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:

Aug 25, 2023Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
Nimble and stealthy
A time-worn medieval marvel
Masterpiece of acoustic science
A scented sea of purple
Nov 10, 2024Caribbean flamingos, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico
Dec 16, 2025Handmade gnomes at a Christmas market
Jul 5, 2024Daintree Rainforest and Noah Beach, Queensland, Australia
Apr 14, 2024Bowling Ball Beach, California, USA
Feb 19, 2024Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain
Giants of the Southern Ocean
Clouds dance above Sundance
Oct 4, 2024World Space Week begins
Step back in time...
Jul 13, 2024Fairy chimneys and cave dwellings in Cappadocia, Türkiye
Nov 6, 2025The temple of Wat Phra That Hariphunchai, Lamphun, Thailand
Oct 23, 2024Madame Sherri Forest, New Hampshire, United States
Oct 19, 2023Durga Puja
Jan 8, 2026Starling murmuration over the ruins of Brightons West Pier, England
Wait, mountain – you shall bear my castle!
May 21, 2025International Tea Day
Apr 12, 2025International Day of Human Space Flight
Feb 4, 2026Red kite in snow
Jun 3, 2024Jaswant Thada and Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur, Rajasthan
Bridging past and present
Where did you drop the fish, son?
Do pandas enjoy winter?
Jan 21, 2025Eurasian red squirrel
Sep 7, 2023Camels in the desert, United Arab Emirates
Nov 5, 2025Guru Nanak Gurpurab