UNESCO Global Geoparks: Discover Earth’s hidden treasures !
Ciletuh - Palabuhanratu UNESCO Global Geopark (Indonesia)
Ciletuh - Palabuhanratu UNESCO Global Geopark is located on the island of Java, in the western Sukabumi Regency of Indonesia. The Geopark is located on the border of a tectonically active zone: the subduction zone between the Eurasian plate and the Indo-Australian plate, which continue to converge at 4 mm/year. The area is characterized by a rare geological diversity that can be classified into three zones: the subduction zone uplifted rocks, the Jampang Plateau landscape and the ancient magmatic zone shifting and fore arc evolution. Evidence for a similar subduction process that occurred during the Cretaceous age (145–66 million years ago) is found in the Ciletuh area in the form of rock formations that were deposited within the deep subduction trench. These rock formations are composed of ophiolite, metamorphic, deep sedimentary rocks, and mélange complexes and are known as the oldest rock formations on the surface of West Java. In the Oligocene-Early Miocene (approx. 23 to 15 million years ago), the area underwent an uplifting and formed the Jampang Plateau. The tectonic process during the Miocene-Pliocene (5-8 million years ago) led to the gravitational collapse of part of the Jampang Formation, forming the biggest horse shoe-shaped natural amphitheater morphology in Indonesia and a series of waterfalls. The area can be also described as ‘the first land of the western Java Island’. The weathering and aberration process affected several rock formations and resulted in a unique formation of animal-shaped rocks. Since the Pleistocene (2.5 million years ago to recent), volcanic activity has been shifting to the north, resulting in hot springs, geysers and geothermal resources in the northern area.
