Stone forests Pobiti Stones in Bulgaria (10 photos + 1 video)

Strange and unique stone columns decorate the desert landscape of northeastern Bulgaria around the city of Varna. In some places, the columns resemble petrified trees. In others, limestone covers up to five layers of visible columns.





Many people know the ancient monuments as Pobiti Kamni, which literally means “ground stone.” Others call them the "Superior Rocks", the "Stone Forest", the "Fossil Forest" or the "Stone Desert".



There are 18 geological pillars located in an area of ​​70 square kilometers along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Each location contains a different number of individual columns or layers of columns stacked on top of each other. Perhaps the most interesting object is located in the quarry in Beloslav, where 5 complete layers of columns are visible on the seabed. Each layer is held together with limestone.

Vertical stones





Looking at the landscape of Pobiti Kameni, you would think that people carved and installed columns into the ground, as if to build an ancient Greek temple. However, the columns are not man-made. These are geological calcareous formations that formed in the reefs of a shallow sea during the Eocene era. Some of the columns are hollow, while others are not, and some researchers believe that the hollow elements are most likely the result of weathering. The height of the columns varies from 3 to 10 meters, and the width - from 2 to 8 meters. They date back to approximately 50 million years BC. Experts have been arguing about what exactly led to the appearance of these structures for almost 200 years.

Formation theories

Palace of the Mythical Cyclops



Scientists have put forward many different theories about the Pobiti Kameni stone forest. The first documentary evidence of the existence of these formations belongs to the archaeologist Teplyakov, who visited Varna during the Russian-Turkish war in 1829. He called these structures "columns of temples or palaces" and suggested that they could belong to the ancient civilization of the mythical Cyclopes. However, he also took natural causes into account.

Petrified trees



Another researcher, A. Margos, believed that the pillars were a forest of petrified trees that rotted in sea water and turned into stone. This theory did not explain the interlocking layers of columns and was subsequently disproved. More plausible theories suggest a number of natural causes. These include methane, rainwater seepage and organisms such as worms, coral polyps or algae.

Methane



The most popular version of the formation of stone forests is associated with methane seeping from the bottom of the sea along tectonic fault lines. According to this theory, when methane came to the surface through seafloor vents, bacteria oxidized it into calcium carbonate. Thus, pipes formed along the rising methane, growing into columns. Eventually, tides and erosion exposed the columns.

Mini atolls



However, researchers Ivan Nachev and Dimitar Sinnevsky have something to say about the methane theory in their 2014 paper “Eocene Varna Reefs in Northeastern Bulgaria.” They make a number of compelling arguments against methane and suggest instead that algae and bacteria calcified to begin the process of creating mini-atolls. Other organisms have also become attached to the atolls. Subsequently, over time, a complex process led to the fact that the atolls began to grow upward as the sand level rose, but at the same time they always remained just above its level. Initially the centers were filled with sand. When the pillars were exposed to the elements, the sand quickly eroded away, leaving behind hollow pipes that can be seen today in the Pobiti Kameni stone forest.

Saving Beat Stones



Since 1937, several protection orders have been issued and the monuments are now classified as protected areas. UNESCO has included the sites on its tentative list of World Heritage Sites, but researchers would like to see the Stone Forest become a national and European geopark. This is because they have enormous research potential and can offer many educational benefits.



The unique desert environment is home to many endangered animals and plants. The stone forest is unique. This is one of the few places where visitors can take a trip back in time and look at the ancient Bulgarian sea.