page_title: Natural Arch, Tirumala hills
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Natural Arch, Tirumala hills / History
caption_attribution_description: Silatornam is a natural multi-rock arch formation - reputed to be one of the three such natural structures in the world. The other two are in Utah, USA and UK
context_page_description: Natural Arch, Tirumala hills, a notified National Geo-heritage Monument, is a distinctive geological feature 1 km north of the Tirumala hills temple, near the Chakra Teertham in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The arch is also called Silathoranam in the local language. The arch measures 8 m in width and 3 m in height, and is naturally formed in the quartzites of Cuddapah Supergroup of Middle to Upper Proterozoic due to natural erosive forces.
context_section_description: In the 1980s, during excavations for a geological fault in the Tirumala hills, geologists found this rare geological formation of the rock arch which has two dissimilar sets of rocks with a connecting thin link. The assessed geological age of the rock arch is 2.5 million years. Formation of the arch is attributed to intensified weathering and erosion of stream action that has withstood the torque of nature. This is a rare geological fault which is technically called in the geological idiom as ‘Eparchaean Unconformity’.
caption: Another view of the Natural arch
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