Gypsum rock layers originate in a natural salt flat, a very shallow marine environment in a warm, dry climate. Evaporation concentrates salts in sea water until they precipitate, starting with sulphates (gypsum is CaSO4, calcium sulphate). The white layers that can be seen from the Seceda cable car are precisely the remains of these natural salt flats.
This natural asset is part of the tour "Browsing through the rocks of the Secëda mountain".
The sand that was formed due to the erosion of red porphyry could only be red. It covered a wide plain featuring rivers and lakes surrounded by vegetation and inhabited by primitive reptiles and amphibians at a time when the sea had not yet reached the Val Gardena area. After millions of years, the sand naturally hardened to become sandstone, a firm yet workable rock which may be carved.
This natural asset is part of the tour "Browsing through the rocks of the Secëda mountain".
How often have you driven along a road paved with blocks of porphyry without realising that this rock was formed from the rapid cooling of lava! This mostly reddish volcanic rock in the Bolzano province makes up a thick bedrock which is the base of the sedimentary sequence. It can be seen along the motorway north of Bolzano or on the Resciesa ridge in Val Gardena.
Bellerophon, a planispiral snail, is one of the best-known fossils of the Dolomites: it lends the Bellerophon Formation its name and bears witness to the definitive arrival of the sea at the end of the Permian period. This exhibit shows the snail together with a large Tainoceras malsineri, ancestor of today's Nautilus cephalopod. The large number of microfossils (calcareous algae and foraminifers) testifies to the wide variety of life forms in existence shortly before the mass extinction.
This fossil fish is unique. Thanks to the microfossils contained in the rock, it could be dated back to the Permian-Triassic extinction event (about 252 million years ago). This was a crucial moment in the Earth's history, when life itself was threatened with extinction. Archaeolepidotus represents the Parasemionotiformes, which were already around in the Late Permian and then underwent extensive development in the Early Triassic. The majority of today's fish originate from this group.
A footprint in the wet sand that time has turned into today's Val Gardena Sandstone is all that is left of the Pareiasauroidea, a large and stocky primitive reptile that grazed off foliage near rivers and streams. This creature can be regarded as a type of Permian 'cow', even though grass didn't exist at the time - only ferns and other plants, such as the Ortiseia conifer.
Ortiseia leonardii was a large conifer similar to today's Araucaria in South America. It grew along rivers flowing through a semi-dry flood plain, represented today by the red Val Gardena Sandstone rock unit. The best-preserved fossils come from the area around Ortisei, which lends the genus its name. These plants are presumed to have formed small forests that were the habitat of a large number of animals drawn there by the water.
This natural asset is part of the tour "Browsing through the rocks of the Secëda mountain".