In which district of Rajasthan is the "National Fossil Park" located?

2021

In which district of Rajasthan is the "National Fossil Park" located?

  1. A.

    Jodhpur

  2. B.

    Jaipur

  3. C.

    Barmer

  4. D.

    Jaisalmer

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Correct answer: D

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) notifies select sites as National Geological Monuments to protect geological features of exceptional scientific and educational value, such as fossil beds, meteor craters, and stromatolite formations. Rajasthan's Jaisalmer basin preserves marine and terrestrial Jurassic-period sediments that are unusually rich in fossilized plant material.

The "National Fossil Park" named in this question is the Akal Wood Fossil Park, situated near Akal village in Jaisalmer district, about 17-18 km southeast of Jaisalmer city, just off the Jaisalmer-Barmer highway (NH-68). GSI notified it as a National Geological Monument in 1972. The park preserves numerous large petrified tree trunks, some over 10 metres long, dating back roughly 180 million years to the Jurassic period, when the region supported a tropical forest that was later buried and gradually fossilized by desert sediment.

  • Jodhpur is known for Mehrangarh Fort and its blue-painted old city, not for this fossil-wood monument.

  • Jaipur, the state capital, is home to the Hawa Mahal and Jantar Mantar, unrelated to this Jurassic fossil site.

  • Barmer shares the same arid western belt and the Jaisalmer-Barmer highway corridor, but the fossil park itself sits within the neighbouring Jaisalmer district, not Barmer.

So the National Fossil Park (Akal Wood Fossil Park) is located in Jaisalmer district.

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