The smooth rock
Shaped by ice.
User:OS2Warp — Public domain · Emanoela Ribeiro — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Eurico Zimbres — CC BY-SA 2.5 · Emanoela Ribeiro — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Eurico Zimbres — CC BY-SA 2.5 · Eurico Zimbres — CC BY-SA 2.5 · Emanoela Ribeiro — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Rocha Moutonnée Park in Salto, São Paulo state, surrounds a rock outcrop that is the only known example of its kind in the Paraná Basin: a granite rock shaped by the great glaciation that covered the southern hemisphere in the Palaeozoic era, between 270 and 350 million years ago. «Roche moutonnée» is a French geological term for rock that moving ice has scraped smooth and rounded. The outcrop was discovered by Marger Gutmans in 1946 and was one of the key pieces of evidence for the glacial origin of the Itararé Group rocks of the Paraná Basin. In 1990 São Paulo state's heritage council listed it as a geological monument, and since 2000 it has been one of Brazil's recognised geological sites. The park, owned by the town of Salto, opened in 1991 and has trails among the trees and dinosaur models that draw families as well as the rock itself. Entry is usually free and it opens Tuesday to Sunday according to the town; check whether advance booking is needed. Pair it with the Varvite Geological Park in neighbouring Itu.
Shaped by ice.
Among the trees.
For families.
Rodovia Rocha Moutonnée, Salto, São Paulo state
A French geological term for rock that moving ice has scraped smooth and rounded.