310 MILLION YEARS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
With a characteristic granitic landscape made of rocks generated in the depths of the Earth, but shaped and exposed by hundreds of millions of years of tectonic movements and climatic periods, Barrocal is a refreshing oasis of Natural History. The Chave do Barrocal transports the visitor to a nature with time to be enjoyed.
THE ORIGIN OF BARROCAL
The Castelo Branco Granitic Massif (MGCB) consists of five different granitic facies (set of rocks with certain lithological characteristics that distinguishes them from the others), arranged concentrically, with an age of 310 + 1 Ma (late-tectonic in relation to the third phase deformation varisca), outcropping in an area of 390 km2. Barrocal granite (GBR) is a granite of two micas, with identical amounts of biotite and muscovite, and medium to coarse grain. The fractional crystallization process of this granite proceeded very slowly, over about 4 million years. The MGCB is associated with the installation of a gigantic magmatic mass around 310 + 1 Ma and originally located at an estimated depth of 30 km and with a crystallization temperature that started at 750 .C.
IN THE DEEP OF THE EARTH
Barrocal Granite belongs to the Castelo Branco granitic massif, with an area of 390 km2, surrounded by older metamorphic rocks, popularly known as schists.
It also has crystals of apatite, zircon, ilmenite, andalusite, cordierite and silimanite. Its origin is associated with the installation of a gigantic magmatic mass located at an estimated depth of 30km and with a crystallization temperature started at 750˚C, dated around 310 + 1 Ma. materials constituting the terrestrial crust during the formation of a mountain range by constitution of the supercontinent Pangeia (Orogenia Varisca).
THE GRANITIC FORMS OF BARROCAL
In the constant dance of tectonic plates, Barrocal Granite ended up being brought to the Earth’s surface, not without first being polished and touched up by the erosion, drop by drop, of the underground waters. From the diverse pelitic granite geoforms to the Barrocal dome, balls, pedunculated blocks, split blocks, penitent blocks, flame shapes, flagstone, sinks, flutes and a small tor stand out. It is also worth mentioning the innumerable encircling rocks and evidence of magmatic flow, when the rock was still a river of magma in telluric movement at tens of kilometers of depth.
WILD NATURE IN THE CITY CENTER
In the open areas, a complex shrub association is formed, highlighting the white Giesta (Cytisus multiflorus) and the Codesso (Adernocarpos lainzii) , two Iberian endemisms.
THE BIRDS THAT CROSS THE SKY HERE
Conspicuous during spring, birds make their nuptial songs heard and countless species use the Barrocal to nest. Throughout the year, other species pass through here during autumn migration, such as the Black Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) , or winter here, such as the Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) , the Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos ) and the Red-breasted Robin (Erithacus rubecula) .
