Ischigualasto / Talampaya Natural Parks

This is my second postcard from Argentina that shows more than one UNESCO site. On the top there's Quebrada de Humahuaca but I already had one card from there. On the bottom corners there's Talampaya National Park and Ischigualasto Provincial Park, from where I didn't have postcards, until now :)

Talampaya and Ischigualsto (bottom corners)

This postcard was sent from Brazil by Paulo

Ischigualasto-Talampaya Natural Parks are located in the northern part of central Argentina comprised of two adjoining protected areas. These are Ischigualasto Provincial Park (60,369 hectares) in San Juan Province and Talampaya National Park (215,000 hectares) in Rioja Province, jointly covering 275,369 hectares west of the Sierras Pampeanas. The property is situated within Argentina's Monte ecoregion, a warm scrub desert along the Eastern Andean foothills. Against the backdrop of an attractive mountain landscape the property is a scientific treasure of global importance. It harbours the sedimentary Ischigualasto-Villa Union Triassic Basin, consisting of continental sediments deposited during the entire Triassic Period. This Basin boasts an exceptionally complete record and sequence of plant and animal life in the geological period from roughly 250 to 200 million years ago which represents the origin of both dinosaurs and mammals. Six distinct sedimentary formations contain the fossilised remains of a wide range of ancestral animals and plants revealing the evolution of vertebrates and detailed information on palaeoenvironments over the approximately 50 million years of the Triassic Period, and the dawn of the “Age of the Dinosaurs”. The ongoing scientific discoveries are invaluable for understanding palaeontology and evolutionary biology.

The property is located in an arid region in the rain shadow of the Andes. Further to the significance for research the property has important archaeological values, such as 1500 year-old petroglyphs. Exceptional landscape features include red sandstone cliffs reaching 200 metres in height in Talampaya National Park and, in Ischigualasto Provincial Park, white and multi-coloured sediments creating a stark landscape named “Valle de la Luna" or "Valley of the Moon”. The site has sparse desert vegetation, characterised by xeric shrubs and cactus, with interspersed trees. The desert environment contains several rare and endemic species of flora and fauna. - in: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/966