Morouzos beach
A beach and an island from a vanished ocean
Opposite Morouzos beach, we can see the island of San Vicente, which at low tide seems to emerge from the seabed and grow taller. Low tide is actually the best time to visit, as you can walk to the island. It is an oval-shaped mass, formed by 500 metres of green schist, rocks of plutonic and volcanic origin that belong to the oceanic crust unit known as the ‘Moeche Ophiolite’, which dates back 395 million years and is the most recent unit to appear in the Cabo Ortegal Complex.
The Cabo Ortegal Complex preserves the remains of an ocean basin that opened on the periphery of Gondwana 410-395 million years ago. The extent of this ocean is unknown and the subject of intense scientific debate. The island of San Vicente is a remnant of the crust of this ocean, so walking here is like walking on the floor of a vanished sea. The rocks we see at the Cabo Ortegal Complex tell us about the continental collision that closed this ocean. This is a place where geology becomes tangible, and where each tide reveals a new fragment of its history.
