The term “stone” is often used to indicate that something is very solid, difficult to move, or completely immobile. Phrases like “harder than a stone”, or “as dead as a stone”, are quite common and are based, to a certain extent, on experience and common sense. But There are phenomena in nature, living stones, that can go against common sense and popular wisdom.
It is the case of the trovantsa Romanian term that can be translated as “growing stones”, and which refers to some strange rock formations found in a region in southern Romaniaand which have also been called “living stones”.
Costesti’s “living stones”
These “growing stones” are found near Costesti, a commune in southern Romania and, at first glance, look like ordinary stones. However, the inhabitants of this region claim that These stones change every time heavy rains occur, and somehow they grow. And it is not superstition, since it is a phenomenon that has been confirmed by geologists.
It seems nonsensical and goes against everything we know about rocks, which generally lose matter and dimensions due to erosion caused by wind and water. But the geologists have confirmed that trovants do indeed growthat is, they pass, in the course of a relatively very short time (when compared to the times of geology), from a few centimeters to 10 meters.
It is a movement that the human eye cannot capture, since stones grow between 4 and 5 centimeters every 1,000 years. They are very special rock formations, according to experts, that began to form about 6 million years ago, and whose results are rocks with cylindrical, nodular and spherical shapes, sometimes forming pairs, with a smooth surface and without edges or edges.
What are they made of and why do they grow?
Those who have investigated this phenomenon, which at some point was described as “paranormal”, confirmed that the material that surrounds the stones is the same as that found around them: sand product of a sedimentary basin from 6 million years ago.
What makes trovants different is that They have a hard rock core, surrounded by a layer of sandstone which was compacted and hardened thanks to tectonic shocks. What gives the impression that these stones grow is that you can see similar rocks measuring 10 centimeters and others that can reach 10 meters.
And they really grow, since when there is heavy rain water acts on calcium carbonate present in the sediments, which in turn presses the sandstone shell and forms protuberances.
Trovants also walk and breathe
To reinforce the belief that they are alive, these stones also “walk.” Some researchers have recorded displacements in rocks that can reach 2.5 centimeters every two weeks.
It doesn’t seem like a big deal, until we realize that the rocks don’t have to move. This displacement is attributed to the imbalance which can produce “growth” of the trovants, which can produce changes in balance and cause the rock to move.
And to add to the confusion, some researchers have managed to detect, using specialized equipment, a kind of pulse, or breathing, very slowsince between each one two and up to three weeks can pass.
The stones have become a major tourist attraction and have been declared by UNESCO a Monument of Humanity. As we see, nature always surprises us with different types of phenomena.
