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Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa Natural Park

Coordinates: 42°10′0″N 2°32′0″E / 42.16667°N 2.53333°E / 42.16667; 2.53333
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa Natural Park
Parc Natural de la Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa (in Catalan)
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
An aerial view of Santa Margarida.
LocationGarrotxa, Catalonia, Spain
Coordinates42°10′0″N 2°32′0″E / 42.16667°N 2.53333°E / 42.16667; 2.53333
Area15,309 hectares (153.09 km2)
Established1982 (1982)
Governing bodyDepartament de Medi Ambient i Habitatge
www.gencat.cat/parcs/garrotxa/
Map
The wood of Fageda d'en Jordà.

The Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa Natural Park (Catalan: Parc Natural de la Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa) is a natural park area covering a Holocene volcanic field (also known as the Garrotxa volcanic field or Olot volcanic field) in Catalonia, northeastern Spain. The volcanoes, of which there are about forty within the park, are no longer active, with the last eruption (Croscat) occurring about 11,000 years ago.[1] However, the region is still seismically active, and a large earthquake in 1428 caused damage to buildings and twenty deaths in Barcelona, 90 kilometres (56 mi) to the south.[2] More recent earthquakes in 1901 and 1902 caused shaking but little damage.[2]

The park covers 12,093.02 hectares, and includes territory from eleven municipalities in the comarca of Garrotxa.[3] The built-up areas of Olot, Santa Pau, Sant Joan les Fonts and Castellfollit de la Roca are completely surrounded by the park. Including these urban areas, the population of the park is more than 40,000 people, and the economic development of the zone is one of the objectives of the park management, while trying to avoid the damage caused by quarrying, urban sprawl and illegal waste disposal. Some 980.86 ha of the park, including the best preserved volcanic cones, are fully protected as nature reserves.

Volcano in the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park - a protected natural area covering a Holocene volcanic field in Catalonia, northeastern Spain.

Geology

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The Garrotxa field is a monogenetic volcanic field, with each volcano representing a single period of eruption. The field became active about 700,000 years ago,[4] and is the most recent example of volcanic activity in northeastern Catalonia, which dates back 10 million years. It contains numerous tossols.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Olot Volcanic Field". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution.
  2. ^ a b Scheffel, Richard L.; Wernet, Susan J., eds. (1980). Natural Wonders of the World. United States of America: Reader's Digest Association, Inc. pp. 278. ISBN 0-89577-087-3.
  3. ^ Geology of the Park, Department of the Environment and Housing, Generalitat de Catalunya, April 2006, archived from the original on 2009-04-26, retrieved 2009-10-11.
  4. ^ Dades del Parc Natural de la Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa, Department of the Environment and Housing, Generalitat de Catalunya, April 2006, archived from the original on 2009-04-26, retrieved 2009-10-11.

Bibliography

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