National Fossil Wood Park, Sathanur

National Fossil Wood Park, Sathanur[1] is a National Geo-heritage Monument of India [2][3][4] located at Sathanur in Perambalur district, Tamil Nadu. This park is located within Sathanur panchayat and has a fossilized tree trunk, which was discovered in 1940 by the geologist M. S. Krishnan of the Geological Survey of India, who hailed from Tanjore.

Tree Fossil-Sathanur

தேசிய கல்மரப் பூங்கா

சாத்தனூர்
National Park
Nickname(s): 
Sathanur Kalmaram
Tree Fossil-Sathanur
Coordinates: 11°09′40.1″N 78°58′35.1″E
Country India
StateTamil Nadu
RegionChola Nadu
DistrictPerambalur
TalukKunnam
VillageSathanur
Founded byM. S. Krishnan (geologist)
Languages
 • OfficialTamil
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
621106

The fossil
The park

The petrified tree trunk is believed to be over 120 million years old, and is considered to be evidence for the presence of a sea during the Cretaceous period in this area. This fossil is of a conifer, measures around 18 meters long and a geological treasure.[1] Similar fossilized tree trunks have been found in nearby Varagur, Anaipadi, Alundalippur, and Saradamangalam,[5] all located within 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) of Sathanur.

Visiting

This national park is open to public throughout the year. Early visitors (1960s to 1980s) caused some damage by collecting samples for their research or in their college or university labs. Now it is well fenced and guarded.

This park is located approximately one kilometer north of Sathanur village. There used to be a sandy, muddy road and reaching the park used to be a very daunting task.[6]

The nearest airport is at Trichy, while the nearest railway station is at Ariyalur. Buses also run regularly from the new Perambalur bus-stand to the Sathanur bus stop. Visitors can then walk or take bicycle to reach the park.

Footnotes

1. Sathanur owes it to ‘kal maram' article by The Hindu - 16 August 2010 [7]

2. Tamil article by Neethi Sengottaiyan - Navigate to the bottom [8]

References
  1. "National Fossil Wood Park". Geological Survey of India. Archived from the original on 13 October 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  2. National Geological Monument, from Geological Survey of India website Archived 2017-07-12 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Geo-Heritage Sites, Minister of Mines Press release, 09-March-2016
  4. national geo-heritage of India, INTACH
  5. "Sathanur fossil tree". The Collector, Perambalur District (Govt.owned website). Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  6. Basu, Soma (22 January 2005). "Embalmed by Nature". The Hindu. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  7. "Sathanur owes it to 'kal maram' Article by The Hindu". 4 January 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  8. "Tamil Article by Neethi Sengaottiyan". 4 January 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
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