Eggs cooked on hot ground
(Shenzhen Daily)
Updated: 2005-04-19 10:18

The ground in Kangle Village, Haizhu District is hot enough to cook eggs on, and nobody knows why, Information Times reported Monday.

A one square meter patch of cement, located in the doorway of a building constructed in 1997 can reach temperatures of 70 to 80 degrees Celsius and can cook a beaten egg in 10 minutes. A resident surnamed Deng said he discovered the phenomenon after the ground was steaming in the rain three days ago. The ground temperature got hotter at the center of the square and caused a 1-meter-long crack to appear in the cement, according to Deng.

"It is so baffling. I've never seen this before, " said the landlord surnamed Li.

He said the cement was laid in 1997 over a garden and there were no cable or gas pipes buried underneath.

"It maybe the result of the decomposing underground rubbish," said Professor Zhou Yongzhang of Geography research center in Zhongshan University.

There could be three reasons for the ground's sudden temperature rise: a geologic phenomenon, such as earthquake and terrestrial heat, buried cable or decomposing underground rubbish. Geological phenomena is usually responsible for hot ground in remote rural areas while underground garbage can suddenly heat the ground in cities, according to Zhong.

"The exact explanation for the sudden rise in ground temperature was under further investigation by local geology department," said Deng.