Lena Pillars Nature Park Russian Federation

Lena Pillars Nature Park is marked by spectacular rock pillars that reach a height of approximately 100 m along the banks of the Lena River in the central part of the Sakha Republic. They were produced by the region's extreme continental climate with an annual temperature range of almost 100 degrees Celsius (from –60 °C in winter to +40 °C in summer). The pillars form rocky buttresses isolated from each other by deep and steep gullies developed by frost shattering directed along intervening joints. Penetration of water from the surface has facilitated cryogenic processes, which have widened gullies between pillars leading to their isolation. Fluvial processes are also critical to the pillars. The site also contains a wealth of Cambrian fossil remains of numerous species, some of them unique.

Continent: Asia

Country: Russian Federation

Category: Natural

Criterion: (VIII)

Date of Inscription: 2012

The Lena Pillars National Park World Heritage

Lena Pillars is the name given to a natural rock formation along the banks of the Lena River in far eastern Siberia. The pillars are 150-300m (490-985ft) high, and were formed in some of the Cambrian era sea-basins. The Lena Pillars National Park was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2012

Lena Pillars

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Limestone Rock Pillars

The pillars themselves consist of the alternating horizons of limestone, marlstones, dolomites and slate of the Middle Cambrian, which are weathered in such a way that it produces the rugged outcrops. These types of rocks are commonly formed in marine environments and the horizontal layering and vertical variation indicates marine transgression/regression; with the slate representing the deep marine, slightly metamorphosed shales.

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