Huesca thematic

Number 19. October of 1999. Spanish language  Principal menu

Eastern Guara Mountain Chain

 

     THE FIRST EMPLACEMENTS: The Eastern zone of the Guara Mountain Chain, would be straddled, almost lock, stock and barrel, in the region known as the Somontano (under mountain lands) of Barbastro. The territory is lifted between 1.000 and 1.500 ms. and exceptionally 1.868 m. in the cliff of Cabezo de Guara. It presents a series of parallel mountains chains mutually, with the spurs directed toward the flatness: Arangol, Balcés, Sevil and Rufas that they delimit the superior sections of the Alcanadre, Isuala or Balcés and the Vero rivers. All they carry North-South path , but this last abandons it, to be directed toward Barbastro. They are the principal protagonists of the landscape, the sandstones and calcareous conjugated with the torrential waters that give fantastic forms, an assorted ravines and throats stage: Formiga, Peonera, Gorgas Negras, Mascún, .... and secondary ravines whose waters meet in the Alcanadre river. The cannons of the Balcés river are the longest; the river reflects between walls sometimes of 500 m. of drop. `Oscuros' or obscure places (300 ms.) and narrow places are combined in the splashed waterfalls tour and badinas (isolated river areas). They are more accessible the cannons of the Vero. During a tour of 8 Km., between Lecina and Alquézar they are happened the cliffs, meanders, and channels through five throats: Lecina, Obscure, Clusas, Villacantal and Castillo. The ravines of the Choca and Fornocal are joined to the Vero completing, with its karstic sforms, the landscapes glass-case. The topography is going descending from the high walls that between 900 and 1.000 m. of altitude master the sites of Radiquero, Colungo and Alquézar until 500 m. of the part southern.
      * GEOLOGICALLY, the Western and Eastern Guara mountain chain form part of the External Mountains Chains of then Pre-Pyrenees or Marginal Mountains Chains. In this zone there are strong alignments whose maximum increases are formed by calcareous materials of the Eocene, being its maximum expression the Tozal de Guara (2.077). A corresponding waterproof socle to the typical KEUPER clayey red (Secondary Era; Triasic) form generally the shaft of the anticlinals; the plasticity of these materials is what permitted the sliding of others and to produce the various foldingss that exist; it flourishs in different places but always to the South. To the West there is a band between the damming of Arguis and Nueno (where the tunnels) until the Ravine of the Clusa Valley; it leaves again to setting of the Gabardiella Mountain Chain being lengthened southward in a close band, until Santa Eulalia La Mayor. In the Central Sector of the Mountain Chain, there is other flourishments: in the Ravine of the Valleys, ascending from be located almost horizontal to the massive by below of the Tozal de Guara. There are sources in this zone; some accuse its saline nature: Fuente Salada or of the Matel. Other flourishment of the Keuper is in the tectonic window that the Alcanadre has dug to the East of the peak of the Cabeza, between the Gorgas Negras and the Garganta de Barasil, in the place known as Chasa de Rodella; here it can be observed the plait capsized, it constituted by eocenes calcareous, but in its dismantled hinge appear the calcareous secondary trainings of the cretacic, with marls and plasters of Keuper. The cretacic of calcareous sandy is always flourishing jointly with the Keuper. Its age is Santoniense-Campaniense and its power mean is more or less uniform all over the mountains chains (some 50 m.). To the calcareous them continue some red deposits of lacustrine type, constituted by clays and a power between 50 and 100 m.. The trainings eocenes cover the lion's share of the North zone and they are represented also toward the East; to the West is simplified. It is surprising the potent development of the calcareous (almost always of the Luteciense) and whose thickness is going from 400 m. in the Mountain Chain of Gabardiella to 500-1.000 ms. of that of Guara one and 800-1.000 between the Balcés and Vero mountains chains, being their maximum thickness of 1.100 m. in the anticlinal of Boltaña. In the base of this calcarerous package , it is initiated a stones conglomerate very well rolled, mainly quartz; it's continued a section of marls and alternative sandstones, then the calcareous with nunmulites and alga levels in the roof.  Fragment of Mountain Chain Guara map The color of all this set it is gray, but when there are sands, it is more reddish. This calcareous bulk of Guara, is folded in several anticlinals and sinclinals and it is continued with that of Balcés mountain chain. The paleocene ends here with a prevailing sandstones transgression, clays and marls and a facies of transition maritime - continental constituted for a bank of calcareous of algae or coral, as in Santa Maria de la Peña. The so characteristic conglomerates that are found between the calcareous of the mountains chains and the sandstones and marls of the plains, they are of the Aquitaniense Age (Miocene, Terciary). It appears in discontinuous large bulks in lenticular forms; they are formed by songs well rolled, of average volume, of quartz and little-quartz (the cement that joins them is calcareous). The flat zones of the South, they are nearly all covered of sandstones and marls of the Miocene; there is important deposits of vertebrates, for example in Santa Cilia and Ayerbe. The phenomena KARSTICS are more abundant in this zone since the important thickness of the bulks calcareous and the karstic behavior of the conglomerates facilitate it. The flourishments calcareous and by this, the absorption zones of the water, are greater, emphasizing from among them, the holes of Guara or Llanos de Cupierlo, zone of large dolinas (depression of karstic origin and oval-shaped form) that perhaps will be the captation zone of the Solencio of Bastarás and the sources of Covacha. The structure demonstrates us great number of defects of North East to South-WestO and abundant very small breaks how much more us we approach to the anticlinal of Boltaña. All these breaks agree address with the different galleries of the Solencio of Bastarás. The anticlinals structures and the dip of the strata make to coincide the underground drainage. The phreatic level can be the marls and sandstones but it does not seem be fulfilled in all the points. The exit to the foreign, gives various salty water springs and mining - medicinal.
