Located 30km beyond
Angkor
Wat, it is an exquisite mountain region of magical, thundering
waterfalls, raunchy riverbed carvings and Cambodia’s largest
reclining Buddha carving on its summit. In Phnom Kulen National
Park you can see many red
sandstones from which
Angkor temples were constructed.
Red sandstone was
quarried here in this park.
Geology of
the
park:
There are several kind
of sandstones like for example Lithic Sandstone,
Banded Sandstone, Quartz Sandstone, Glauconitic
Sandstone but in Phnom Kulen national park and listed
coordinates you can see mainly red sandstone.
Sandstone
(sometimes known as arenite) is a sedimentary rock composed mainly
of sand-sized
minerals or rock
grains. Most
sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most
common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone
may be any color, but the most common colors are tan, brown,
yellow, red, gray and white. Since sandstone beds often form highly
visible cliffs and other topographic features, certain colors of
sandstone have been strongly identified with certain regions.
Some sandstones are
resistant to weathering, yet are easy to work. This
makes sandstone a common building and
paving material. However,
some that have been used in the past, such as the
Collyhurst sandstone used in
North
West England, have been found less resistant, necessitating
repair and replacement in older buildings.[1]
Because of the hardness of the individual grains, uniformity of
grain size and friability of their structure, some
types of sandstone are excellent materials from which to make
grindstones, for sharpening
blades and other implements. Non-friable sandstone can be used to
make grindstones for grinding grain, e.g., gritstone.
Rock formations that are
primarily sandstone usually allow percolation of water and other fluids
and are porous enough
to store large quantities, making them valuable aquifers and
petroleum reservoirs.
Fine-grained aquifers, such as sandstones, are more apt to filter
out pollutants from the surface than are rocks with cracks and
crevices, such as limestone or other rocks fractured by
seismic
activity.
Sandstones are
clastic
in origin (as opposed
to either
organic
, like chalk
and
coal
, or
chemical
, like gypsum
and
jasper
).[2
] They
are formed from cemented
grains that may either
be fragments of a pre-existing rock or be mono-minerallic
crystals
. The cements binding these grains together are typically
calcite
, clays
and
silica
. Grain sizes
in sands are defined
(in geology) within the range of 0.0625 mm to 2 mm (0.002-0.079
inches). Clays and sediments with smaller grain sizes not visible
with the naked eye, including
siltstones
and
shales
, are typically called
argillaceous
sediments; rocks
with larger grain sizes, including
breccias
and
conglomerates
are termed
rudaceous
sediments.
The formation of sandstone
involves two principal stages. First, a layer or layers of sand
accumulates as the result of sedimentation, either from water (as
in a river, lake, or sea) or from air (as in a desert). Typically,
sedimentation occurs by the sand settling out from suspension;
i.e., ceasing to be rolled or bounced along the bottom of a body of
water (e.g., seas or rivers) or ground surface (e.g., in a desert
or erg). Finally, once it has
accumulated, the sand becomes sandstone when it is
compacted by pressure of
overlying deposits and cemented by the precipitation of minerals
within the pore spaces between sand grains.
The most common cementing
materials are silica and calcium carbonate, which are
often derived either from dissolution or from alteration of the
sand after it was buried. Colors will usually be tan or yellow
(from a blend of the clear quartz with the dark amber feldspar
content of the sand). A predominant additional colorant in the
southwestern United States is iron oxide, which imparts reddish tints
ranging from pink to dark red (terracotta), with additional
manganese imparting
a purplish hue. Red sandstones are also seen in the Southwest and
West of England and
Wales, as well as central
Europe and
Mongolia. The
regularity of the latter favors use as a source for
masonry, either as a
primary building material or as a facing stone, over other
construction.
Types
Sandstones fall into
several major groups based on their mineralogy and texture. Below is a
partial list of common sandstone types.
- quartz arenites are made up almost
entirely of quartz
grains, usually well sorted and rounded. These pure quartz sands
result from extensive weathering that occurred before and
during transport and removed everything but quartz, the most stable
mineral. They are
common in beach
environments.
- arkoses are more than
25 percent feldspar.[2
] The grains tend to be poorly rounded and less
well sorted than those of pure quartz sandstones. These
feldspar-rich sandstones come from rapidly eroding
granitic and metamorphic terrains where chemical weathering is
subordinate to physical weathering.
