Editing Meteora (section)

==Geology==
Beside the [[Pindos Mountains]], in the western region of [[Thessaly]], these unique and enormous columns of rock rise precipitously from the ground. But their unusual form is not easy to explain geologically. They are not [[volcanic plugs]] of hard igneous rock typical elsewhere, but the rocks are composed of a mixture of [[sandstone]] and [[Conglomerate (geology)|conglomerate]].<ref name=Rassios2020 />{{rp|page=5}}

The conglomerate was formed of deposits of stone, sand, and mud from streams flowing into a delta at the edge of a lake, over millions of years. About 60 million years ago during the [[Paleogene period]]<ref name="Meteora - Greece">{{cite web|url=https://www.meteora-greece.com/general-info-about-meteora/ |title=General info about Meteora |website=Meteora-Greece com}}</ref> a series of earth movements pushed the [[seabed]] upward, creating a high [[plateau]] and causing many vertical [[fault lines]] in the thick layer of sandstone. The huge rock pillars were then formed by [[weathering]] by water, wind, and extremes of temperature on the vertical faults. It is unusual that this conglomerate formation and type of weathering are confined to a relatively localised area within the surrounding mountain formation. The complex is referred to an exhumed continental remnant of [[Pangaea|Pangean]] association.<ref name=Rassios2020 />{{clarify|date=November 2024}}

This type of rock formation and weathering process has happened in many other places locally and throughout the world, but what makes Meteora's appearance special is the uniformity of the sedimentary rock constituents deposited over millions of years leaving few signs of vertical layering, and the localised abrupt vertical weathering.

[[Excavations]] and research have discovered [[petrified]] [[diatoms]] in [[Theopetra Cave]], which have contributed to understanding the Palaeo-climate and [[Climate change (general concept)|climate change]]s. [[Radiocarbon dating]] evidences human presence dating back 50,000 years.<ref name="Radiocarbon" /> The cave used to be open to the public, but is currently closed indefinitely, for safety inspections.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.visitmeteora.travel/cave-of-theopetra-closed/|title=Cave of Theopetra will remain closed – VisitMeteora.travel|date=30 June 2016}}</ref>

Vegetation grows thickly out of the vertical rock walls, mainly due to the water that one is able to find in the cracks and crevices that scale the cliff.<ref name=Rassios2020>{{cite journal | last1=Rassios | first1=Anne Ewing | last2=Ghikas | first2=Dina | last3=Dilek | first3=Yildirim | last4=Vamvaka | first4=Agni | last5=Batsi | first5=Anna | last6=Koutsovitis | first6=Petros | title=Meteora: a Billion Years of Geological History in Greece to Create a World Heritage Site | journal=Geoheritage | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=12 | issue=4 | date=28 September 2020 | page=83 | issn=1867-2477 | doi=10.1007/s12371-020-00509-9| bibcode=2020Geohe..12...83R | s2cid=221986191 }}</ref>{{rp|page=11}} Over the past several hundred years, the reports that the Meteora was easily accessible by foot have changed because now one must pass through an impenetrable jungle.<ref name=Rassios2020 />{{rp|page=13}}

Being such massive unpredictable rock pillars, rock falls pose a constant threat to [[pilgrim]]s and tourists of Meteora. An earthquake of magnitude 7 on the [[Richter magnitude scale|Richter Scale]] shook the rocks in 1954 but the thin pillars still stand today. In 2005, a massive rock fell, closing the access road leading up to Meteora for days.<ref name=Rassios2020 />{{rp|page=14}}