The steep path that leads to this stop develops in a low bush and at times presents banks of quartz conglomerate (fluvial-delta environment) and algal limestone (marine environment). Among the latter, there is a very characteristic one: it is only 80 cm thick and is formed by billions of fusulinid …
This last section, between the Gartnerkofel and Mount Carnizza, goes through the same Carboniferous rocks present at Mount Corona. Here, unlike Mount Corona, they are sharply southward tilted. It is because of the various and numerous Alpine faults that separate the two rocky masses. Moving for a short distance along …
Read more A huge”water spill” from the sandy Carboniferous marine sediments
Looking north, the majestic remains of an organogenic cliff dating back to the Middle Triassic (Ladinic) rise in the distance. Today these rocks form the Dolomite massif of the Gartnerkofel (2195 m). At the base of its southern wall the rocks of the Pramollo succession develop, they were deposited about …
The rocks at this stop are fine sandstones with characteristic “gibbous”, fusiform stratifications. The sands of the seabed were stirred by storm waves every time a weather front passed over the area: the stratification that in these cases resulted was typical of the so-called “storm deposits”, capable of moving the …
This section crosses the sandstones of the Corona formation along the border area. The layers are rich in plant remains and represent an ancient delta plain environment. A few ten meters north along the steep path, it is possible to see the only calcareous bank present on the 320 m …
At this point another stream flows, which affects the rocky succession of the Upper Carboniferous and exposes it. You can see the large surface of a layer of sandstone about 15 meters lower than the mule track. The layer is still horizontal, and its surface forms a series of symmetrical …
Here, where a small stream crosses the mule track, it is possible to observe a bank of algal limestone still not collapsed. The limestone is blackish in colour, in contrast with the mostly clear one of the Pramollo succession. When struck, this limestone releases a characteristic odour of bitumen. The …
In this stretch of the mule track, a block of rock was found with an amphibian footprint dating back to the Upper Carboniferous: it is the most ancient finding referable to a terrestrial vertebrate discovered in Italy. Towards the mountain, the deep incision of a stream has highlighted a succession …
Read more The oldest terrestrial vertebrate discovered in Italy
Between the Casera Auernig and the base of the mountain of the same name, there is a large number of large boulders distributed on both sides of the mule track. They collapsed from the steep slope of Mount Auernig in an unknown time, certainly after the Quaternary ice had freed …
Just before Casera Auernig a very particular grey conglomerate emerges: its calcareous pebbles were created by the ancient erosion of a narrow and long rocky promontory that suddenly emerged from the sea due to active faults. Today it roughly coincides with the area that includes Valbertad – Rio Secco Crete …