Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The Petrified Forest Area in Maadi - Cairo

Date of Announcement : 1989
Area : 7 Km2
Type: Geological protected area and a national heritage
Distance from Cairo : 30 km


The Rocky wood Area is abundant of dense rocky stems of trees in the formation of the wood mountain that belongs to the Oligocene epoch. It consists of layers of sand, gravel, mud and rocky wood with a thickness of 70-100 meters. It is significantly rich with remains and stems of large rocky trees, taking the shape of rocks with cylindrical sections varying in dimension from a few centimeters up to several meters. They are grouped together in a rocky wood.
Thus, the formation of the rocky wood in Maadi is most probably attributed to one of the ancient branches of the River Nile from ancient geological era. It carried those trees along and threw them in that place where they were buried and changed into rocks.

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