| UTM-X | UTM-Y | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| STOP 1: CALA BANYALBUFAR | |||
| STOP 2: TORRE DES VERGER | |||
| STOP 3: CALA ESTELLENCS |
Recommended route.
Cala Banyalbufar contains, in a relatively small area, four outcrops of rocks that are very different from each other but very representative of Mallorca’s geology.
The start of the route at this stop, where the car park is located, corresponds to a rocky cliff of tabular shape formed by rocks of nodular appearance: this is a large series of sandstones and conglomerates at the base, of the Lower Miocene, from some 20 Ma ago (point A).
These materials form part of the Sant Elm Formation and represent relatively shallow seabeds (inside them we can see fossils of molluscs).
Cliff at point A, formed by materials of the Lower Miocene of the Sant Elm Formation.
In the descent to the cove, before the steps begin, to the right we can see the remains of an old mill of Arab origin (point B).
The mill harnessed an ancient waterfall which in relatively recent geological times must have had a certain power because it generated a substantial Sedimentary rock originated by the precipitation of calcium carbonate from supersaturated waters, especially in zones of karstic emergences.</p></div>">travertine flow,
Sedimentary rock originated by the precipitation of calcium carbonate from supersaturated waters, especially in zones of karstic emergences.</p></div>">Travertine is a type of rock whose genesis requires very little time and is formed by precipitation of calcium carbonate from oversaturated waters, especially in zones of karstic emergences. This precipitation tends to occur over vegetal materials, so it presents a porous internal structure with moulds of branches and leaves.
View and diagram of the travertine in the south-west of the cove (point B).
The descending steps rest on very fractured rock of dark grey colour, showing a certain stratification (point C).
These are dolomites of the Middle Triassic of some 230 Ma, which represent shallow seabeds and constitute what are known as Muschelkalk stratigraphic unit and reflect the specific environmental conditions in which they were formed.</p><p><br></p></div>">facies.
These rocks, which now form part of the cliff, correspond to the substrate on which the sandstones and nodular conglomerates of the Sant Elm Formation described above were deposited.
Dolomites of the Middle Triassic in the descent to the cove.
In the cove we have other superimposed rocks of much more recent age, of around 20-15 Ma (point D). Stratigraphically, they succeed the Sant Elm Formation and correspond to the Banyalbufar Formation, of which this cove is one of the best outcrops.
They are formed by an alternation of hard layers of very well-stratified ochre-coloured calcareous sandstones and of soft layers of blue-grey marls.
These are deposits of underwater avalanches called turbidites. These movements of materials are caused by the instability of the submarine slope, which periodically generates avalanches due normally to tectonic causes.
Banyalbufar Formation outcropping in the cliffs of the cove, reinforced with footwalls and buttresses (point C).
Because the resistant behaviour of the sandstones and marls is very different, differential erosion occurs, generating dangerous falls of overhanging blocks of rock.
With the aim of stabilising the embankments of the zone, between the years 2001 and 2003 a series of works were carried out to reinforce them, including the construction of several buttresses (which operated as pillars) and the installation of triple-torsion meshes, locally reinforced with steel cable nets and anchorages in the sand-sized clasts.</p><p><br></p></div>">sandstone layers.
