Rocks

In Tikal Peten National Park you kind find a variety of rock types. the most common one is Limestone. According to "history.com" Most of the city's buildings were made of durable limestone that has lasted firmly to this day. The bedrock is of limestone and dolomites which allows us to identify a karst formation with broken relief. The soils of El Petén National Park form a sedimentary basin with deposits from the Mesozoic and Tertiary periods. This Soils are clayey and slightly permeable, with internal drainage, and are easily compacted. In the Lacandon area, soils are poor and there are abrupt cliffs. In the Tikal, Uaxactun and Dos Lagunas areas, the topography is undulating and soils are well drained (Lehnhoff, 1990; Lehnhoff & Perez, 1990). Laguna del Tigre and Laguna de Yaxha are the main lagoons found in the wetland area, where there are a large number of aguadas or superficial swamps. The various rivers in the Park are part of the drainage basin of the Usumacinta River which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. This is one of the most extensive wetland systems in central America. The underwater potential has not been evaluated, but geological faults probably canalise water in a disorganised fashion in limestone subsoils such as this (Lehnhoff & Perez, 1990; Lehnhoff, 1990) Some very noticeable structures that are still standing are the Great Plaza, also known as the main square of the city. The Central Acropolis is also made of Limestone, which is believed to have served as the main palace for the city's rulers. Other noticeable structures that were made of Limestone include The North Acropolis, Mundo Perdido (Lost World) temple. It is a large Mayan pyramid which they used for sacrifices and religious believes. The Temple of Ah Cacao or Temple of the Great Jaguar, a Mayan Pyramid that served as burial site and stretched more that 150 ft high.

 Temple I is made of limestone, which adorns the 50-cent coin in modern Guatemalan money currency. Archeologists are still excavating areas that were built to serve as the residences for the majority of the population back in the Mayan Empire. the remains evidence of the city's system of Sacbeobs, which is the paved causeways build by the Maya civilization. These paved causeways were constructed using a variety of stones. According to "mesoweb.com" the primary stone used for these pathways was Limestone. The base was made of stone and rubble fill, covered with a surface of powdered limestone or plaster. Sacbeob were built by creating raised roadways with stone retaining walls and fill material between them. Mayas also used powdered limestone or plaster for what we now see as the white roads in Tikal. 

According to "peakvisor.com" The bedrock around Tikal National park is made out of Limestone from Oligocene period and dolomites. Limestone which is porous explains why there is little surface water in the zone, even when is rainy season. Most of the water brought to Tikal's national park comes from a Lake called Peten Itza, which is the about 15 mi south of the park. Soils in the city of Peten, which is where Tikal National Park is located are permeable and clay based which form part of a sedimentary basin with Mesozoic and Tertiary deposits.