Magma UNESCO Global Geopark

鈥淢oon rocks and ice age landscape鈥

Celebrating Earth Heritage

Magma UNESCO Global Geopark is situated in southwest Norway covering 5 municipalities and parts of two regions. Magma UNESCO Global Geopark is an area of unique magmatic geology. The story began as early as 1.5 billion years ago when red-hot magma and sky-high mountains characterized the region. Through millions of years, glaciers helped to form the characteristic landscape that we have today. Although the magma has cooled down and solidified and the mountains have been worn away, the area offers a glimpse into the roots of an ancient mountain chain. Here is a rock type called anorthosite that is more common on the moon than on Earth. In one of the huge ancient magma chambers you find a continuous magmatic evolution from the simplest magmatic rock anorthosite, to one of the most evolved magmatic rock Quartz-Charnockite. The magmatic rocks like Anorthosite, Norite are 930-920 million years old, but look as fresh as they were crystalized yesterday. This unique area provides high-value heritage in local, national and international contexts.

Characteristics

Designation date
2015
Country(ies)
Transnational
No
Area (ha)
232,900
Population
33,094
Density
14
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