The Peculiar Earth Pyramids Of South Tyrol
It's possible to find a very interesting geological formation also known as "earth pyramids" at a lot of places across South Tyrol, in northern Italy.
These pyramids comprise tall cone-shaped pillars made of clay, with a boulder laying on top. These peculiar structures started emerging from moraine clay soil remained after the last Ice Age when the glaciers melted away.
When it's dry, the soil is hard as stone, but right after it rains, it turns into a soft, muddy mass, starts sliding, and forms big slopes 10 to 15 meters steep. When it starts to rain during the rainy season, these slopes erode away.
However, when there are rocks in the mud, the clay soil underneath these rocks stays as it is.
So, even though the surrounding material is constantly carried off with the rain, the protected pillars rise out of the ground to create magnificent earth pyramids. It can take thousands of years for these pyramids to emerge.
The pillars keep on eroding, but more slowly compared to the rest of the terrain. At some point in the future, the columns will get weaker and weaker and eventually lose the strength to hold the big rock on top of them.
Once the boulder falls from the pinnacle, the column will erode away swiftly. Earth pyramids can only be seen in South Tyrol, but they are fairly common in the area.
The best examples can be found on the Ritten, a plateau not far from Bozen in northern Italy. There also are earth pyramids at Platten close to Percha in the Puster Valley.