- lithic sandstones contain many
lithic fragments
derived from fine-grained rocks, mostly shales,
volcanic rocks, and fine-grained
metamorphic rocks.
- graywacke is a heterogeneous
mixture of lithic fragments and
angular grains of quartz and feldspar, and/or grains surrounded by
a fine-grained clay
matrix. Much of this matrix
is formed by relatively soft fragments, such as shale and some volcanic rocks, that are
chemically altered and physically compacted after deep burial of
the sandstone formation.
- Eolianite is a
term used for a rock which is composed of sand grains that show
signs of significant transportation by wind. These have usually
been deposited in desert environments. They are commonly
extremely well sorted and rich in quartz.
- Oolite is more a
limestone than a sandstone, but is made sand-sized carbonate ooids,
and is common in saline beaches with gentle wave action
Kbal Spean site in
Phnom Kulen National Park
Kbal Spean in Phnom
Kulen National Park is well known with its spectacularly carved
riverbed, set deep in the jungle to the northeast of Angkor. More
commonly referred to in English as the ‘River of a Thousand
Lingas’. The name actually means ‘The Bridgehead’, a reference to
the natural rock bridge at the site. Linga have been elaborately
carved into the riverbed, and images of Hindu deities are dotted
about the area.
The site is known for
its carvings representing
fertility
and its waters which
hold special significance to
Hindus
. Just 5cm under the water's surface over 1000 small carvings are
etched into the sandstone
riverbed. The waters
are regarded as holy, given that Jayavarman II chose to bathe in
the river, and had the river diverted so that the stone bed could
be carved. Carvings include a stone representation of the Hindu
god Vishnu
laying on his
serpent Ananta
, with his wife Lakshmi
at his
feet
. A lotus flower protrudes from his navel bearing the god
Brahma
.
Kbal Spean was
discovered in 1969, when EFEO ethnologist Jean Boulbet was shown
the area by an essai; the area was soon off-limits due to the civil
war, only becoming safe again in 1998.
Approaching the wonder
of Kbal Spean, ones need 1.km uphill walk to the carvings, along a
pretty path that winds its way up into the jungle, passing by some
interesting boulder formations along the way. Carry plenty of water
up the hill, as there is none available beyond the parking area.
The path eventually splits to the waterfall or the river carvings.
It is best to start with the river carvings and work back down to
the waterfall to cool off. There is an impressive carving of Vishnu
on the upper section of the river, followed by a series of carvings
at the bridgehead itself, many of which have been tragically hacked
off in the recent years. This whole area is now roped off to
protect the carvings from further damage.
Along way, you may see
many of local coming here for picnicking which is not advisable at
all. Following the river down, there are several more impressive
carvings of Vishnu, and Shiva with his consort Uma, and further
downstream hundreds of linga appear on the riverbed. At the top of
the waterfall, there are many animal images, including a cow and a
frog, and a path winds around the boulders to a wooden staircase
leading down to the base of the falls and the pool. Visitors
between February and June will be disappointed to see very little
water here. The best time to visit is between September and
December.
Kbal Spean is
generally a more rewarding place to visit a compared to Phnom
Kulen. Admission to Kbal Spean is included in the general Angkor
pass and the last entry to the site is at 3.30pm. An on way journey
to Kbal Spean is about 50km northeast of
Siem Reap
or about 18km beyond
the temple of Banteay
Srei. Road from
Banteay Srei continues north to Anlong Vieng, formerly a stronghold
of the Khmer Rouge.
Source: free encyclopedia and other educational
materials
Car park and entrance to Phnom Kulen National
Park:
N13.40.629, E
104.01.635
For the valid "cache found" log:
1)
you have to
upload a
photo of
you with
GPS infront of the waterfall
(N 13.41.126,
E 104.00.972, you do not have to stand in the pool)
2)
send me via e-mail
(Aucoin.J@seznam.cz)
:
- at
least three names of common sandstone types
3)
send me via e-mail
(Aucoin.J@seznam.cz)
:
just few
meters above the waterfall (where you have taken the photo) you can
find the sandstone carved crocodile. It
is
on the bank of the river (but depends on seasonal weather can be in
the
river).
Which colour
does the sandstone
carved
crocodile
have ?
Can you see whole crocodile or just a head ?