Natural 'Pyramids' Discovered in China, Experts Confirm They Are Not Tomb Site or Artificially Constructed
Netizens worldwide are spellbound by the 'Pyramid' mountains in Anlong County, China. Many speculations have been made regarding the nature of these eye-catching landforms, the South China Morning Post reported.
People were quick to assume that they could be pyramids standing tall in an uncanny location. As per experts, the architect of these majestic ranges is not any human but nature itself.
The ranges in focus have gained the moniker "Anlong Pyramids" across social media, Global Times reported. As per experts the structures date back to around 200 million years and are made of limestone rocks. Their origin is traced somewhere from the early to middle Triassic ages.
The footage of the mountains in Southwest China's Guizhou Province went viral across social media and gave rise to questions regarding its origins, the South China Morning Post reported. The videos depicted the ranges as a three-dimensional dome-like structure. The mountains appeared to be conical in shape, with stacked bricks and a layered look, all of which fired up the theory that they could be pyramids.
Professor Zhou Qiuwen, a geologist from Guizhou Normal University dispelled the rumors, the South China Morning Post reported. He claimed that the peculiar formation was a result of natural processes.
"The vertical erosion by water has led to the original expansive rock masses being segmented into independent units. As this erosive process continues, the rocks at the top undergo significant dissolution, while those at the base are relatively less affected, resulting in sharp peaks atop wider bases," he explained.
Experts assert that the areas that appear like stacked bricks were also an outcome of erosion. "Some rock surfaces initially had fine cracks; water erosion among these cracks was not strong enough to dissolve the entire rock mass but sufficient to cause segmentation, thereby creating a block-like appearance," Qiuwen explained.
Qiuwen further stated that the layered appearance which had captivated viewers worldwide was nothing but a result of age-old rock genesis, the South China Morning Post reported.
"The mountains in Guizhou are made of dolomite rocks that are over 200 million years old, from a time when the area was mostly under water. These rocks formed in the sea, as minerals dissolved in the water and crystallized into solid rock," he said, regarding the origin of the mountain.
"Due to periodic changes in climate, geological structures, and other environmental factors, the rock formation process was repeatedly interrupted and restarted. This created rocks with clear layers,” he added.