This truly happens, though it sounds so mysterious and bizarre.
Geologists have found that these stones move, albeit very slowly, over the course of their lives. These formations are called trovants. Reportedly some six million years ago a type of geological phenomenon occurred and living rocks or trovants were born. These living stones are said to be rare to Romania and are formed under highly complex circumstances involving seismic shifts. Using a base of sand, sediment, water, and long periods of time.
What science has learned is that when dissected, these rocks are made up of a solid stone center. The dissection shows a ring-like structure showing a hard stone center, followed by tiny bits of pebbles, sand, gravel, or gritstones. They greatly vary in size, ranging from tiny to huge stones weighing several tons.
The name trovant actually means “cemented sand,” which seeks to explain how the rock is formed, though geologists really do not understand the phenomenon of its growth. They believe the area of Costesci was a marine environment in its distant past. The stone is made up of sand, grits, and other sediments around its cemented nucleus if you will.
Trovants seem to produce beautiful though unusual shapes and formations and it is said that they grow best under rainy conditions. They absorb water and a chemical reaction takes place at the core, that pressure says geologists, causing the stones to push outward and this process is seen as ‘growth’.
If they have continual access to water, they will grow smaller ones with the apparent genetic configuration of the parent stone. These smaller ones will eventually fall off and begin their own process of growth into the identical shape of the parent trovant.
It is said the locals once used trovants for domestic purposes, but these unusual rocks are now a protected species that the locals are no longer allowed to harvest. They are protected by the “Muzeul Trovantilor” or Trovants Museum Natural Reserve and by UNESCO.
Trovants are said to be made up primarily of calcium carbonate and seem to occur primarily in Romania’s Valcea County at the sand quarry near the Costesti village.
We live in a truly amazing world!
Comments / 12