With the aim of bringing geology closer to society and demonstrating its relevance. Organized by the Faculty of Marine Sciences and the School of Mining and Energy Engineering
With a guided tour lasting around two and a half hours along the beaches of Areas Gordas, A Lapa, and Montalvo, Sanxenxo will become the setting next Sunday, May 10, for a new edition of Xeolodía, , an initiative coordinated at the national level by the Geological Society of Spain (SGE). “The goal is to bring geology closer to society and demonstrate its relevance as an attractive and useful science for our environment”, explains Bienvenido Díez, researcher at the Marine Research Centre (CIM) and professor in the Department of Marine Geosciences and Land Management at UVigo, who, together with staff from the Faculty of Marine Sciences and the School of Mining and Energy Engineering, is responsible for organizing the event locally.
Sanxenxo: Rock, Sea and Time is the title of this free event, for which participants must register in advance for one of the 150 available places. To promote inclusion, the last group will follow an adapted route specifically designed for people with reduced mobility.
Discovering key geological aspects of the coastline
During the route, participants will learn about key geological features of the area’s coastline, such as tombolo formation, erosion processes, the interpretation of metamorphic basement rocks formed during the Variscan Orogeny, and the uniqueness of placer-type sediment deposits.
“The activity focuses on visiting three beaches in the municipality of Sanxenxo, where different geological processes of the area are explained, such as geomorphological and sedimentological characteristics”, says Díez. The first part of the visit will cover Areas Gordas and A Lapa beaches, where the formation of sandy areas, the tombolo, coastal erosion, substrate rocks, and contact metamorphism will be explained. “A beach is a coastal area where sediments accumulate due to the action of waves, tides, and currents. A tombolo is a natural sediment bridge that connects an island to the mainland, formed when waves and currents deposit sand behind the island, gradually building a strip that links landmasses”, explains the UVigo professor.
In the second part of the visit, placer-type deposits in the northern area of Montalvo beach will be explained. “In this sandy area, the deposit appears as alternating layers of dark dense minerals and light minerals, with thicknesses varying at the centimeter scale due to seasonal wave action”, adds Bienvenido Díez, who encourages the public to take part in this new edition of Xeolodía.
The CIM holds the CIGUS recognition from the Xunta de Galicia, certifying the quality and impact of its research, and its activity is co-funded by the European Union through the FEDER 21–27 Program.
Source: DUVI
