Report on the 13th Symposium on the Teaching of Geology: Alicante, 5th to 10th July 2004

El XIII Simposio sobre Enseñanza de la Geología, convocado por la AEPECT y organizado por el Instituto de Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad de Alicante, se celebró entre el 5 y el 10 de julio de 2004 en Alicante. En el presente artículo se revisa el programa de actividades así como la evaluación de esta actividad realizada por los asistentes.The 13th Symposium on the Teaching of Geology, called by AEPECT and organised by the Institute for Educational Studies (ICE) of the University of Alicante, was held between the 5th and 10th July 2004 in Alicante. This article analyses the activity programme of the event as well as the participants’ evaluation

Why are so different the Crevillente and Abanilla mountain ranges?

The Crevillente and Abanilla mountain ranges form the same structural lineation but show a quite different morphology. The first one is made by calcareous rocks mainly jurassic and cretaceous likewise the Abanilla is made by keuper facies which includes blocks. This keuper facies are not Triassic but Miocene which are interpreted as an ancient salt glacier. Their different litologies of both sierras is due to the activity of the Puerto de Barinas Fault, a transverse fault to the Crevillente-Abanilla lineament. This litological difference in the same structural lineament could be explained as produced before (pre-late Tortonian) the elevation of both sierras (latest Messinian).Este trabajo ha sido realizado en el marco del proyecto BTE 2003-01113 y del grupo de investigación GRUPOS03/085 (Generalitat Valenciana)

The Bajo Segura Basin (SE Spain): implications for the Messinian salinity crisis in the Mediterranean margins

The analysis of the Messinian and Pliocene stratigraphy of the Bajo Segura Basin (a marginal basin of the western Mediterranean) has revealed three synthems deposited in a high sea-level context: T-MI (late Tortonian-Messinian), MII (Messinian), and P (early Pliocene), bounded by two lowstand erosional surfaces (intra-Messinian and end-Messinian unconformities). With respect to the salinity crisis, we propose the following series of events: 1) pre-evaporitic or pre-crisis phase (T-MI synthem); 2) first sea-level fall and subaerial exposure (intra-Messinian unconformity), possibly related to the precipitation of the Lower Evaporites; 3) syn-evaporitic phase (MII synthem), recorded both by selenitic gypsum (Upper Evaporites) as well as by lagoon deposits (Lago-Mare); 4) second sea-level fall and subaerial exposure (end-Messinian unconformity), characterized by deeply incised palaeovalleys; and 5) postevaporitic or post-crisis phase (P synthem), which coincides with the definitive restoration of open marine conditions in the basin. A combined biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic study revealed that all the events linked to the salinity crisis (from the end of the pre-evaporitic phase to the beginning of the post-evaporitic phase) occurred within the chron C3r (c. 5.9-5.2 Ma).Financial aid was provided by Research Projects BTE2003-05047, CGL2005-06224BTE (MEC), CGL2007-65832/BTE (MEC), GV04B-629 (Generalitat Valenciana) and “Paleoenvironmental Changes” Group (UA)

Comprobación de posibles afloramientos de la Formación Arenisca de la Rasa a partir de los trabajos de Daniel Jiménez de Cisneros

We have visited four of the five outcrops where Daniel Jiménez de Cisneros mentioned the presence of quartz sandstone similar to the ones of the "Amoladeras" on the road from Elche to Aspe. The outcrop "2 km away from La Zarza spring" have not been found because of the imprecise location mentioned in the works of Jiménez de Cisneros. Sierra de la Puerta is the outcrop where the Rasa Sandstone was defined. The north slope of the Peña Rubia mountain and the road to Las Virtudes, both nearby Villena, are eolian deposits similar to other ones of the Vinalopó valley like the Arenal de Petrel. Finally, the La Zarza spring shows different facies that can not be related with the Rasa Sandstone.Este trabajo ha sido realizado en el marco del proyecto BTE2003-01113 y del grupo de investigación GRU- POS03/085 (Generalitat Valenciana)

Palustrine carbonates within Pliocene-Pleistocene fluvial floodplains (Guadix Basin, Granada, Spain)

During its continental stage of infilling (Late Tortonian-Late Pleistocene), the Guadix Basin acted as an endorheic depression in which an axial fluvial system, fed partialy by two transverse alluvial systems, drained towards a large shallow lake located in the eastern sector. At that moment, detritic and carbonate sediments were depositing in the floodplains of the axial valley. The study of the carbonate facies shows that most of them were deposited in palustrine environments. The palustrine carbonate sediments have been characterized according to their degree of pedological modification and to their content in detritic components. Some of the palustrine sediments appear to be related to the progradation of the transverse alluvial fans, which eventually gave way to the blocking of the master drainage towards the east and the temporary development of extensive ponds.Proyectos del IGME 2001016 y 2005009, y Proyecto General de Investigación de la Dirección General de Bienes Culturales de la Junta de Andalucía. Este trabajo también forma parte de los resultados del Proyecto CGL2005-06224/BTE y del Grupo de Investigación RNM 163 de la Junta de Andalucía

The Lago Mare-like sedimentation (Messinian) and the Pliocene transgression in Alicante (Bajo Segura Basin)

In the Alicante city and surrounding sectors the uppermost par t of the Messinian sequence (MII unit) is characterized by the stacking of shallowing upward cycles. The complete cycle star ts with beach sandstones and ends with lagoonal marls which contains ostracods (Cyprideis), benthic forams (dominated by the genus Ammonia) and chara algae. This fossil content is similar to that recorded in the well-known Lago Mare facies in the Mediterranean. The upper boundary of the MII unit is a subaerial erosional surface (end- Messinian unconformity) that shows paleovalley infilled by fluvial deposits and scree breccias (MIII unit). Over this erosional surface were deposited the Pliocene unit, which is composed by a lower system (P1) of marine marls enriched in planktonic fossils, and an upper system (P2) dominated by coastal and shallow marine clastic deposits. This Pliocene unit is the record of the marine flooding -Pliocene transgressionthat post-date the Lago Mare period in the Mediterranean.Este trabajo se ha realizado en el marco del proyecto de investigación BTE2003-05047 MCYT