Going by the adage that the geologists believe in –‘Present is the key to the past and past is the key to the future’ – the naturally formed rock arch at the Mangamaripeta beach, located between Visakhapatnam and Bheemunipatnam, is a geological monument and it needs to be protected and preserved. Though it has been referred to in many geological studies in the past, it has been left to the mercy of tourists and the people who flock the beach, as it is kept unprotected and the authorities concerned have not given a thought to protect it.
Similar to ‘Silathoranam’
The rock formation is similar to ‘Silathoranam’ on the Tirumala Hills, national adviser to Geo Heritage Cell of INTACH D. Rajasekhar Reddy said.
The Mangamaripeta rocks are part of the Eastern Ghats, which could be dated to around 800 to 1,600 million years. The arch is a ‘recent marine geological activity’ of about 6,000 years. The arch has a very high educative value and it needs to be preserved for posterity, he added.
People are unaware of its importance and tend to get on top of it to click selfies and pictures. All historical and geological values will be lost if it breaks or collapses.
Natural arch formations such as the ‘Silathoranam’ are a rarity and geological monuments. There are only two such formations in the world - the Rainbow Arch in Utah, U.S., and the Dalradian Quartzite, said Prof. Reddy.
“The age of the ‘Silathoranam’ rock is about 2,500 million years and the age of the feature or the formation or the arch is about 1,500 million years. And what makes the formations unique is that they have been formed with the help of various geological agents such as glaciers, wind and water. And as per a geological study, ‘Silathoranam’ was formed with the geological agent of water and this is where we see the importance of Mangamaripeta formation,” he told The Hindu .
“A live natural lab”
Nature is a laboratory and what we see at Mangamaripeta is an experiment by the nature and the result is in front of us, he added.
“We can only visualise how ‘Silathoranam’ was formed, but Mangamaripeta explains and demonstrates how it was formed. It is a live laboratory and that is why it needs to be protected,” said Prof. Reddy.
The authorities should fence it and erect a board explaining its significance. The site should be converted into a proper geo-heritage site, the professor said.
