Ipolytarnóc

Infobox Settlement
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = HUN
timezone=CET
utc_offset=+1
timezone_DST=CEST
utc_offset_DST=+2|official_name=Ipolytarnóc


subdivision_type1=County
subdivision_name1=Nógrád
area_total_km2=13.66
population_as_of=2001
population_total=571
population_density_km2=41.80
postal_code_type=Postal code
postal_code=3138
area_code=32
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pushpin_map_caption =Location of Ipolytarnóc
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latd=48.23650
longd=19.62635

Ipolytarnóc is a village in Hungary, Nógrád county. There is a fossil site close to it, the Ipolytarnoc Fossils Nature Conservation Area.

Ipolytarnoc Fossils

Sometimes referred to as the "Prehistoric Pompeii", Ipolytarnóc stores 23-17 million year old fossils. These include the teeth of 24 different species of sharks as well as the teeth of crocodiles and dolphins, an almost 100 m tall petrified pine, more than 15,000 subtropical, exotic leaves and 3,000 animal footprints of 11 species. This is one of the world's richest komplex fossil footprint find site. The fossils can be viewed thanks to a volcanic catastrophe which buried a whole subtropical jungle under volcanic ash, thus preserving them.The site became protected in 1944 and is managed by the Bükk National Park Directorate. It is worth visiting because of the fossils and their high-tech interpretation. Check on the website: http://ipolytarnoc.kvvm.hu .

TYPES OF FOSSIL RESOURCES OF THE SITE

Shark Teeth

The reworked shoreline sandstone layers of the 23 Ma old seasediments bear a very rich marine fauna. The so called “shark toothbearingbeds” contain- besides shark teeth - a mixture of bonesfrom rays, dolphins, manatees and crocodilians. After the 1903 descriptionof Koch, the “Ipolytarnóc shark tooth-bearing bed” became thecharacteristic marker bed of the Eggenburgian stage of the Lower Miocenein the Central Paratethys. The original fauna as described morethan 100 years ago was revised recently based on new finds. The resultshows a very diverse Lower Miocene shark community that includes 19genera with 16 certain species.

Petrified Forest

The giant petrified tree trunk, 42 m long that bridged a stream ofthe Borokas ravine was exposed at the beginning of the 19th century. Itsdiscovery initiated the scientific research of the site.The first scientific research activities and excavations began in1836, led by Ferenc Kubinyi. Later investigations demonstratedthat a whole forest was destroyed by the volcanism, the trees weretoppled on top of the paleosurface by the nearby volcanic blast. Mostof the tree remains are embedded at the sandstone-tuff transition, underthe plinian ash fall unit. A detailed analysis of the petrified tree trunksrevealed that the 20 Ma old rainforest held at least 7 coniferous, 4 deciduousand 1 palm species.

Leaf Impressions

A recent paleobotanical study identified 64 taxa among the large collection of macrofloral remains, based on a sample of nearly 15 thousandleaves (Hably, 1985). The assemblage is dominated by laurophyllousplants, indicative of a vegetation in a warm and humid, subtropical climate.Most of the abundant plant remains are in the basal partof the rhyolite tuff, but 27 plant species have been identified from leafimprints on the palaeosurface (footprint sandstone), too.