     * HISTORICALLY in 1.966 begins its knowledge , the Espeleological Group of Badalona (Barcelona) and thereinafter `Peña Guara' of Huesca. After the first decrease to the Grallera of Guara - well of 277 m. of depth (August of 1.966)- is begun that of Solencio de Bastarás (to the North of this village) subsequently. Until August of 1.968 had been explored and topograhied 7.200 m.; in 1980 was increased to 8.000 ms. and in 1.989, 8.243 m.. Without doubt, this Solencio de Bastarás is the most known cavity of the zone ; for its exploration one must to take cautions, above all as compared to the unexpected waters rise. In May of 1.971 cost the life three "speleogy-men". The second decrease to the Grallera de Guara was made in December of 1.972 and was located a window to 242 m. of depth; in 1.978 was given a total depth of 292 m. In the years 70, in the Cueva de Chaves was discovered, by the Peña Guara Group a numerous archaeological material, whose dated corresponds to the Upper Paleolithic.
     * CLIMATOLOGICALLY is conditioned for a greater height, that provides greater dampness; on the other hand the breakthrough Mediterranean permits cultivation as the tree and the almond-tree. It is found more protected of the Cierzo (North wind) and presents irregularity in rains cadence, with a "thermometrical" extent that is seen reduced in 2 or 3 degrees respect to flat. The Winters are more soft (- 4.5º of average in January), though as of 800 m. the decrease thermal own of the height reduces it in 3º and 4º of Middle Temperature (23.7º in July for the southern sector). The rainfalls oscillate between 495 mm. of the South zone and 700 mm. in topmost zones. The rain maximum it is produced in the Spring. The hydrographical regime is submitted to strong swellings given the torrential character of the water courses, that makes dangerous the decreases. In fact, that sports activity already it has been collected lives. In the mountains chains masters the pinegrove with box. The degradation of the brand rainfalls a change toward the evergreen-oak grove that very demoted, is seen substituted by the small holm oak wood, kermes gall, box and rosemary. The repopulation is of pine-laricio.
     * DEMOGRAPHICALLY this zone is the most representative of the abandonment of the kernels of population. The industrial summit that is begun in 1.960 attracted fundamentally to Catalonia, above all population young. They have been attempt of rehabilitation and recovery by youths with ways of life bound to the philosophy of "las comunas" (municipality). The lack of infrastructure adapted, services and more yet, the access difficulties, let reduced the population to irreversible limits. Generally they are peoples to much height that they preserve historical and cultural past remains and that in some has disappeared with the I despoil and with the progressive ruin.
      * The RESOURCES are fundamentally the cattle-raising and the agriculture always with a property structure of minimal dimensions (sometimes less than a hectare.). Today most of the lands are abandoned, by their difficult access. They are alone cultivated the most next to the kernels of population and the better. The subsequent leases to the emigration, they did not gave the anticipated fruit; they did not improve and is devalued little by little. Soil, swindled gave a step to the juniper and other species, etc., ... The wheat occupied the lion's share of the lands, substituted today by the fed that is sold in Binéfar or in Lérida for feeds. There are cultivation, as the almond-tree, grove and grapevine that are sheltered in the greater kindness of the climate; the one which more is maintained is the almond-tree (Adahuesca, Panzano, Alquézar). The olive-tree alone feeds the local consumption. The linen and the hemp, they have disappeared of the Pre-Pyrenee. Alquézar attempts to recover the grapevine. As cultivation of familiar type it has been studied that of espicol or lavanda, very abundant in the abandoned zones of sunlights and marly soils above 1.000 m. The grasss of Guara they are some of the vastest and rich of the Pre-Pyrenee . They have the advantage of the fact that the herds do not need be moved of the term in Winter (climate more moderate). It has been a strong cattle regression complementing the own utilization, the goats cattle and some chickens and pork farms. The population is recovered in the Summer with the tourism. The hundred and inhabitants peak of Adahuesca, are converted in more than 450 in the summer era; they are accepted in particular houses and in chalets built by ancient resident that they live in Barcelona, Zaragoza or Huesca. The ancient town of Rodellar is very visited by its privileged site on the cliffs of the ravine of Mascún. It receives the visit of many fans to the river decreases and they proceed of France and Catalonia. Thus it has resurged Alquézar Arabic strength, that received the statement from Artistic Historical Set: its "stoned" streets, with central littles canals to collect the water, deviously descend until the ancient castle that masters the Vero river. Today Alquézar this being very it visited by French tourists; a pair of hotels, the Inn of the Vero to the entry of the people and some particular foods house, complete the minimal inkeeper infrastructure of this Arabic locality, that with Albarracín (Teruel province), can be considered as one of the nicest peoples of Aragon. From 27 of December of 1.990, was considered ·PARK OF THE MOUNTAIN CHAIN AND CANNONS OF GUARA·.


Val d'Onsera

Mallos de Vadiello

Guara: Pinturas Rupestres

* Manuel Tomé Bosqued.


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