Torysh – Valley of Balls

Torysh is a valley near the village of Shetpe and Mount Sherkala in Western Karatau, Kazakhstan. The small village of Shetpe is easily accessible from Aktau or Janaozen, both of which have good accommodation and restaurants. Shetpe is a road crossing with several small local restaurants used by truck drivers. You can enjoy the food and fast service facilities of these restaurants. Also known as, the "Valley of Balls", the area has many spherical rock formations that occur naturally throughout the landscape in sedimentary rock through a concreting process.

Some are egg-shaped and veined on the top, giving the impression of walking among dinosaur eggs ready to hatch. The lonely place, the endless steppe scenery, the contrast of colours with the sky and the mystery of the spheres make this visit exciting and unforgettable. In this desolate desert region, it is possible to walk among the mysterious spherical rocks whose origins date back perhaps to the Jurassic or Cretaceous.

This phenomenon has not been adequately studied, but there may be a range of geological explanations, from megaspherulites (crystal balls formed in volcanic ash and later formed by weathering) to cannonball concretes (a process in which sediments accumulate around a harder core) to global weathering. The conditions are suitable for eroding the rocks into spherical form. In this case, the most likely explanation is spherulite formation due to the size range.

Balls are believed to be a hard, compact mass of concretes formed by precipitation of minerals. They are usually spherical and usually occur in sedimentary rock or soil. In fact, this is not a rare phenomenon, since such concretes are found all over the world. Therefore, questions arise about what makes these balls rare. The answer is the size these concretes reach. Sizes as large as those in the Valley of the Balls are only found in some parts of planet earth. The famous Moeraki Boulders from New Zealand is another example.

You can also see a large Lion's Rock with "Sherkala" 332 white and ocher chalk, with several cracks along its edge and more rock formations at its foot. Adjacent sites are also scanty remnants of the Silk Road Town of Kizilkala.

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Balls