In Romania, there is an area full of strange stones, called trovants, that have the ability to expand and grow like mushrooms after being exposed to rain water.
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The small town of Costesti in Romania is home to bulging cobblestone formations called trovants . They have long been the subject of curiosity of local people with their strange shapes, the ability to give birth, grow up and move on their own like living things.
Trovants vary in size and shape, with some being able to fit in the palm of a hand while many are taller than a human head, even reaching 4.5 meters in size. Of the more than 100 trovants recorded at at least 20 sites, some of the rocks were excavated after the sand surrounding them was quarried.
The strange rock in Romania has the ability to swell and grow like mushrooms after the rain is a mysterious phenomenon that attracts a lot of scientific attention. These rocks are related to a geological phenomenon in the area.
This stone is called Trovant.
In fact, some trovants are fixed to the ground below through solid rock, like the “Old Ladies” block in Ulmet. Their unusually bulging shape comes from ancient origins.
This stone was found in the Romanian village of Costesti. The word trovant means “cement sand “. This rock is formed from a type of sand that appeared millions of years ago on Earth . In fact, the earthquakes that created this strange rock happened 6 million years ago.
The stones just kept growing, growing strangely.
The amazing thing is that during and after every rain, Trovants rocks in the village of Costesti grow up like… mushrooms . The stones just kept growing, growing strangely. Trovants only grow when there is rain. Normally they are only 6 to 9 mm in size, but when water enters they swell up to 6 to 10 meters. Some rocks even know how to move. Cut the stone in half and see that there are veins inside like a tree trunk.
After heavy rains, the rocks begin to “come to life”.
Inside trovants are hard rock cores, outside is a crust made of sand. However, the swelling phenomenon of trovants is explained by some scientists as a high mineral content beneath the rock’s crust . When the rock surface is wet, this mineral begins to pressurize the outer sand layer and cause the mass to begin to swell. Various small cubes: oval or rough like acne spots appear on the faces of the stones. This is a form of concreting with grains of sedimentary sand or rock bound together by calcium carbonate. “Some are made from sandstone, others from gravel. In geological terms, they can be called grindstones and agglomerates ,” said Florin Stoican, representative of Buila-Vanturarita National Park.
People call them the growing stones.
The researchers found no difference between the Trovant and the surrounding sand. Therefore, they suspect the sphere was formed by the unusually intense and prolonged seismic activity of the Middle Miocene. Shock waves emitted from the Earth compacted sand deposits and concentrated limestone cement to form spherical rocks.
Over time, these elements have worn away the loose sandstone around them, revealing denser layers of rock.
When exposed to heavy rain, their calcium carbonate can melt away and gradually form the outer circumference of the rock over time. Not much is written about this process, but it is thought to have only occurred at about 4-5 cm over 1,200 years.
The surrounding sandstone layers have layers suggesting that the area was an ancient marine environment when the underlying rock and sediments were formed, as well as bivalve and gastropod fossils can be found. seen in some Trovants.