Close-up of Gudu cliffs in Gauja National Park in Vidzeme Latvia
The GNP is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Latvia. The main “artery” of the park is the ancient Gauja River valley, which was left behind when Ice Age glaciers receded. The valley is 95 kilometers long, with many tributaries that are also in deep ravines with massive sandstone cliffs from the Devonian period. The deepest part of the river valley is at Sigulda, where it is 85 meters deep. The pink, golden, and gray sandstone rocks are a thousand times older than the written history - they were formed 350-370 million years ago. In the outcrops of Gauja sandstones, the visible layers are pages of stone books made by the nature, wherein million year old events are recorded, heralding about the fact that during the Devonian era, the territory of Gauja NP was covered by sea. The water torrents brought sand, dust, and clay rock particles, which settled, packed, and cemented, thus creating the currently visible outcrops of sandstone and dolomite or the sedimentary rocks. The sandstone rocks that are visible on the banks of rivers and old rivers of Gauja NP formed during the Devonian era. On the banks of influent rivers, mostly visible are Gauja series sandstones (D3gj) with clay and aleirite layers, for instance, Sietiņiezis, Zvārtes Rock, Ērgļi (Ērģeļu) Rocks, Ķūķu Rocks – protected natural monuments of national importance.
Size: 3413px × 5120px
Location: Gudu cliffs in Gauja National Park in Vidzeme Latvia
Photo credit: © Armands Pharyos / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: background, backgrounds, beautiful, beauty, chill, chilly, cliff, cliffs, close, close-, closeup, cold, coldness, color, colour, conditions, country, countryside, cover, covered, day, daylight, daytime, devonian, environment, environments, europe, european, exterior, forest, forests, gnp, high, land, landscape, landscapes, latvian, natural, nature, objects, outcrop, outcrops, outdoor, outdoors, park, people, places, sandstone, scene, sceneries, scenery, scenes, scenic, season, seasonal, sights, snow, snowy, spectacular, stillness, tourism, tourist, tourists, touristy, travel, travelers, tree, trees, vertical, view, views, visitor, visitors, winter, winterly, wintertime, wintry
