Pedra da Galinha Choca - Broody Hen's Rock

Pedra da Galinha Choca (Rock of the Brooding Hen) is a rock formation in the

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian city of

Quixadá Quixadá is a municipality in the state of Ceará, in Brazil. It is known for its unusual rock formations, known locally as monoliths. Location Quixadá is located at around . It was founded in 1870 and had a population of 80,605 residents in 2 ...

in Ceará, taking its name from its curious shape. It is located 5 km from the city center. The formation is in the

Quixadá Monoliths Natural Monument The Quixadá Monoliths Natural Monument ( pt, Monumento Natural dos Monólitos de Quixadá) is a formation of inselbergs in the state of Ceará, Brazil, that has been designated a natural monument. Location The Quixadá Monoliths Natural Monu ...

, a fully protected area. Until the early twentieth century was called the ''Pedra da Arara'' (Macaw's Stone). It consists of

inselberg An inselberg or monadnock () is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, a ...

diorites and

granites Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

, which are igneous rocks, i.e., formed from cooling

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...

. Like other monoliths of the region, the Pedra da Galinha Choca is on a crystalline ground, i.e., consists of ancient and tough rocks that were formed during the Precambrian, and which with erosion eventually stood above the surface. The Barragem do Cedro (Cedar Dam) was built between 1890 and 1906 using stone masonry, cement and steel, at the foot of the Pedra da Galinha Choca. On 30 January 2015 the dam was placed on the tentative list as a UNESCO

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

References

Landforms of Ceará Geomorphology Geology of Brazil Rock formations of Brazil {{Ceará-geo-stub