Geossítio 30 Vau
Where the suspension bridge marks the lithological contact…
Vau is a geosite located approximately halfway along the Paiva Walkways, where the granite body of Alvarenga ends in the south, near the “suspension bridge”, where there was once a ferry crossing between Canelas and Alvarenga. In this recreational and leisure area, we find a rock called corneana, formed by contact metamorphism caused by granite intrusion around 300 million years ago. From Vau onwards, the River Paiva has carved out a wider valley and, as a result, the energy of the water is reduced. This is due to the fact that most of the underlying metasediments are more easily eroded than granite.
At Vau there is also the mouth of Ribeiro do Fontão, which, after running through a fracture valley that stretches at least from Aldeia da Estreitinha to Vau, falls into a waterfall that is ideal for canyoning. This is also a popular spot for leisure activities and also the starting point (Vau-Espiunca section) and finishing point (Garganta section) for whitewater sports on the River Paiva, particularly rafting.
In the area of this geosite we can see a well-preserved riparian gallery made up mainly of alder, ash and willow trees. These species are home to creatures such as the kingfisher, the Lusitanian salamander, the water lizard, butterflies and dragonflies.
Este geossítio faz parte do itinerário C: Paiva, the surprising valley.
Saiba mais sobre a Rota dos Geossítios .
Informação Geológica
The geosite marks the contact between the Alvarenga Granite and the ante-ordovician metasediments composed of pelitic corneans and mottled schists.
The Alvarenga Granite has a sigmoidal shape, with a WNW-ESSE axis. It falls within the domain of late-F3 biotitic syn-orogenic granitoids, with an age of around 310 million years. It is a leuco to mesocratic rock with a phaneritic texture and medium to coarse grains. Around the granite, at the contact with the formations of the Búrico-Beirão Super-Group, a halo of metamorphism was created, consisting, at certain points, of hornblende-type rocks. It should also be noted that this granite intrusion gave rise to an important mineralized zone in this region, where wolframite is the main mineral.
In the area surrounding this geosite, we can observe in the sediments some of the effects associated with the seasonal fluvial dynamics of the River Paiva.
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Geomorfológico 
Petrológico 
Sedimentológico 
Natura 2000
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