The existence of trovant makes scientists curious. This stone from Romania is alive and can grow like plants and animals, and can even reproduce.
Trovant stones were found in a small village in Romania called CosteÅŸti, about 80 km west of the capital Bucharest. These rocks look like blown bubbles and vary in size, some are very large, some are small enough to fit in your hand.
Here are 5 facts about trovant, quoted from the Ancient Origins website, Thursday (19/1/2023):
1. What is trovant?
Trovant consists of a hard rock at its center surrounded by sandstone and varies in size, from very small, pebble-like trovant to large ones weighing several tonnes.
Although most trovants were originally formed from sandstone, geologists have also found some to have formed from gravel or gritstone.
2. Mysterious geological phenomenon
Approximately six million years ago, ancient (paleo-seismic) earthquakes created a type of geological phenomenon called a trovant.
Romania's rare trovant rock was formed under extremely complex conditions involving seismic shifts, sand sediments in rivers and rain, and multiple timescales.
Local residents of CosteÅŸti, consider these stones alive after watching them grow, develop, and be able to move around from generation to generation.
Romanians even consider trovant to be local legends and myths. But for geologists, trovant has long been a mysterious geological phenomenon that attracts attention.
3. The process of forming trovant
Trovant is a synonym for the German term 'sandsteinkonkretionen' which means cemented sand. The word 'trovant' is used for the first time in the geological literature from Romania.
This word describes how this rock was formed. Trovant can only form when sand combines with sandstone deposits around a hard rock core, and is 'cemented' by water having a high concentration of calcium carbonate. This mixture then coalesces and forms rocks.
Trovant is especially interesting because locals have watched these rocks grow and multiply over the years. Because of the elements needed to form them, these rocks go through an unusual process that makes them appear to grow, move, and even 'give birth'.
4. Like animals and plants
Are these strange geological formations really growing? The answer is yes. But trovant grows in a very specific and unique way.
When there is unusually heavy rainfall in an area where trovants are found, they tend to absorb minerals in the rain. As the sand and sandstone deposits that already existed as rock shells formed, chemical reactions began to exert immense pressure on the trovant's interior.
The pressure of this chemical reaction expands the trovant outward from its core into its outer crust, causing the rock itself to grow. On the surface of the rock, small deposits will be pushed out and add to the surface of the rock.
Just like the circles on a tree, trovant also shows the layers of the circles when cut. The circle indicates the age or growth period of the stone.
5. The trovant way of moving
One other interesting thing about trovant is that they move. Even though their movements were extremely slow, they were actually moving to a certain extent.
Because these rocks pick up the surrounding sand when it rains, trovant effectively alter the landscape and create pathways of their own that allow them to get out and about small distances over significant periods of time.
