From Siccar Point to the Variscan unconformity of Ponta Ruiva (Sagres - Portugal)
by Nuno Correia, Porto, Portugal
The geology of the Algarve can be divided in two major units, the Upper Palaeozoic Variscan basement of the South Portuguese Zone, and the Meso-Cenozoic sedimentary rocks of the Algarve Basin. Nowhere else in Portugal this geological partition is so well established as in the Algarve.
At Ponta Ruiva beach it is possible to visualise the Variscan unconformity between the highly folded greywackes and shales of Brejeira Formation of Moscovian age and the Upper Triassic red sandstones and mudstones of the “Grés de Silves”. This is one of the best points to observe the end of the Variscan Cycle and the beginning of the Alpine Cycle.
References: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289130086_CIMP_Field_Trip_09_Faro
Categories
Location
- Europe (3776)
- Southern Europe (1625)
- Portugal (102)
- Exact location (-8.9685 W, 37.0682 N)
Tags
- potential geosite (3)
- unconformity (7)
- sw coast of portugal (2)
- triassic (2)
- paleozoic (4)
- red sandstone (1)
- variscan cycle (1)
- alpine cycle (1)
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Image properties
6000 × 4000 px;
image/jpeg; 13.2 MB
Camera:
Nikon D7100
Taken on 16
July
2017
Submitted on 15 January 2024
Licence
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)
Credit
Nuno Correia (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)
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