Parque Geológico do Varvito, Geological park in Itu, Brazil.
Parque Geológico do Varvito is a geological park in Itu, Brazil, where exposed rock walls show clear horizontal bands of clay and silt deposited in ancient bodies of water. Visitors can walk up close to these surfaces and read the sediment layers left behind by a distant ice age.
The site was an active stone quarry for several decades, supplying slabs used to pave streets. In 1995, extraction stopped and the place was turned into a protected park open to science and education.
School groups and researchers come here regularly to study the rock layers and understand how the Earth changed over very long periods. The exposed walls work as a natural teaching surface that speaks for itself.
The park is free to enter and open on several days of the week, with guided tours available on site. Wear sturdy shoes, as the paths are cut into rock and can get slippery when wet.
The rock layers visible here are called varves, formed by yearly cycles of meltwater and sediment deposit during an ice age around 300 million years ago. Each individual layer represents roughly one year, so visitors can literally count time in the wall.
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