Okatse Canyon Natural Monument
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Okatse Canyon Natural Monument | |
|---|---|
 Okatse Canyon Natural Monument | |
   | |
| Nearest city | Khoni |
| Coordinates | 42°27′04.7″N 42°33′00.2″E / 42.451306°N 42.550056°E |
| Area | 1.35 km2 (0.52 sq mi) |
| Established | 2007 |
| Governing body | Agency of Protected Areas |
| Website | Okatse Canyon |
Okatse Canyon Natural Monument (Georgian: ოკაცეს კანიონი [okʼatsʰes kʼanioni]) is an Okatse river erosion canyon located in Khoni Municipality, Imereti region of Georgia[1] near village Zeda Gordi at 520 meters above sea level.[2]
Okatse Canyon Natural Monument is a 2 kilometers segment of a 14 kilometers long Okatse River. Erosion of river valley created a 3–6 meters wide canyon, in some places 15–20 meters wide. The canyon depth varies from 20 to 100 meters. Canyon has several waterfalls including Kinchkha Waterfall Natural Monument and several tiny lakes, one of them, Oskapo is 60 meters long. In some places the canyon walls almost merge and produce natural caverns, one of them named Boga, from which the canyon bottom can be seen. Below Boga, the depth of the canyon rises to 100 meters. Geologists identified here a tectonic plume rising from the Earth's crust. Therefore the lower part of the river valley is elevated by several tens of meters compared to the middle section of the valley. The valley was blocked by a tectonic fracture and a Gordian lake was formed in which clay-sand was deposited.[3] Along the canyon there are several caves from which the karst waters flows into the Okatse River. [2]
Flora
Canyon valley vegetation benefit from steady water supply and canyon's peculiar microclimate some pretty big trees has grown on it sloping banks, including rare and endangered timber specimens. River valley is covered with forest bushes.[2] Pre-historic flora has been studied by analyzing sediments of canyon's Gordian lake, which are 27 meters or more thick. Gordian lake sediments from Pleistocene epoch have clear evidences of seasonal precipitation, as each year has pair of corresponding layers. Palynological study revealed remains of archaic, now extinct in this region species of flora including Swamp cypress, Taxodium, Engelhardia, Careya and Tsuga. In the higher layers of the Gordian Lake sediments, traces of these plants was not found, reflecting the climate-induced orogenesis. [3]
