts time into perspective. Old Rock Day highlights the vast geological processes that have shaped our world since its earliest eras. In Arches National Park, Utah, United States, Turret Arch—seen through North Window—offers a striking reminder: landscapes can take hundreds of millions of years to assemble. The Entrada Sandstone that forms these arches began as shifting dunes and shallow seas long before erosion carved today"s shapes. Even so, these formations are relatively young. Most rocks on Earth disappear over time because plate tectonics, erosion and volcanism continually recycle the crust. Only the planet"s ancient continental shields preserve truly old material. Canada"s Acasta Gneiss, about 4 billion years old, is the oldest known rock still rooted where it formed.

© Philip Reeve/Photodisc/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Where we go to play
Jan 8, 2024Bernina Pass, Graubunden, Switzerland
Jan 8, 2025Great Wall of China

More Desktop Wallpapers:

May 10, 2025Minnesota State Capitol, St. Paul, Minnesota, United States
Feb 11, 2025Yungang Grottoes, Datong, China
Oct 25, 2023Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
Nov 18, 2024Porthcawl lighthouse, Wales, United Kingdom
Feb 7, 2024St. James Tidal Pool, Cape Town, South Africa
Nov 5, 2023Playa del Silencio, Spain
May 8, 2024Marseille welcomes to Olympic torch
Oct 31, 2024Happy Diwali!
Nov 8, 2025Bandon Beach in Bandon, Oregon, United States
Nov 4, 2025Tower Bridge, London, England
Jul 8, 2024Blueberries growing in the wild
Nov 16, 2024Wadden Sea coast, Friesland, Netherlands
Feb 4, 2025Golden Bridge, Bà Nà Hills, Da Nang, Vietnam
Jan 6, 2024A male chaffinch in a crab apple tree
How’s the air up there?
Sep 13, 2023Hemakuta Hill, Hampi
Oct 11, 2025World Migratory Bird Day
An apex predator
Dec 13, 2024Christmas market, St. Stephens Basilica, Budapest, Hungary
The world’s greatest oasis?
Sharks, just living their lives
A sky full of stars
Mar 28, 2025Black-naped monarch
Meet for lunch?
Sep 15, 2023Udaipur, India
Mar 13, 2024Lake Magadi, Kenya
Aug 27, 2024Young black caiman, Tambopata National Reserve, Peru
Aug 23, 2025St. Barbaras Cathedral, Kutná Hora, Czechia
A glimpse of the grandest of canyons
Jul 3, 2025Rainbow River, Rainbow Springs State Park, Florida, United States