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Published: September 11th 2015
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The Permian/Triassic boundary
One of the information boards with the section beside it. Looking carefully, there are tags on the rocks with the strata layer numbers. The boundary sits below a layer of ooliths. It poured down over night and cleared for the day. It appears that the Val gets 300 fine days out of 365. That is pretty amazing given that it's 1500m absl and amongst mountains.
I'd been saving the last day to visit Bulla and do the GeoTrail that I had read about so we got the Summer Bus along the valley and up onto the Plateau where the small hamlet of Bulla is. The walk is a loop but because of the bus time tables we decided to start at Bulla and work our way down on the top route down to the Passo Pinei. The trail gives an insight into the evolution of the Val Gardena and the Dolomites. At several places along the trail there are panels giving information on the geological strata in the area. There are photos of the strata on the boards with the geology marked up as well as diagrams, so you can look at the landscape around you and interpret the history. 252 million years ago was the mass extinction at the Permian/Triassic boundary. It is recorded very well at one of the sites and is stated to be one of the best
These rocks show a stratigraphic fold onto a fault.
The photo enlarged would be easier to see. The fold on the left hand side bends and sits on top of a fault on the right showing how the layers on the left have been thrust up over the fault with compression in the mountains preserved sedimentary successions worldwide and many geoscientists come here to take samples.
In a nutshell, the Dolomites are made up of calcareous rocks deposited in a deep marine basin which have eventually been compressed and pushed up into the mountains we have today through the collision of tectonic plates. The many fossils providing calcium and the addition of magnesium makes the dolomite that the mountains are named after. Layer upon layer was laid down in the Basin and these can be seen very well everywhere in the Val Gardena interupted by faults and folds.
I took many pictures and was impressed with the fossils that can be seen even though they have been compressed and altered with heat over time. It is expected that I give a talk to the Club when back at home so figured I'd better get plenty of pretty pictures and accompanying information.
Our bus back to Ortisei wasn't leaving Bulla until almost 3pm so stupidly we thought "We'll walk back". Yes, another LONG walk downhill for kilometers and we arrived back about when the bus would have been leaving. My feet and legs are knackered and thank goodness we have a day
Icthyosaur fossil bones at the Ortisei Museum
These were discovered in the sediments near Seceda. of driving in the car tomorrow. I hate to think how much distance we've walked this week.
Back in Ortisei we had a large cup of tea and then headed for the museum which we knew had a good natural history section. The only problem was we were too tired to spend much more time on our feet so gave it an hour. There was a very good video on the geology and an amazing collection of fossils and minerals, especially the bones of an ichthyosaur found up by Seceda. If I'd had a hammer and time to look for fossils in this area I would have had a field day. However, this trip isn't about geology. Is it???
So, back to the apartment to get some rest and pack up ready to leave in the morning for Ebensee.
It has been a fantistic week in the Val Gardena and we would recommend it to anyone who loves the outdoors, mountains, hiking, biking, or geology. For the not so active there are cable ways everywhere to get up in the mountains. The transport system is great and you won't need to use a car while here.
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