Getting here was, without a doubt, a
real odyssey. And the fact is that this petrified forest is in the middle of
the Namibian desert, without people for many miles and where the temperature
rises to 48 degrees. Fortunately, the effort was worth it. technologyify
The opportunity to contemplate this
vast area of petrified trees, the largest on earth, is breathtaking
(literally). The silence is such that a buzz is heard in the ears; and then you
know where you are: in the tree graveyard. A real treasure of nature. worldbeautytips
The petrified forest was accidentally
discovered by travelers in 1940, the Namibian government made it a protected
site in 1967, and has been listed as a World Heritage Site since 2007. technologyford
Getting here was, without a doubt, a
real odyssey. This petrified forest lies in the middle of the Namibian Desert,
miles from the city, and where temperatures gradually rise to 48 degrees.
Fortunately, the effort has paid off. techiesin
The opportunity to contemplate this
vast landscape of petrified trees, the largest on earth, is breathtaking
(literally). The silence is such that a buzz is heard in the ears; and then you
know where you are: in the tree graveyard. A real treasure of nature. blog4techies
The petrified forest was accidentally
discovered by travelers in 1940, the Namibian government made it a protected
site in 1967, and has been a World Heritage Site since 2007.
The history of this peculiar place
deserves to be told. 260-280 million years ago, when the continents were still
together, and the earth was covered with an ice blanket, a large volcanic rift
erupted in the territory of modern northern Angola and in the region west of
the Congo, melting the ice and forming a large volcano. ... A flood, a flood of
biblical proportions.
The water dragged trees from the area
into this area of northern Namibia and buried them in a thick layer of mud.
The lack of oxygen that the trees suffered (or enjoyed) under the mud prevented
them from rotting, and the pressure exerted by the tons of mud lying on the
logs led to the formation of minerals, especially silicon oxide, manganese
oxide and iron. the oxide penetrates into the trees, turning them into stone.
Over the years, erosion caused by rain
and wind has led to the emergence of this archaic and distinctive forest,
exposing fossilized logs.
No excavations have been carried out,
what is planned has been excavated naturally. Fossilized logs up to 35 meters
long and thousands of smaller fragments are scattered throughout the territory.
It should be well-known that practically all of the logs are positioned in the
same way, which makes it possible to determine the direction of the flood.
The name is a bit misleading, as this
is not really a forest turned to stone, but a collection of huge fossilized
tree trunks about 280 million years old. Scientists have found that these logs
did not grow in modern Namibia, but were washed away by the river in ancient
times when one of the many ice ages ended on the mainland of Gondwana. There
must have been a great flood that washed the trunks back to where they lie
today.
This flood also brought a lot of sand
and mud, which covered the trees to such an extent that air infiltration was
prevented and therefore no decomposition occurred. The organic matter of the
trunks has been preserved. Due to tremendous pressure and over millions of
years, even the finest structures of wood have been dissolved by silicic acid
and replaced by quartz, which is silicic acid in a crystalline state. The
result is perfectly preserved and completely petrified logs.
Due to erosion, many of these trunks
are now exposed, and among the many smaller specimens, two completely exposed
trees up to 45 m in size have been found.Geologists examined the trunks and
found that the trees belong to the tree family Cordaites, which grew long ago
in modern Europe. and was the ancestor of the fir and the fir.
A few kilometers from the petrified
forest and after passing through the mountains, which, due to their static
beauty, look like a papier-mâché decoration, the majestic Twifelfontein
emerges, an isolated valley that houses a magnificent treasure: cave engravings
over 6,000 years old, the most valuable of all. Africa.
It contains over 2,000 figures, most of
which are in good condition, although others have been damaged by vandalism.
There is now a recovery program, and luckily they are heavily guarded.
Engravings or petroglyphs depict animals such as elephants, ostriches,
giraffes, rhinos and even human footprints.
