The origin of the mountains
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The origin of the mountains

by Manuel de Paz Álvarez

The Cilindro de Marboré peak (3325m), brother of the bigger Monte Perdido peak (3350m), in the Pyrenees of Huesca (northern Spain). The very summit is composed by Late-Cretaceous reddish Marboré Fm. sandstones, which are thrusted over Paleocene white Gallinera Fm. limestones.
This thrust sheet is part of the Monte Perdido thrust system. The imponent anticline seen in the ca. 300m cliff is related to the later emplacement of the structurally deeper Gavarnie Thrust.
One can feel the power of the Earth when he/she is standing in marine limestones at 3100 m.a.s.l.