The Kaczawskie Mountains range is the third distinguished Polish geopark
photo. Adobe Stock
The Land of Extinct Volcanoes located in the Western Sudetes is on the UNESCO list of World Geoparks. This is the third Polish geopark distinguished by UNESCO.
In addition to the geopark from Poland, at the same time 17 different geoparks from all around the world had joined the list, including: China, France, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Hungary, Finland, Denmark and Croatia.
UNESCO World Geoparks are places where geological, natural and cultural heritage is promoted and protected, while activating the local community.
The Land of Extinct Volcanoes is located within the Kaczawskie Mountains and Foothills - between Złotoryja and Jelenia Góra. It is one of the most diverse areas in Poland - in terms of tectonics and geology. On an area of 1,300 km2, you can find traces of the geological history of this region, dating back 500 million years.
The Land of Extinct Volcanoes is - as the name suggests – the territory of primarily old volcanoes, or actually remains of volcanic activity preserved to varying degrees: rocks and minerals, but also landforms. In addition, they come from not one, but three episodes of volcanic activity, hundreds of millions of years apart in time - explained Katarzyna Szadkowska, head of the Deposit and Environmental Geology Laboratory at the Lower Silesian Branch of PGI-PIB in Wrocław.
In the geopark you can come across the remains of volcanic activity from as many as three different periods of Earth's history: Early Paleozoic volcanism - about 500 million years ago; Late Paleozoic (Permian) - approx. 270 million years ago and Cenozoic - approx. 20 million years ago. Each of them is represented by numerous rock formations of volcanic origin, which distinguishes the region on the map not only of Poland, but also of Europe.
UNESCO announced the decision on March 27. The Land of Extinct Volcanoes thus joined two other Polish geoparks included on the UNESCO list: Geopark Łuk Muskakowa and Geopark Świętokrzyski.
source: PAP
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