They look like something from an alien plantation on another planet.
But the ‘living’ rocks of Romania, known as ‘trovants’, are really of this earth – and they were formed naturally through geological processes.
The Trovant stones begin as pebbles and grow by about two inches per millennium. They are unique mineral structures that mimic the life of plants and mammals.
The bizarre nodular stones appear to grow almost like plant tissue, “giving birth” to new stones like an animal.
The Trovant stones begin as pebbles and grow by about two inches per millennium. They are unique mineral structures that mimic both plant and mammalian life
Consisting mainly of a hard stone core surrounded by sand that forms the shell, these stones grow slowly in the presence of rainwater. Minerals in rainwater create an internal reaction that builds internal pressure and causes the rock to grow and multiply
What are Trovant Stones?
Trovant stones are rock formations of unusual and irregular shapes. Over time, due to natural geological processes, they grow and change shape.
Consisting mainly of a hard stone core surrounded by sand that forms the shell, these stones grow slowly in the presence of rainwater.
Minerals in rainwater create an internal reaction that builds internal pressure and causes the rock to grow and multiply.
The Trovant Stones are found in a small Romanian village called Costeşti, about 50 miles west of the capital, Bucharest.
They look like stone blown bubbles and vary widely in size, some being several feet in diameter, others small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.
“The trovants from Romania are of very different ages,” said Dr. Mircea Ticleanu from the Geological Institute of Romania told Web.
“Trovants don’t just appear out of the ground; They are present in sand masses of different geological ages that reach natural outcrops or sand quarries.’
Trovants is a synonym for the German term “Sandsteinkonkretionen”, meaning “cemented sand”.
“The word ‘trovant’ was used for the first time in the geological literature from Romania,” said Dr. Ticleanu.
Visitors to the Costeşti site can walk past the great variety of spherical and elliptical trovant stones that slowly grow over time in the presence of rainwater.
Visitors to the site can walk past the wide variety of spherical and elliptical trovant stones that slowly grow over time in the presence of rainwater
Trovants is a synonym for the German term “Sandsteinkonkretionen”, meaning “cemented sand”.
They consist mainly of a hard stone core surrounded by sand that forms the shell.
Minerals in rainwater create a reaction inside that builds pressure inside, causing the rock to grow and multiply.
Similar to the rings that form the girth of trees, when cut, the trovant show layers, each representing a growth stage.
Although not alive in a scientific sense, locals and tourists alike have dubbed them “alive” because of the way they seem to change over time.
Costeşti is not the only place where the Trovant Stones are found; one of dr A study co-authored by Ticleanu describes them throughout the Carpathian region of Romania.
Although not alive in a scientific sense, locals and tourists alike have dubbed them “alive” because they grow and change over time
The best-known trovants of this period are those in Costeşti (Oltenia). Their diameters are large; in the meter range. They are spherical, egg-shaped, but many of them have twinned, intricate shapes
However, those in Costeşti are well known and have large diameters. They are spherical and egg-shaped, but many of them have twined, intricate shapes.
One of the characteristics of the Costeşti trovants is the presence of numerous “microtrovants” (smaller, spherical tubercles) on the surface of the large ones.
“In addition to the large trovant, there are many smaller, imperfect ones, but with a clear tendency to rounding,” says the study.
“All these trovants are laid in yellow, fine, medium or coarse sand, which also contains fine gravel.”
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