Petrified Forest (Namibia)
| Petrified forest | |||
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National monument in Namibia 
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| Monument type | Natural monument | ||
| location | Damaraland near Khorixas | ||
| Geographic coordinates : | 20 ° 26 '18.5 " S , 14 ° 36' 18.2" E | ||
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| Emergence | 240-300 million years ago | ||
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Recognized by the National Heritage Council |
1950 | ||
| Deprivation | - | ||
| Sponsorship | National Heritage Council of Namibia | ||
| Website | NHC Namibia | ||
The Petrified Forest ( Afrikaans Versteende Woud , English Petrified Forest ) in the southwest African state of Namibia is a petrified forest , as it occurs in various other places on earth.
Geographical location
The geological site is located in the northwestern region of Kunene in the former Damaraland about 30 km west of the municipality of Khorixas . The area is located at 760 m about 500 m north of the main road C39 (MR39).
description
On an area of about 300 × 800 m, 50 to 60 larger fossil tree trunks that are between 240 and 300 million years old are scattered. The largest trunks are around 30 m long and up to 6 m in circumference. The longest specimen still has a diameter of almost 1 m at the upper end, from which it can be concluded that the living tree was significantly larger.
The logs are broken into innumerable small pieces; but although the rock is millions of years old, the annual rings can be seen. Since the trunks have no remains of roots, science assumes that it is driftwood that - probably from Angola - was washed ashore by a major flood .
Because the woods were initially covered airtight by sediments and then silica penetrated, they petrified over the course of millions of years. They came to light again through erosion . It is not a question of "petrification" in the literal sense, since the organic substances are not converted into rock during such processes, but are replaced by rock. The slower this process takes place, the better the structure of the wood with the annual rings is preserved. Structures that do not come from the plant can also be affected by the crystallization and become visible later.
Petrified wood can appear in three different structures:
- Jasper with a dense, fine-grain structure
- Chalcedony with a fibrous structure
- Opal with an amorphous structure
The Namibian fossils are present as jasper.
Between the petrified tree trunks one can also find the slowly growing Welwitschia (Welwitschia mirabilis) , Namibia's heraldic plant.
National monument
The Petrified Forest area was declared a national monument shortly after its discovery on March 1, 1950 . It was supposed to be placed under nature protection in 1994, but this has not yet been implemented. A certain protection is offered by the fact that the area can only be entered with a guide .
gallery
Petrified forest, overview image
Petrified wood next to Welwitschie
Petrified tree trunk
Petrified tree trunk
Petrified tree trunk
Petrified tree trunk, close-up
Petrified tree trunk, knothole
Petrified tree trunk, cross section
literature
- Nicole Grünert: Namibia's fascinating geology . A travel guide. 7th edition. Klaus Hess Verlag, Göttingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-933117-12-0 .
- Claire and Thomas Küpper: Namibia. Nature reserves . Travel guide. Ivanowski's Reisebuchverlag, Dormagen 2000, ISBN 3-923975-60-0 .
Web links
- Information about petrified wood
- Basics of the geology of Namibia (PDF; 156 kB)
- The Petrified Forest of Khorixas
Individual evidence
- ↑ There are two deposits in Central Europe, in Chemnitz (Germany) and Laas (Austria).
- ↑ Topographic map (according to coordinates, with contour lines). From: opentopomap.org, accessed June 24, 2016 .
- ↑ a b c d Petrified Forest. From: touring-afrika.de, accessed on June 24, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Petrified forests - how are trees made of stone? On: simplyscience.ch, accessed on June 24, 2016 .
- ↑ Petrified Forest. From: info-namibia.com, accessed June 28, 2018 .