The route for today went through Benaojan, Jimera de Libar, Benalauria, Algatocin, Jubrique and Atajate, to look at Low grade Alpujarride cover of peridotite in the Internal Subbetic.
The first Locality was the Cueva de la Pileta south of Benaojan where there are prehistoric cave paintings.
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| The parking area is below the cave which is 35 m higher up the hillside, reached by steep steps |
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| Information board about the cave system |
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| I have a thing about spotted horses! |
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| A fish |
From the Cueva de la Pileta we continued south-east over the steeply dipping Dorsale Limestone ridge, and turned off the road to look at an exposure above Benalauria. This is the Malaguide unit which here comprises Palaeozoic schist and phyllite of Silurian to Carboniferous age. In other areas there are younger rocks in the Malaguides - up to Cretaceous - but not here.
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| Locality 2, the Benalauria road cutting |
At the downhill (eastern end we say two lithologies: a hard, twinkly, dark grey rock and grey, smooth, shiny phyllite. Moving uphill there were thinly laminated rocks with upright folds.
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| Upright folds |
In a brecciated zone we saw iron and calcium carbonate.
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| Yellow staining by iron and calcium carbonate |
There were examples of plastic and brittle deformation
Near the top some carbonaceous material (sulphur? pyrite?)
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| Brittle deformation - low angle faulting in vertical sediments |
Returning to the main road we turned downhill past Algatocin to look at exposures on the road section to Jubrique and Genalguacil.
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| The Jubrique road section |
Graphitic mica schist, with quartz and feldspar blobs showing signs of deformation. We also found pink andalusite, gold coloured, translucent biotite and garnet. The metamorphic zones here have been condensed by pressure top left to bottom right.
After a lunch break we headed back up the hill to Atajate mirador which is a great viewpoint for Peridotite, Malaguide and Dorsale Limestone units.
Final stop of the day was a short drive north of here where a road cutting exposed red and white striped Cretaceous marls.
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| Cretaceous marls exposed in a road cutting |
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| The white limestone beds don't warp although stylolites are evidence of pressure |
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| Beds of red marl take the strain as in this example of shear |
The Cretaceous marl is downfaulted against the older, Dorsale Limestone; the junction is visible near the next mirador travelling north.
Tomorrow, a morning off in Ronda (with a chance for people to walk down into the Tajo, and out to nearby Montejaque in the afternoon
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