The Ischigualasto Formation, in the Ischigualasto-Talampaya Natural Parks of San Juan Province, Argentina, is a sequence of Triassic-age sedimentary rock, roughly 220 million years old, deposited by ancient rivers and lakes and later carved by wind and water erosion into an otherworldly badlands landscape of pale gray, red and greenish mudstone and sandstone. The site, popularly called Valle de la Luna, or Valley of the Moon, for its stark, cratered appearance, preserves alternating layers of volcanic ash and sediment that allow unusually precise radiometric dating of the rock, making it one of the most important sequences anywhere for dating the early evolution of dinosaurs. Differential erosion of the layered rock has produced isolated rounded formations nicknamed for their shapes, including "El Submarino" and "La Esfinge," and the badlands were jointly inscribed with neighboring Talampaya as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.
Facts
Classification
Protected StatusUNESCO World Heritage Site 1 Connections
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Sources
1. Ischigualasto Provincial Park (Wikipedia)
IntroductionQuote, Introduction
In 2000, UNESCO included Ischigualasto and Talampaya National Park among its World Heritage Sites.
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