Talampaya National Park

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One of the striking steep walls in the park

The Talampaya National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Talampaya ) is located in the north-west of Argentina , in the south-west of the La Rioja province , in the up to 1,300 m high low mountain range of the Sierra Los Colorados and the Sierra de Sañogasta .

The reserve covers 215,000 hectares and protects the desert landscape in the valley of the Rio Talampaya , in which erosion has produced multicolored rock formations (e.g. the Ciudad Perdida "Lost City" and the canal system Las Canaletas ). There are also several archaeological sites in the area ( petroglyphs , ruins of residential buildings) and an intact flora and fauna .

The fossil-bearing rock found in the park originated from sediments that were deposited on the mainland during the Triassic , the oldest system of the Mesozoic . Together with the rocks in the Ischigualasto nature reserve , just a few kilometers further south, the entire duration of this section of the earth's history between 251 and 199.6 mya is documented in the rock sequence (Ischigualasto formation). That is why the fossil record contained therein is unique in the world, as it shows the evolution of the vertebrate fauna and the nature of the paleoenvironment over the entire course of the Triassic. For example, fossils of Lagosuchus talampayensis , a close relative and contemporary of the first dinosaurs, were found in rocks from the Middle Triassic in today's park .

Access to the national park is from the village of Villa Unión , which is 70 km north. At the entrance to the Talampaya Valley is the small settlement of Puerta de Talampaya , which also includes a hotel. Visits to the park are only allowed with a guide.

In 2000 , UNESCO declared Talampaya and Ischigualasto jointly a World Heritage Site .

Web links

Commons : Talampaya National Park  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 29 ° 48 ′ 0 ″  S , 67 ° 50 ′ 0 ″  W.