Escletxes de Ca N'oliveres

Although they are called escletxes, in reality it is a gorge cut into gypsum that was originated by the action of a small torrent that is usually without water.

The continuity of the gorge is broken along a stretch of about 14 m in which the ground is open, a space used to run a path through. This fact allows us to differentiate two sections with different characteristics that we have named the lower section and the upper section.

Lower section: This is the section that we find on arriving and the most spectacular. It presents a layout with very marked meanders that leave the gypsum in which they are cut exposed. The average width is about a metre or a little more, with vertical walls. The depth reaches 9 m and the total length of this section is 50 m.

Upper section: Although it is longer than the lower section, 82 m, it is less spectacular. The meandering layout is not so evident; in fact it is very straight along much of its length. The depth is around 6 m in the initial sector, but it gradually decreases as we advance towards the north while at the same time it becomes more difficult to traverse due to the vegetation, especially because of the presence of arítjols.

The gorge was generated when the torrent crosses a band of gypsum a little more than a hundred metres wide. The ease of erosion and the solubility of gypsum did the rest. The excavation of the gorge leaves the bare gypsum rock exposed on its walls, since outside it is not easy to see due to the soil cover. We can observe different morphological forms on the walls of the gorge, from forms rounded by wear to micro-scallops generated on these surfaces and even current marks.