Ipolytarnoc

Sometimes referred to as the "Prehistoric Pompeii", Ipolytarnoc stores 23-17 million year old fossils. These include the teeth of 24 different species of sharks as well as the teeth of crocodiles and dolphins, an almost 100 m tall petrified pine, more than 15,000 subtropical, exotic leaves and 3,000 animal footprints of 11 species. This is one of the world's richest komplex fossil footprint find site. The fossils can be viewed thanks to a volcanic catastrophe which buried a whole subtropical jungle under volcanic ash, thus preserving them.

TYPES OF FOSSIL RESOURCES OF THE SITE

Shark Teeth

The reworked shoreline sandstone layers of the 23 Ma old sea sediments bear a very rich marine fauna. The so called “shark toothbearing beds” contain- besides shark teeth - a mixture of bones from rays, dolphins, manatees and crocodilians. After the 1903 description of Koch, the “Ipolytarnóc shark tooth-bearing bed” became the characteristic marker bed of the Eggenburgian stage of the Lower Miocene in the Central Paratethys. The original fauna as described more than 100 years ago was revised recently based on new finds. The result shows a very diverse Lower Miocene shark community that includes 19 genera with 16 certain species.

Petrified Forest

The giant petrified tree trunk, 42 m long that bridged a stream of the Borokas ravine was exposed at the beginning of the 19th century. Its discovery initiated the scientific research of the site. The first scientific research activities and excavations began in 1836, led by Ferenc Kubinyi. Later investigations demonstrated that a whole forest was destroyed by the volcanism, the trees were toppled on top of the paleosurface by the nearby volcanic blast. Most of the tree remains are embedded at the sandstone-tuff transition, under the plinian ash fall unit. A detailed analysis of the petrified tree trunks revealed that the 20 Ma old rainforest held at least 7 coniferous, 4 deciduous and 1 palm species.

Leaf Impressions

A recent paleobotanical study identified 64 taxa among the large collection of macrofloral remains, based on a sample of nearly 15 thousand leaves (Hably, 1985). The assemblage is dominated by laurophyllous plants, indicative of a vegetation in a warm and humid, subtropical climate. Most of the abundant plant remains are in the basal part of the rhyolite tuff, but 27 plant species have been identified from leaf imprints on the palaeosurface (footprint sandstone), too.

Fossil Tracks

Abundant and well-preserved fossil vertebrate tracks are exposed on the topmost bedding planes of the Miocene river bank sandstone. The preservation of the tracks has been attributed to volcanic activity that instantly covered the paleosurface.

Ipolytarnoc on Wikipedia

Opening hours: Between March and October from Wednesday till Sunday and on red-letter days ( like Easter) between 9am - 4pm

Guided tours : Between 9.30am - 3.30pm in every hour and a half . Since the entrance of the geological trail -- from where the guided tour starts -- is 700 m away from the visitor center, it is advised to arrive to the site 30 minutes earlier, before the planned tour.

Entrance fees :
* Adult - 900 Ft/person
* Child ( under 18 years) and retired, senior - 600 Ft/person
* Child under 7 years - 300 Ft/person
* Photo ticket - 600 Ft





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