Trovanti Museum Natural Reserve

About

The elliptical, oblong, and oddly-shaped stones scattered throughout the Trovanti Museum Natural Reserve have been called everything from alien artefacts to inorganic organisms because they could inexplicably grow, move and reproduce. If one of these stones, or ‘Trovant’, is cut in half, it has age rings like a tree. Geologists have found that thanks to special conditions in the area, as sand can accumulate around small stone core, which will continue to absorb minerals from the rain. Over the centuries, this causes the stone to grow, sometimes producing lumps that themselves will grow until they break off under their own weight, and continue the cycle as a ‘baby’ trovant. For visitors who appreciate the unusual, this is a unique opportunity to see one of the world’s weirdest geological phenomena.