Geology of Algarve

Do you know the reason for the cliff in Falésia Beach, Vilamoura, changes from sand on the bottom to small rocks and pebbles?The red deposits you see are the result of an old alluvium, from Quarteira stream. At that time, the sea level was -140m (Last Glacial Maximum), so the river could transport and erode the material on a longest way (red sand on the bottom). Later,  10 000 years ago when the sea level was increasing very fast they weren’t able to flow for so long so the sediments  started to migrate laterally, resulting only the largest pebbles.

If you intend to visit Portugal, take a walk on this area and look for this and other interesting geological aspects in the Algarve.

Bibliography

• Moura, D. Boski, T. (1999). Unidades litostratrigraficas do Pliocénio e Plistocenio no Algarve. Comum. Inst. Geol. E Mineiro, t.86, pp85-106
• Moura, D. Boski, T. (1999). Pliocenes and Pleistocene lithostratigrafic units in the Algarve. Comum. Inst. Geol. E Mineiro, t.86, pp85-106