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Earthcache Garganta Del Chorro by Davy boy (2/2,5)
N36° 54.945  W4° 46.232 (WGS84)
UTM  30S   E 342284  N 4086990
Use waypoint: GC12DKC
Size: Not chosen Not chosen    Hidden on 24-4-2007
In Nil, Spain
Difficulty:  2 out of 5   Terrain:  2,5 out of 5
   


At Alora, in the province of Malaga you will find Malaga's "Lake District" is in fact three artificial lakes created by a dam built across the dramatic Guadalhorce river gorge, known as the Garganta del Chorro.

El Chorro is Famous for the three artificial turquoise coloured lakes that were created when the dam was built across the Guadalhorce river gorge, this spectacular gorge known as the Garganta del Chorro regularly has eagles soaring high above the cliffs.

There is a small bridge across the gorge named the Camino del Rey (The Kings Path), as this mammoth engineering project was open in 1924 by King Alfonso XIII of Spain.


The steep walls of this gorge are vertical beds of limestone. The age of these rocks are not a problem - marine fossils place them accurately in the Jurrassic era. Ammonoids contained in them in particular allow the dating of some of these beds with an accuracy of about 1 million years.

Messinian marine deposits of the Guadalhorce River valley in southern Spain record evidence of the last northern gateway that existed between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. They comprise sandstones and conglomerates with unidirectional cross-bed sets up to nearly 1 km long in their down-sedimentary-dip direction. These cross-bed sets relate to extremely fast (1.0-1.5 m s-1) bottom currents flowing from the Mediterranean into the Atlantic. The Guadalhorce gateway (which had a maximum width of 5 km and a maximum water depth of 120 m) was an important element controlling the Messinian pre-evaporitic oceanic circulation in the Mediterranean Sea, as it acted as a major outflow channel. Its closure limited the exchange of water between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean to the Rifian corridors of Morocco, inducing water-mass restriction and stratification in the western Mediterranean immediately prior to the `Messinian Salinity Crisis'.

To log this EarthCache go to the posted coords and post a picture of yourself and your gps with the railway bridge and the gorge and mail me the answers to these questions.

  • How much of the King's Path is missing in meters?

  • How high is the gorge in meters?

  • How wide is the gorge at its narrowest section?


  • Directions to get to parking: Drive over the dam and turn left and follow the road as far as you can and park at electric sub-station then walk up the path to the bridge.

Additional Hints (There are no hints for this cache)


Current at 10-7-2009

Found it 6-6-2009 by jackie vandenberk
this was great

Found it 31-5-2009 by timearth
Um sonho tornado realidade.
Fazer todo o Caminho do Rei e gozar toda esta paisagem fabulosa.
É um local maravilhoso...............................
Se puder voltarei a este local.
No entanto é preciso abordar este local de forma correcta
TFTC

[This entry was edited by timearth on Sunday, June 07, 2009 at 12:27:09 PM.]

[This entry was edited by timearth on Sunday, June 07, 2009 at 12:41:30 PM.]

Found it 15-5-2009 by DieFilis
What an interesting place. What a pity that you can only walk on this way with special equipment. I hope that sometimes the way of the king will be restored. But in the meantime there are many exciting videos that show how dangerous this way is..
THANK YOU, a dream came true to see this...

Die Filis

Found it 9-5-2009 by Wijnkurk
Walking for people who are a little bit creazy

Found it 9-5-2009 by Casa Oasis (wijnkurk & bierdopje)
Unbelievable place, amazing to see how grazy people can be. The most have a dead wish.

Thank you for this cache!

Casa Oasis and Wijnkurk


Nearby Caches
GCA306 bug Piilo1 (1,09 kms S)
GC1DEXB bug Pico del Convento (1,97 kms NW)
GC1RHQ4 BOBASTRO.(el chorro Malaga) (1,99 kms SW)
GCR0JJ El Chorro, Ardales (Málaga) (3,23 kms NW)
GC1HZ2J Castillo de la Peña (Ardales) (7,89 kms SW)

Additional Hints (There are no hints for this cache)