|
|
The Environment
This prevalently mountainous territory is composed of three main
mountain ranges from the Ionian to the Tyrrhenian Sea, reaching
their highest altitudes in the southern Appennines.
The Pollino Massif has the highest peaks in the Park:
Serra Dolcedorme (2267 m), Mount Pollino (2248 m),
Serra del Prete (2181 m), Serra delle Ciavole (2147 m)
and Serra di Crispo (2053 m). These two ranges, at an
altitude of almost 2000 meters, open onto the Grande Porta
(Great Gateway) leading to the Piani di Pollino (Pollino
Plateaux) the best-known and picturesque high altitude plateau
skirted by ridges where the oldest specimen of cuirassed pine
stand out , overlooking a territory crossed by many rivers and
streams -Raganello, Frido, Peschiera, Sarmento- whose
waters rush into very narrow gorges with lofty cliffs, winding
their way onwards from eddies to waterfalls, through woods with
centuries-old trees, becoming wider as they flow into stone-strewn
white river beds. The Piano di Campotenese at a lower
altitude separates the Pollino Massif from the Orsomarso
Mountains rising with their lush vegetation in the southwestern
part of the Park not far from the Tyrrhenian : the Cozzo del
Pellegrino (1987 m ), La Mula (1935 m), La Montea
(1825 m), Mount La Caccia ( 1744) and Mount Palanuda
(1632) dominate a landscape of untouched beauty. Here valleys
furrowed by uncontaminated watercourses (Argentino,
Abatemarco, Lao, Rosa) flow between cliffs and down cascades,
creating an utterly fascinating landscape.
The spectacular monolyths and rock formations like Pietra
Campanara, Pietra Portusata and Tavola dei Briganti
highlight the magnificence of one of the most striking natural
scenarios in Southern Italy. In the northern part of the Park rises
in complete isolation Mount Alpi ( 1900 m) whose unique
geological origin differs from that of the Pollino Massif and
Orsomarso Mountains. Farther to the west stands Mount La Spina.
The rocks that make up the territory are dolomitic limestone of
sedimentary origin which 200 million years ago in the Triassic Era
constituted the seafloor of the Tethys, that is the sea which
separated the two great primordial continents that were to become
the African and the European plates. Signs of submarine volcanic
activity in the Tertiary Period during the Mesozoic Era may still be
observed in the volcanic rocks of Timpa delle Murge and
Timpa di Pietrassasso, in the area of Terranova di Pollino -
places that are part of a rare and striking geological garden with
pillow lava and greenish ophiolite rocks cropping up
here and there that cooled down and solidified on contact with
water.
Successively, during the compression of Tethys, the European and
African continental plates moved closer together, causing the
corrugation of the territory and the very slow formation of the
mountain ranges. Five million years later, movements in the opposite
direction of distension led to fractures in the emerged rocks known
as faults, an example of which is in the southern wall of Timpa
Falconara. After that, the collapse of huge boulders caused
great rift valleys of which the Valle del Mercure, once covered by a
large lake, is a clear example.
Other natural events have contributed to characterising the
morphology of the Park's territory: among the decisive factors is
the erosion of the limestone rocks caused by water that brought
about karstic phenomena on the surface such as plateaux and dolinas,
as well as underground where tunnels and deep gulfs wind for
kilometers deep through the rock, creating a wealth of subterranean
formations such as caves and pots like Grotta di Piezze “ i
trende ” near Rotonda, the Grotta di San Paolo in
the vicinity of Morano Calabro and the Abisso del Bifurto at
Cerchiara di Calabria, famous for being 683 meters deep. Water
erosion has also cut deep into the rocks of the mountain ranges,
creating the spectacular gorges and canyons characterising the most
striking places in the Park: The Gole del Lao, Gola della
Garavina, the Gola del Barile and the renowned
Gole del Raganello at the foot of Mount Civita whose walls are
so steep and close together that the light hardly filters through,
creating an atmosphere of most suggestive beauty.
The coming of the glaciers during the last Ice Age of Wurm which
occurred 100,000 to 12,000 years ago, further eroded the valleys and
high altitude plateaux, thereby defining the morphology of the
peaks. The many formations from the Ice Age demonstrate how the
territory evolved: the accumulation of huge masses of ice resulted
in cirques that may be observed on the northern side of
Mount Pollino, Serra del Prete or Serra Dolcedorme, in the hollow of
Fossa del Lupo and on the southern side of Mt. Mula where
morainic till was left behind by the slow withdrawal of the
glaciers that transported stones and debris. In some cases, huge
masses of accumulation materials came together, forming small
morainic hills; in other cases, the withdrawal of the glaciers
left behind huge isolated masses known as erratic boulders -
splendid examples of which can be observed in the area of Piano
di Acquafredda and of the Piani di Pollino.
Noteworthy paleonthological remains are also to be found in the
Park: in the limestone rocks, fossils of rudistids - molluscs that
lived in the seafloor of the Tethys and disappeared 65 million years
ago - can be seen.
In 1979, a very well-preserved skeleton of a large example of Elphas
antiquus italicus was found in the Valle del Mercure.
This was a 4 metre-tall pachyderm that lived between 700,000 and
400,000 years ago and was found on the banks of the lake which
covered the whole valley when the area was affected by the
subtropical climate as the glaciers retreated.
Courtesy of
Parco Nazionale del Pollino
(c) 1997-2008 E. Massetti
TangoItalia - Food Wine Travel in Italy - Home
|
