The Albercutx watchtower is one of the best viewpoints of the north of the island of Mallorca because it stands on the highest peak of the Formentor peninsula at an altitude of 380.51 m.
The tower overlooks Formentor, the bays of Pollença and Alcúdia, the Alcúdia peninsula, the Llevant ranges, the Central Plain, Randa promontory and the Tramuntana range. For this reason, nearby there is one of Mallorca’s radio beacons for air traffic control (a disc-shaped structure seen towards the south-west).
Watchtower
Panoramic view from the top of the Albercutx watchtower.
Looking north it is easy to see the tectonic structure of the Formentor peninsula, composed of materials deformed by the Alpine Orogeny, a stage of intense geological activity that began some 25 Ma ago. The oldest materials that can be observed are from the Upper Triassic (200 Ma) and the most recent are from the Middle Miocene (14 Ma).
Notable features are the vertical rocky escarpments of the western slopes and the gentle ramps in the eastern slopes, which show that the materials have been piled up on each other by thrust faults. Moreover, the more modern sediments, located in the centre of the peninsula, have been folded, giving rise to a singular structure: an overturned syncline.
Simplified geological diagram of the Formentor peninsula.
From this viewpoint we can clearly appreciate the rounded form of the Bay of Pollença, which is closed to the south-east by the Alcúdia peninsula and to the north-west by the Formentor peninsula. It meets the Serra by way of a broad plain filled with Quaternary sediments, notably the lagoon deposits of marshes in the zone of S’Albufereta, and cordons of eolic dunes flanking the present-day beach.
Looking to the south-east we can view the geological structure of the Serra de Tramuntana. Its principal features are imbricated thrust faults, structures generated by the piling up of large masses of rock due to compressive forces. The orientation of these faults marks the direction of the tectonic forces that caused them, in this case SE-NW. For this reason, and as in the Formentor peninsula, the reliefs are scarped in the western slope of the Serra and gentle on the eastern side.
General geological cross-section of the Serra de Tramuntana at the height of the Puig Major (modified from Gelabert, 1997) and panoramic view of the same zone from the watchtower. Note how the morphology of the reliefs (scarped on one side and gentle on the other) is directly related with the formation of thrust faults.
