Ichnofossils

Ichnofossils from Cabanas Longas Ichnofossils from Vilarinho Vila Cova Ichnofossils Ichnofossils from Meitriz Mourinha Ichnofossils

Geossítio 37 Ichnofossils from Cabanas Longas

Life marks with international relevance…

Cabanas Longas is home to rugged reliefs of quartzite rocks, very resistant rocks formed at the bottom of the sea 475 million years ago from sands rich in quartz. The platform takes us to the top of the quartzite ridge where we can easily identify a large rocky surface full of bilobed grooves. These grooves are the marks of the activity of living beings (ichnofossils) that inhabited the seas. The Cruziana tracks resulting from the activity of arthropods such as trilobites stand out in this geosite.

Este geossítio faz parte do itinerário C: Paiva, the surprising valley.
Saiba mais sobre a Rota dos Geossítios .

Informação Geológica

This area includes a series of sub-vertical quartzite outcrops located near Cabanas Longas (Alvarenga). These rocky surfaces, which are practically vertical, correspond to the underside of the quartzite strata, where it is possible to see a significant number of very well-preserved Cruziana tracks, i.e. reverse relief molds of the original excavated tracks. These are the result of the activity of arthropods, most likely trilobites that lived in a shallow sea around 475 million years ago (Arenigian, Lower Ordovician). At this geosite you can see two generations of tracks ( Cruziana furcifera and Cruziana rugosa tracks) that intersect at an angle of around 110°. The excellent state of preservation of these tracks gives the geosite international relevance.