National Fossil Wood Park in Tiruvakkarai is one of the geological fossil parks maintained by the Geological Survey of India. National Fossil Wood Park is located 1 km east of Tiruvakkarai village in
Tamil Nadu, on the road between Tindivanam and Pondicherry. National Fossil Wood Park is 155 km S.S.W. of
Chennai via Tindivanam and a mere 20 km from
Puducherry.
The 20 million year old wood fossils, National Fossil Wood Park scattered over 247 acres, are fenced within nine separate enclaves. Only a small portion is open to the public.
There are 200 fossil trees of various shapes ranging between 3 and 15 metres in length and up to 5 metres in girth. They lie strewn and half-buried in the soil.
Geologists speculate that the fossil trees did not originally grow at that site, but were transported there before they were petrified. Sonneret, a European naturalist, first gave detailed account of the fossils in this area in the year 1781.
Later in this area the National Fossil Wood Park was established in order to preserve the fossils in this area.
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