Trovants: Living Stones of Romania, They Grow and Move

Trovants are unusual geological formations found in Romania that are known for their ability to "grow" and move. These rocks have a hard stone core surrounded by a layer of sandstone. They grow through a process that involves the absorption of minerals from rainwater. 

When water containing calcium carbonate and other minerals comes into contact with the stone, it precipitates on the surface, creating layers that can accumulate over time. This process can make these rocks appear to grow, although the growth rate is extremely slow - about 4-5 centimeters in 1000 years.

Some people also believe that trovants can "walk," much like the so-called sailing stones of Death Valley that appear to drift across the flat desert landscape on their own. 

While many academics are skeptical about "trovant walking" claims, they don't deny the possibility that the heating or cooling of the soil could cause movement among the stones.  The unusual way in which trovants form often makes them appear alien to the landscape surrounding them. They can become huge over long periods, with some reaching several meters in height. If the secretion of minerals is uneven, they can appear to multiply and even move from one place to another.

These Trovants of Romania are an amazing geological phenomena, found in a small village named Costesti. Trovants is a synonym for the German term “Sandsteinkonkretionen“, which means Cemented Sand. They were believed to be a type of sandstone concretion that secrete cement and can appear to grow at times, as if they are alive.

These fascinating ‘living stones’ were thought to consist of a stone core with an outer shell of sand, and after a heavy rain small stone forms are said to appear on the rocks leading them to be dubbed as the “growing stones”. What’s more interesting is the fact that these Trovants when cut had spherical and ellipsoidal rings similar to the ones of a tree trunk. These growing rocks were thought to look identical and even move like the sliding rocks of death valley.

Trovants: Living Stones of Romania, They Grow and Move

Stones That Grow and Move?

There were few studies about origin of these growing stones of Romania, and there are many hypothesis, some of them even fantastical. According to International Geological Congress conducted in Oslo 2008, these “Trovanti” were improperly considered as “sandstone concretions”. The study of these trovants was started in the Carpathians area from about 1883 (Cobalcescu) and by 1900 Koch gave his opinions about their origin. 

It was found that there was no mineralogical difference between these pseudoconcretions and the surrounding sands, with no distinct nucleus inside them, and their cement is often carbonate-type. According to some reports, there was a sedimentation basin in this area some 6 million years ago, and the trovants were not identical, and complex aggregates of two ore more trovants can often be found.

Tourist Attraction

Because of this fascinating ‘living rocks’ that seem to grow, the site became a good tourist attraction for Romania. To protect these unusual geological creations, the “Muzeul Trovantilor” or Trovants Museum Natural Reserve was developed in Valcea County by the local body in 2004, and is now protected by UNESCO.

Facts about the Trovants of Romania

• They are thought to be up to six million years old.
• They are found in a variety of shapes and sizes, including spheres, ellipsoids, and even mushrooms.
• They are believed to grow at a rate of about two inches per millennium.
• They are made up of a core of sandstone that is surrounded by a shell of cement.
• The cement is thought to be formed by the reaction of water with minerals in the sand.
• The trovants are found in a number of other countries, including Russia, Turkey, and the United States.
• Scientists are still not fully understanding how the trovants are formed.