Fossil Tracks

Abundant and well-preserved fossil vertebrate tracks are exposedon the topmost bedding planes of the Miocene river bank sandstone.The preservation of the tracks has been attributed tovolcanic activity that instantly covered the paleosurface.It was Hugo Böckh, who, at the base of the giant tree, originallydiscovered the prehistoric animal footprints in 1900. The original discovery,a 4x4 m slab with footprints was transported to Budapest withina year, where it is still displayed in the Hungarian Geological Institute’s(HGI) well-known lecture hall, hence known as “Footprint Hall.” In the1920’s, 30’s and 60’s Ferenc Nopcsa, and later Tasnádi also enriched theInstitute’s collections by excavating more footprints (Tasnádi, 1976).In the early 1980’s, the footprints were mapped during the constructionof the first of several facilities built to protect them; 1298tracks were registered on the site, while the total number reached 1644,together with the specimens in the HGI collections (Kordos, 1985).Explorations in the 1990’s doubled the figure of footprints on the site to2762.The extent of the known area with footprints explored atIpolytarnóc in the last hundred years exceeds 1500 sq. m. The wholesite, which is estimated as being 50-100 times larger then the currentlyexposed areas and is mostly continuous can only be explored after removingthe rhyolite tuff bed. Such exposure of the surface containing thefootprints should only be undertaken if they can be preserved fromweathering. Therefore, scientific exploration only takes place gradually,and requires subsequent protective measures.Analysis of the footprints started immediately after their discovery,and it was known a hundred years ago that there were tracks ofrhinoceroses, ungulates and birds.The first scientific description of the footprints was in 1935, in abook by Othenio Abel (Abel, 1935), who identified footprints of a rhinoceros,a proboscidean, cervids, an ancestral triungulate horse, a largecarnivore as well as birds. He illustrated them with photographs. Followingthe studies of Tasnádi, the “Ipolytarnóc” monograph of GeologicaHungarica series Palaeontologica was issued in 1985, for the RegionalCommittee on Mediterranean Neogene Stratigraphy (RCMNS) congress,where L. Kordos identified 11 animal species based on all footprintknown at the time. The commonest avian species are the medium-sizedOrnithotarnocia lambrechti with three toeprints and the similar-sizedTetraorniothopedia tasnadii that left four toeprints behind, whileAviadactyla media is characterized by rod-like, straight toeprints. Tracksof the small songbird-type, Passeripeda ipolyensis, are present but notas common as those of the other birds.The most common mammalian footprints include the rounded andthree-hooved footprints of adult and juvenile, prehistoric rhinoceroses(Rhinoceripeda tasnadyi) as well as those of smaller (Pecoripeda hamori)and larger (Megapecoripeda miocaenica) ungulates. Numerous carnivoreslived here 20 million years ago. Amongst them, the largest footprintsbelong to the rare Bestiopeda maxima, first illustrated by Abel(1935). Astonishingly fresh-looking and distinct are the three footprintsof a single individual of Carnivoripeda nogradensis, the blurry tracks ofBestiopeda tarnocensis, and the clawprints of a peculiar mustelid,Mustelipeda punctata (Kordos, 1985).

History of Protection

Unfortunately, after surviving the volcanic catastrophe and 20Ma, the fossil finds could not withstand the onslaught of humans. Notjust laymen but scientists also caused irretrievable damage to the trackand other fossil remains.Devastation already began in the year of discovery of the petrifiedpine, in 1836. Kubinyi at first thought of ex situ protection. He had thetrunk unearthed and dragged out of the ravine by “11 pairs of oxen”. Thetrunk was then broke into pieces and the number of resulting fragmentswere then transported to nearby private museums.Later, realizing his mistake, Kubinyi had the remaining exposedparts covered with earth, “lest it fell prey to vandal hands, that arelamentably so common in this country and that let the so-called stonebenchcome to nothing”.Unfortunately, neither Kubinyi’s efforts, nor the building, whichwas erected around 1860 to shelter the most endangered parts of thegiant pine, could save the trunk from vandalism. Locals collected fragmentsof it for building stone and whetstone, swarms of “souvenir collectors”broke pieces from it, local landlords took bigger fragments of itas ornaments for their gardens, and it became a favored material forgravestones. Museums were also frequent visitors and contributed tothe damage. Even the protective shelter of the tree was destroyed withintwo decades after its construction.The shark teeth also attracted the attention of the locals. Theyimaginatively called them petrified bird tongues and sold them in necklacesto the tourists, who came to visit the wonders of petrified nature.The footprint sandstone proved to be ideal cobble, building stoneand was used even for the building of the protective cellar for the fossiltree. Locals held picnics on the eroded surface of the paleosurface anddanced on top of the prehistoric footprints. Paleontologists excavatedand collected the most exotic tracks, and left the exposed surfaces toweathering and accessible to private collectors. Several tracks were lost,and only sketches of them survive.Those, who cared for the site, stopped publishing papers, becausethey realized, that new discoveries generated a new flow of collectorsto the site. The most pro conservation scientists finally decided tostop further excavations, until everything already exposed was sheltered(Tasnádi,1976).Despite the fact that the site officially became protected in 1944,several decades went by before the protection became effective. Permanentstaffing with guided tours along the established geological studytrail in the early 1980’s was the solution. Excavated areas where trackswere exposed became covered by conservation buildings, and new interpretationtrails were opened later. The site has become a favored destinationfor tourists.Land ownership problems were solved as the area was acquiredby the Hungarian state, and the Bükk National Park Directorate (BNPD)gained land manager status; thus the number of factors impeding conservationmanagement was reduced significantly.The site was declared a part of the Pan-European natural heritageby the Council of Europe in 1995. The area is on the tentative list of theworld heritage and an European Diploma holding site.

External links

* [http://ipolytarnoc.kvvm.hu]
* [http://hungarystartshere.com/geo?geoid=2052 Ipolytarnóc on Vendégváró (Hungary starts here)]
* [http://www.terkepcentrum.hu/index.asp?go=map&mid=12&tid=3328 Street map] hu icon