Ghugwa Fossil Park, Madhya Pradesh
In Ghugwa Fossil Park, where the forest melds into a blanket of waist-high wild grass on an undulating hilltop, you will find four large collections of fossils that will blow your mind. Locals refer to these fossils as &ldquopathar ke ped&rdquo or stone trees. These relics are up to 65 million years old, that's 325 times as old as the human race. It was formed from trees that existed at the same time that Triceratops, the last of the dinosaurs, roamed the planet.
The museum here houses the more delicate exhibits behind a glass display, along with information on the history of the park and the formation of fossils. For instance, you will come to know that when the Indian subcontinent, Africa, and Australia were all part of the same landmass called Gondwanaland, the Ghughwa region lay close to the equator and the ancient Tethys Sea. Gradually, as the continental shift brought about earthquakes and lava flows, sediments and volcanic ash covered the land, fossilizing remnants of these trees.
National Fossil Wood Park, Tamil Nadu
You can continue the ancient trees trail at the two national fossil wood parks located in Tamil Nadu, one each in Sattanur and Tiruvakkarai. Large conifir tree trunks from the Upper Cretaceous period can be found in Sattanur. Before the emergence of Angiosperms, these non-flowering trees dominated the landscape (flowering plants that can be found today). In contrast to Sattanur, where visitors can gaze up at petrified trees, Tiruvakkarai offers a display of felled trees. 200 fossil trees are set out horizontally in this section of Mio-Pliocene Cuddalore Sandstone.
Salkhan Fossils Park, Uttar Pradesh
The Salkhan Fossil Park in Uttar Pradesh, which is officially known as Sonbhadra Fossil Park, also offers tourists the ability to observe and comprehend tree fossils. In this park, the petrified trees can be discovered as tree trunks. These allegedly date back to the Proterozoic era and are more than 1400 million years old. The park has been given a sizable 2.5 square kilometre area and is home to some truly amazing samples of algae and stromatolites.
Akal Wood Fossil Park, West Bengal
The Akal Wood Fossil Park does a good job of capturing the ancient past. The 2.1 square kilometre region was formerly covered by a forest that was eventually flooded. The land, which is no longer submerged, now shows the forest's tree remains. The preservation is kept intact via tin foil protection. This park has well-documented accounts of a significant period in history.
