Recommended route. Viewpoint of the cross (point A) and Es Camell (point B).
Most of Mallorca’s mountains are formed by carbonated rocks. This type of rocks undergo a process of dissolution due to the action of rainwater which gives rise to a special type of landscape with a predominance of caves, sinkholes and dolines, named karst.
One of the most spectacular karsts in the Balearics can be seen in the vicinity of the Sanctuary of Lluc, developed in conglomerates of the Lower Miocene (23-16 Ma).
Detail of the Lower Miocene conglomerates of Lluc. Note how the non-carbonate clasts barely dissolve and therefore maintain their relief in the rock.
Within the karst it is possible to distinguish between the exokarst, developed on the surface, and the endokarst, developed underground. The exokarst includes the pinnacles, pavements, dolines, poljes and karstic canyons, while the endokarst contains the sinkholes, caves and all the speleothems.
In the vicinity of Lluc the exokarst is very developed, with abundant with abundant and varied forms of superficial dissolution that receive the name of karren. These tend to be associated, forming what are called karrenfields.
Although water is the principal active agent in the development of the lapies, the factors which delimit it are very complex and depend greatly on the local ecological and climatic conditions. In regard to the Serra de Tramuntana, the lapies generally appears at between 200 and 600 metres of altitude.
We can see several types of karren in the Bosc de Ses Monges, close to the sanctuary.
The largest channels are called rinnenkarren, and associated with them are rillenkarren, which are also dissolution channels but at a smaller scale and are commonly excavated in the elevations situated between the rinnenkarren. If the dissolution is in a meander form, the channels are called mäanderkarren.
Panoramic view of a series of rinnenkarren (left). Detail of the same, showing the rillenkarren developed from the elevations of the rinnankarren (centre). Channels in meander form or mäanderkarren (right).
Other characteristic morphologies in Lluc are the Trittkarren, which basically present the scaled cross-section which can be adopted by rock affected by karstification. When the rocky substrate displays fractures, around them there develops around them a weakness zone which is much more prone to dissolution, with the result that the crack widens and its edges become rounded. This type of pattern is called kluftkarren.
Left, scaled shapes typical of trittkarren. Right, kluftkarren developed in a system of parallel fractures.
With the passing of time, the dissolution of the rock generates large isolated forms called spitzkarren, which include the pinnacles. When these are abundant, as in the area of Lluc, the zone is named a pinnacle karst.
Series of karstic pinnacles in the zone of the Bosc de Ses Monges (left). The most emblematic pinnacle of all: Es Camell (right).
In this zone it is also possible to see larger karstic forms like sinkholes, vertical cavities generally developed through fractures in the rock, and dolines, round or oval depressions of the land.
Sometimes the dissolution processes give rise to a closed depression of large dimensions (usually kilometric) with a flat bottom and steep walls, called a polje. A good example is the Clot d’Aubarca, which can be viewed from the cross.
The morphology of this type of structures, in the form of a basin, favours the accumulation of sediments and water inside them, thus facilitating agricultural exploitation of the land.
View of the Clot d’Aubarca from the cross of the monastery of Lluc.
