Does Romanian "living stone" really grow?

There are plentiful natural phenomena that can not be elucidated by science yet in the world, but in RomaniaA natural stone that grows as if it were aliveThere seems to be.

Hello!World newspaperA special reporterTaira Hiroyukiis. While staying in Georgia, living stone in Romania "Trovant(Trovant) ", I thought that" I can not miss as a mystery stone, a science teacher! ", I actually went and checked to see if it really developed.

I am now in Bucharest (a star) in the capital of Romania (red line is overland, blue line moves on air route).


◆ Two villages Kostensti
Although Trovand seems to be able to observe in two places, I headed to a sand collection place near the Kosutesty village. It is the location of this map.


It takes about 30 rays (about 1000 yen) from the capital city of Bucharest by bus, about 4 hours, but first I headed to the village Kosutesty in another place with the same name, it took about six hours to arrive. Be sure to go to Kostensti · Brucha. By the way, the bus was comfortable with Wi - Fi.


Romanians who taught me detailed directions on the bus. The official language of Romania is Romanian, but young people can speak relatively English.


I had time lost and the day went down, so I decided to head overnight in Horezu nearby this day and headed early in the morning.


◆ Troubant for sightseeing surprisingly
It is about ten minutes by bus from Horezu to the place of Trovanto. It was along this road that I informed the driver "Trovant" and was dropped down.


As I advanced, the wooden gate was visible.


There is a signboard of Trovanto there. I thought that it was more complicated, such as along the river, so I felt a little sick.


◆ The surface of Trovant looks like frog skin
As we pass through the gate, the road continues about 15 meters and hits the walls of the sand. You can see rocks that seems to be about 80 Trovands on both sides. There are more numbers than I thought, and my heart is expanding with expectation. Only I was a tourist.


As you approach closer, you can see that each size is about 1 meter and is randomly rolling on the ground.


This is "Trovant". It looked like a frog's skin to me because of the round convex part of about 5 cm seen on the surface. This convex part seems to be growing. I put the iPhone 4s as the size comparison object.


The touch I feel is rough. It consisted of fine stone when looking carefully.


◆ If you divide by appearance 3 types
1: A transparent 2 mm pebble enters on a black base


2: Pebbles of 2 to 20 cm enter the black base


3: Pebbles will not enter the base of ocher sand


However, some patterns change in one stone, and it is thought that the troposants are not formed for each size of sand and stone, but are randomly settled from the strata.


◆ The birth and growth of Torovento
It is supposed that Trovand was born by the earthquake of 6 million years ago. This time, we were able to see Trovant falling from the wall of sand. Perhaps the wall of this sand was raised by the earthquake and the Trovant formed from the stratum fell down and rolled like it is now.


There were some exposed stone sections, but no evidence of regular growth like annual rings was seen.


There was description of forming method on the signboard in the site, but there was no mention of growth method. When On Earth's "Trovants: The Growing Stones of RomaniaAccording to Trovant, it absorbs the minerals contained in the rain after the heavy rain, but this mineral combines with the chemical substance originally present in the stone. It seems that the pressure from the center towards the outside is born and the stone gets bigger.

◆, verify!
Then, I will enter this theme. I tried to see if this Trovant grows in front of me.Articles of 2008 GIGAZINEAccording to "It gets bigger and bigger after rain". It was a great opportunity as it rained just last night.


I am full of fighting time.


Since growing 1 mm can not be missed, I am particular about observation posture.


It seems like this area moved like something ...? According to the information of When On Earth, the growth rate of Trovant is "about 4 cm to 5 cm over 1000 years", it does not mean that you can not see growth because you stayed here for several hours. Sorry.


Although we could not actually verify the growth this time, I could tell that it is rare from its unique shape and pattern. In addition, I actually became a "special" presence within myself. I place importance on my journey to get "special feeling" among myself.

It is difficult to obtain academic materials while traveling. I could not understand 100% this time as well. However, having "special feeling" makes it possible to consult and consent after knowing back to Japan and make it knowledge. I think that it will be possible to bring productivity to travel by that.


Statement · Interview: Koji Tsuyoshihttp://zoshiki.com/wp/

Supervision: World newspaperSekaishinbun.net