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Naturtejo UNESCO Global Geopark
“Share a moment of deep Time”
Celebrating Earth Heritage
Naturtejo da Meseta Meridional UNESCO Global Geopark is located in the centre of Portugal, near the border with Spain. The UNESCO Global Geopark is located in the so called Southern Iberian Meseta, a polygenetic peneplain cut by the Tagus river into a deep valley at the south and bordered on the north by the Central Iberian Belt. The landscape is composed of a wide plain broken by residual relief coming from past climates and a staircase of flat topped tectonic-faulted blocks deeply incised by rivers and streams that are more prominent towards the north.
Naturtejo da Meseta Meridional UNESCO Global Geopark is rich in geological heritage, starting some 600 million years ago, with deepsea turbidites evidencing some simple life forms. It is located at the southern border of the Central-Iberian Zone, one of the terranes that constituted the Iberian Massif during the Variscan Orogeny. The Geopark’ is characterized by very ancient landscapes, such as the 50 million-year-old Meseta Meridional peneplain, the quartzitic crests and gigantic white ramparts that rise from the plateau and represent the ancient Ordovician ocean. 170 geosites were identified to tell locals and visitors the stories from Earth in this region of Iberia, from Neoproterozoic to Quaternary times. The outstanding geoheritage is highlighted at geosites like the Ichnological Park of Penha Garcia, Portas do Ródão and Vale Mourão gorges, the Roman gold mine of Conhal do Arneiro and the granite landforms from Serra da Gardunha and Monsanto. An internationally known trace fossil site records the behaviour of large trilobite communities at the dawn of the Ordovician biodiversification event. The Variscan orogeny is well documented here, including anatectic granite development and related tin-wolfram (gold) ore bodies, as well as the Alpine orogeny that has shaped the landscape, mostly by reactivation of older very large faults. There are well developed examples of Inselberg and Appalachian-type landforms as well as a complete history of the Tagus river recorded in the alluvial terraces, where the first hominids in the region thrived some 300,000 years ago and the last remains of forest elephants in Europe were found. Iron age-to-1960s mining heritage is also preserved in nationally important sites.
Characteristics
Designation date
2015
Country(ies)
Transnational
No
Area (ha)
506,700
Population
86,703
Density
19
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