Dinosaur Ichnite Sites of the Iberian Peninsula

Date of Submission: 20/12/2002
Criteria: (vii)(viii)(ix)
Category: Natural
Submitted by:
Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores
Coordinates: The Iberian System, Coasts of Cantabria and Asturias and the Pyrenees
Ref.: 1059
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Property names are listed in the language in which they have been submitted by the State Party.

A collection of places with remains of the life of dinosaurs, including the geological periods of the

Masozoic Era (Triassic, Jurassic and Cretassic). The footprints are fossilized in outcrops of rock which are the present representation of former horizontal mudbeds that were made up of deposits of sand, lime, clay and carbonates in coastal, lake, marsh and river areas. The dinosaurs walked upon these mudbeds and left millions of footprints, some of which were not washed away. The sediments were gradually covered with others that were deposited on top, which led to their being progressively buried. The increase in the pressure resulting from the load being supported, and in temperature due to the depth reached, caused the mud to solidify like concrete and become rock. The orogen movements cause the underground rocky stratum to rise vertically and lie inclined and folded, and erosion makes them appear on the surface by removing the layers with which they are covered.