Costa del Sol Towns

Sierra Nevada Geology

Then, in the second half of the Tertiary, the Pliocene, started lifting and folding material on ancient orogenesis, and it gradually emerged from the waters, like all the alpine training that started the pressure in the south, and was moving north toward the central plateau, which was stopping its progress.

Subsequently, there was a point where the rise and swelling reached its limits and the materials were broken, sliding on top of each other and forming a series of very flawed nature.

 

Sierra Nevada, along with all the Beticas ridges and along the Mediterranean Sea, were formed during the Tertiary Alpine orogeny in southern Europe, with sediments of the elementary and secondary Education such as quartz grains, clay, and iron oxides.

The accumulation of a thick layer of material at the bottom of a syncline, which is covered by marine waters of the Tethys Sea for more than 200 million years, between 3000 and 4000 m, and subjected to enormous pressure from the depths, converted sedimentary rocks and metamorphosed.

In the geological formation of the Sierra Nevada, contrasts occurred, such as the soft “inclined planes” (called “hills”) from the southern slope against the steep and deep gorges of the northern slope, which was more marked during the period of the Quaternary glacial erosion, and the Veleta Valdeinfierno of Laguna de las Yeguas, Rio Seco, the de la Hoya Mora, and Lajaron, the latter river with the same name, whose basin perfectly defines typical U-shaped glacial channels.

Geology Today

The core of Sierra Nevada is composed of materials from the Paleozoic era, mainly shales, micaceas, and low hardness.

There are four slots or areas, geologically speaking:

The central area of the main elevations of the Sierra Nevada, with typical metamorphic schists or slates.

Around the middle is another area of rocks of varied slate, amphibole, serpentine, gneiss, marble, some volcanic rocks, consisting of fragments of the constituents of the weakness of “launa,” rock used as waterproofing in many of the roofs, which is typical of the area.

The area “outside” is formed by a belt of Triassic limestones and dolomites, and as such we have the most characteristic Trevenque peak (2,079 m) and of Alayo Dilar (1,982 m).

Finally, in the stretch of Tertiary land are clay and conglomerates extensions.

This research was considered the Ice Age with fossils discovered that are between 100 and 9000 years old. These areas are considered permafrost, remaining vestiges of the ancient glaciers in the massif.

Glaciers

As said before, it is estimated that during the Wurm Glaciation the limits of the Sierra Nevada snowline was around 2400 m. This has led to modeling, and stress is the cause of the presence of many high mountain lakes and U-shaped valleys, as also mentioned earlier.

There are chronicles from the 19th century, when it was still possible to see the remains of a glacier in the area called The Corral del Veleta. A shadow of the peak of the same name was recently discovered. Even today there are areas of permafrost at various points around the mountain, such as in the aforementioned area.