Mushroom rocks

Mushroom rocks in the Table Mountains are a 2-km long group of rocks of unusual shapes such as mushrooms, clubs, towers, and gates. The largest and most interesting were named: "Piętrowe Grzyby" (Storeyed Mushrooms), "Skalne Wrota" (Stone Gate), "Borowik" (Boletus), "Zrośnięte Grzyby" (Fused Mushrooms), "Pingwinki" (Penguins). Scattered around at the height of about 700 m, the rocks were created by the erosion of sandstones.

Some sandstones are very hard while others literally crush when touched. If a hard rock has fragile layers which undergo very fast degradation, it results in the formation of rocky mushrooms.

The present Table Mountains were formed 15 million years ago by the uplift of the bottom of pra-ocean. 100 million years ago, in the Cretaceous, these areas were the bottom of the sea which covered almost the entire surface of Europe. Layers of sand building up in relatively shallow waters for millions of years resulted in the formation of solid rock - a sandstone.