The Goderdzi Petrified Forest Natural Monument ( ka, გოდერძის ნამარხი ტყე) is a
natural monument
A natural monument is a natural or cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities, or cultural significance. They can be natural geological and geographical features such as w ...
in Georgia.
Status
This area is listed as a Natural Monument in the List of Protected Areas of Georgia. Together with the
Borjomi Strict Nature Reserve,
Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park
The Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park (BKNP) ( ka, ბორჯომ-ხარაგაულის ეროვნული პარკი, ''borjom-kharagaulis erovnuli parki'') is a protected area in central Georgia, in Samtskhe-Javakheti, pa ...
and
Nedzvi Managed Reserve it is one of four protected areas under same management authority.
Geology and palaeontology
In the
Tertiary period
The Tertiary ( ) is an obsolete Period (geology), geologic period spanning 66 million to 2.6 or 1.8 million years ago. The period began with the extinction of the non-bird, avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at t ...
, volcanic eruptions and strong winds caused tropical forest to
petrify.
Plant fossil
Paleobotany or palaeobotany, also known as paleophytology, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant fossils from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments (pale ...
s from the
Late Pliocene
Late or LATE may refer to:
Everyday usage
* Tardy, or late, not being on time
* Late (or the late) may refer to a person who is dead
Music
* Late (The 77s album), ''Late'' (The 77s album), 2000
* Late (Alvin Batiste album), 1993
* Late!, a pseudo ...
forest — palm trees, magnolia, laurel, birch, hornbeam, beech - are preserved as prints of semi-fossilized leaves and stems in volcanic
tufa
Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitation (chemistry), precipitate out of water in ambient temperature, unheated rivers or lakes. hot spring, Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less ...
. Examples of the "Goderdzi Flora" are known from two localities, in the
Adigeni and in the
Khulo
Khulo ( ka, ხულო ) is a townlet ('' daba'') in Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia, 88 km east of the regional capital Batumi, in the upper valley of the Adjaristsqali River. The town and adjoining 78 villages form the ...
municipalities in the historical region of
Meskheti
Meskheti ( ka, მესხეთი ) or Samtskhe ( ka, სამცხე ), also known as Moschia in ancient sources, is a mountainous area in southwestern Georgia.
History
Ancient tribes known as the Mushki (or Moschi) and Mosiniks (or Mo ...
. Petrified fossils are found in the valley of
Dzindzistskali river, the right tributary of
Kvabliani, on the eastern slope of
Goderdzi Pass at an altitude of 1,600-2,100 m above sea level. This is one of the richest and well studied fossil floras.
[Ramishvili, I]
Goderdzi fossil forest
''Georgia Encyclopedia'' vol. 2, Tbilisi 2012
References
Natural monuments of Georgia (country)
Petrified forests
Pliocene
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