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Anina
—  Town  —
Coat of arms
Location of Anina
Coordinates: 45°5′30″N 21°51′12″E / 45.09167°N 21.85333°E / 45.09167; 21.85333Coordinates: 45°5′30″N 21°51′12″E / 45.09167°N 21.85333°E / 45.09167; 21.85333
Country	Romania
County	Caraş-Severin County
Status	Town
Government
• Mayor	Gheorghe Neicu (Democratic Party)
Population (2000)
• Total	10,886
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)

Anina (Romanian pronunciation: [aˈnina] ( listen); German: Steierdorf-Anina; Hungarian: Stájerlakanina) is a town in southwestern Romania, in Caraş-Severin County, with a population of 10,886 in 2000. The town administers one village, Steierdorf.

In 2002, the oldest modern human remains in Europe were discovered in a cave near Anina. Nicknamed "Ion din Anina" (John of Anina), the remains (the lower jaw) are some 40,000 years old.

Anina represents one of the most important localities in the South Carpathians for Jurassic fossils, both plants and animals, as the geological heritage here is particularly diverse and well preserved (Popa, 2001, 2005). Anina is a fossile-Lagerstatte for Early Jurassic biota, the Hettangian-Sinemurian terrestrial Steierdorf Formation recording an extremely rich floral association, vertebrate and invertebrate tracks, traces and burrows. This paleontological heritage was uncovered also by significant mining works, such as underground mines and open cast mines, such works permitting the three dimensional studies of the continental deposits, a unique opportunity in Europe and in the world, until the unfortunate closing of the last major mine in 2006. Still, the sterile dumps of the former mines and the former open cast mines of Ponor and Colonia Ceha very are rich in plant material, and they represent the subject of local conservation, as preserved sites or Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

The Early Jurassic (Hettangian - Sinemurian) flora is represented by Bryophytes (Hepaticae), Pteridophytes (Filicopsida, Sphenopsida, Lycopsida) and Gymnosperms (Pteridospermopsida, Ginkgopsida, Cycadopsida, Coniferopsida), with numerous coal generators (Givulescu, 1998, Popa and Van Konijnenburg - Van Cittert, 2005). Very rare vertebrate tunnels were recently described (Popa and Kedzior, 2006), such burrows being formerly reported only from three occurrences in the world (South Africa, Arizona and Argentina), tetrapod tracks such as Batrachopus cf. deweyi (Popa, 2000), and sauropod tracks of Parabrontopodus sp. type (Pienkowski et al., 2009).

View from Oraviţa - Anina mountain railway in 2010.

Houses close to the Oraviţa - Anina mountain railway.

The Middle Jurassic marine formations are also extremely rich in marine invertebrates and drifted floral remains, while the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous units display basinal and carbonate platform features (Bucur, 1997).

The coal mining industrial heritage is also very significant, with Austrian industrial architecture and pits still preserved, such as the Northern Pit (Anina Pit I), Pit II, Pit IV (next to the Terezia Valley). Coal mining activities began in 1792, after the first coal outcrop was discovered by Matthew Hammer.

The Anina-Oravita railway was the first in Romania, built in 1856, it is still in use today for touristic purposes, and it is one of the most beautiful railways in Europe due to very picturesque landscapes, viaducts and long tunnels.

Anina occurs between Cheile Nerei - Beusnita National Park and Semenic - Cheile Carasului National Park, and due to its natural and industrial heritage deserves the status of a geopark, a much needed status for such an important geological and historical area.

References

Bucur, I.I., 1997. Formatiunile mesozoice din zona Resita-Moldova Noua, Cluj-Napoca, 214 pp.

Givulescu, R., 1998. Flora fosila a Jurasicului inferior de la Anina. Editura Academiei Romane, Bucuresti, 90 pp.

Pienkowski, G., Popa, M.E. and Kedzior, A., 2009. Early Jurassic sauropod footprints of the Southern Carpathians, Romania: palaeobiological and palaeogeographical significance. Geological Quarterly, 53(4): 461-470.

Popa, M.E., 2000. First find of Mesozoic tetrapod tracks in Romania. Acta Palaeontologica Romaniae, 2: 387-390.

Popa, M.E., 2001. Ponor SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). Lower Jurassic Paleoflora. In: I.I. Bucur, Filipescu, S., Sasaran, E. (Editor), Algae and carbonate platforms in western part of Romania. Field trip guidebook. Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, pp. 167–171.

Popa, M.E., 2005. Aspects of Romanian Early Jurassic Palaeobotany and Palynology. Part VI. Anina, an exceptional locality. Acta Palaeontologica Romaniae, 5: 375-378.

Popa, M.E. and Kedzior, A., 2006. Preliminary ichnological results on the Steierdorf Formation in Anina, Romania. In: Z. Csiki (Editor), Mesozoic and Cenozoic vertebrates and paleoenvironments, Bucuresti, pp. 197–201.

Popa, M.E. and Van Konijnenburg - Van Cittert, J.H.A., 2006. Aspects of Romanian Early - Middle Jurassic palaeobotany and palynology. Part VII. Successions and floras. Progress in Natural Sciences, 16: 203-212.

v t e Caraș-Severin County, Romania Cities Reşiţa (county seat) Caransebeş Towns Anina Băile Herculane Bocşa Moldova Nouă Oraviţa Oţelu Roşu Communes Armeniş Bănia Băuţar Berlişte Berzasca Berzovia Bolvaşniţa Bozovici Brebu Brebu Nou Buchin Bucoşniţa Caraşova Cărbunari Ciclova Română Ciuchici Ciudanoviţa Constantin Daicoviciu Copăcele Cornea Cornereva Coronini Dalboşeţ Doclin Dognecea Domaşnea Eftimie Murgu Ezeriş Fârliug Forotic Gârnic Glimboca Goruia Grădinari Iablaniţa Lăpuşnicel Lăpuşnicu Mare Luncaviţa Lupac Marga Măureni Mehadia Mehadica Naidăş Obreja Ocna de Fier Păltiniş Pojejena Prigor Răcăşdia Ramna Rusca Montană Sacu Sasca Montană Sicheviţa Slatina-Timiş Socol Şopotu Nou Târnova Teregova Ticvaniu Mare Topleţ Turnu Ruieni Văliug Vărădia Vermeş Vrani Zăvoi Zorlenţu Mare