Salkhan Fossil Park

Reference

Salkhan Fossil Park of Uttar Pradesh has been included in the tentative list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.

About Salkhan Fossil Park

• Introduction: It is officially known as Sonbhadra Fossil Park, which is a geological site located in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh.
  • This park is located in Salkhan village, about 15 km from Robertsganj, the district headquarters of Sonbhadra, under Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Area: Spread over about 25 hectares, this park is known for its rugged terrain, steep rocks and unique geological landscape under the Vindhya mountain range.

Key Features

• The park is a rich repository of fossils dating back to about 1.4 billion years making it one of the oldest and well-preserved fossil sites in the world.
• The park has an exceptional collection of fossils scattered in various formations, mainly stromatolites. The park has a variety of morphologies of stromatolites, such as columnar, stratiform and domal forms, preserved in the Bhander limestone of the Vindhyan Supergroup.
  • Stromatolites are structures built by cyanobacterial or blue-green algae communities that are important indicators of ancient environmental conditions and microbial life.
• The dominant stromatolite species at the site is Eoentophysalis sp. a colony-based cyanobacterium.
• These fossils appear as wavy, circular or oval rocky structures on limestone rocks and are concentrated in specific areas of the park.

Ecological Importance

• This park is not limited to just a fossil and geological site. Located in the lush green surroundings of Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary, this park is also important from the ecological point of view with a diverse landscape.
• It includes dry deciduous forests, shrubs, grasslands and riverine ecosystems which provide a safe haven for a wide variety of flora and fauna.