Paris, May 24 (EFE).- Cape Ortegal, located in northern Galicia, was integrated this Wednesday into the Unesco geoparks network, bringing the number of these special geological heritage reserves in Spain to 16.
This place in the province of A Coruña constitutes “a journey into the interior of the planet to discover rocks that emerged from the depths of the Earth 400 million years ago,” the UN Organization for Education, Science and Culture (Unesco).
The designation of this new geopark was decided by the Unesco Executive Council together with 17 other places that bring to 195, spread over 48 countries, the list created in 2015 to recognize the geological heritage of international importance.
“By combining the conservation of their important geological heritage with public disclosure and a sustainable approach to development, geoparks provide a service to local communities,” added the organization, which specified that a total area of more than 486,000 square kilometers, two times that of the UK, are in its geopark network.
In the case of Cape Ortegal, UNESCO recalled that it offers “some of the most complete testimonies in Europe of the collision that gave rise to Pangea, a process known as Variscan orogeny.”
“Most of the rocks in this geopark came to the surface from the collision of two continents, Laurasia and Gondwana, which would end up joining the supercontinent Pangea about 350 million years ago,” he added.
At the time of the collision these rocks were located in the upper mantle of the Earth, more than 70 km deep.
The intense thermal activity that occurred on the seabed originated the copper that is exploited in the geopark mines and also the volcanic chimneys, known as fumaroles, which released high-temperature gases and minerals, which cooled upon contact with the sea. water.
Cape Ortegal is included in the Unesco list along with two Brazilian, four Indonesian, one Greek, two Iranian, one Japanese, one Malaysian, one Norwegian, one South Korean, one Thai and one British luggers, as well as one from New Zealand and another from the Philippines, countries that enter that classification for the first time.
The entry Cabo Ortegal, in the north of Galicia, is part of the Unesco geoparks network was first published in EFE Noticias.