Cabo Ortegal lighthouse
A lighthouse overlooking the abyss of geological time
The Cabo Ortegal lighthouse offers an impressive panoramic view: the cliffs stretch out to Punta do Limo, sculpted by rocks that were once part of the Earth's crust. But the uniqueness of this place lies not only in what you see, but also on what you walk on. Beneath the lighthouse lies one of the world's largest deposits of eclogites: rare, dense rocks that originated 400 million years ago at a depth of more than 70 kilometres.
These rocks were formed during the subduction of the peripheral crust of the ancient Gondwana supercontinent into the interior of the planet during the collision of continents that formed Pangea. Under extreme conditions, some fragments of the crust were transformed into eclogites and, after millions of years, emerged on the surface.
Today, these deep rocks are within sight and touch, and reveal a fragment of the Earth's interior that normally remains hidden. Opposite Cabo Ortegal itself, a geological balcony from which we can peer into our planet's past, the large sheet of eclogites that we see disappears into the sea on the islets of Punta dos Aguillóns, which in turn display large folds.
