Torysh is a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

close to the village of

Shetpe Shetpe (, ''Шетпе'', ''شەتپە'') is a selo and the administrative center of Mangystau District in Mangystau Region in western Kazakhstan. Population: Climate Shetpe has a cold desert climate (Köppen climate classification The Köp ...

and the mountain Sherkala in Mangystau,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. Also known as "The Valley of Balls", the area features many spherical rock formations which have formed naturally across the landscape in the sedimentary rock, through a

concretion A concretion is a hard and compact mass formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between particles, and is found in sedimentary rock or soil. Concretions are often ovoid or spherical in shape, although irregular shapes a ...

process. It is near the eastern shores of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

and the medieval trading settlement of Kyzylkala.

Rocks

There has been little research into the formation of the ball-shaped rocks in Torysh. However, there is a prevailing theory that they are the product of various geological processes: #

Sediment deposition Deposition is the geological process in which sediments, soil and rocks are added to a landform or landmass. Wind, ice, water, and gravity transport previously weathered surface material, which, at the loss of enough kinetic energy in the fluid ...

occurs from the

Caspian Caspian can refer to: *The Caspian Sea *The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea *The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea *The Caspian languages spoken in northern Iran and southeastern Azerbaij ...

, which used to extend this far, although only to a shallow depth. # Various

organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

and inorganic hard, small items (such as shells, grains of sand and minerals) act as nucleation point, beginning the sedimentation process. # Minerals (usually calcites,

silicates A silicate is any member of a family of polyatomic anions consisting of silicon and oxygen, usually with the general formula , where . The family includes orthosilicate (), metasilicate (), and pyrosilicate (, ). The name is also used for an ...

and

iron oxides An iron oxide is a chemical compound composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. Often they are nonstoichiometric, non-stoichiometric. Ferric oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of which is ...

)

precipitate In an aqueous solution, precipitation is the "sedimentation of a solid material (a precipitate) from a liquid solution". The solid formed is called the precipitate. In case of an inorganic chemical reaction leading to precipitation, the chemic ...

and combine onto the nuclei, known as

. The resultant rocks are formed of onion-like layers. # The rocks undergo cementation, a process wherein minerals adhere to the deposits to bind them together, forming a much harder, more erosion-resistant rock. #

Lithification Lithification (from the Ancient Greek word ''lithos'' meaning 'rock' and the Latin-derived suffix ''-ific'') is the process in which sediments compact under pressure, expel connate fluids, and gradually become solid rock. Essentially, lithificati ...

acts on the rocks, making them harder and less porous, while they are compacted, consolidating the visible sedimentary layers. # Finally,

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

of the surrounding rock leaves the concretions behind, as uplift from the tectonic plates push the boulders towards the surface. This process occurs over tens of millions of years. The complicated mix of processes means that the boulders vary in appearance, with some exhibiting cracks and weathering marks, while others being completely smooth. Rocks also vary in colour. They also vary in size, from marble-sized to car-sized, although most are roughly 3-4 metres in diameter. This type of rocks is not rare around the world, although Torysh is home to some of the largest examples. Some of the boulders are embedded within softer sedimentary rocks in the ground of the valley. These rocks may contain unique

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

as a result - many

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

fossils of

plants Plants are the eukaryotes that form the kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria to produce sugars f ...

have been found at and near the site. The boulders date from the Jurassic

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

period, around 120-180 million years ago. The area has a high salt deposits in the ground, as it is situated near the Caspian and the rocks were formed therefrom. Salt-tolerant shrubs and grasses grow, which can survive the arid and salty conditions.

Folklore

According to local legend, the

Mangystau Region Mangystau (), formerly known as Mangyshlak ( Russian: ) from 1973 until 1988, is a region of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Aqtau (a seaport), which has a population of 183,350 (2017); the entire Mangystau Province has a population of 745,909 (2022) ...

in modern-day western Kazakhstan was invaded by hoardes of enemies. Residents prayed for help, and the skies sent a downpour of rain, thunder and lightning. All the enemies were instantly turned to stone, leaving thousands of strange rock formations across the region, and in Torysh.

References

Rock formations of Kazakhstan {{MangystauRegion-geo-stub