Percorso Geologico-Pedologico di Cimalegna - Cimalegna Geologic and Pedologic field trip - Ente di Gestione delle Aree Protette della Valsesia

Percorso Geologico-Pedologico di Cimalegna - Cimalegna Geologic and Pedologic field trip

Name	Description
Punto di partenza	Passo dei Salati
Punto di arrivo	Passo dei Salati
Tempo di percorrenza	2-3 ore
Grado di difficoltà	semplice
Periodo consigliato	Luglio-Agosto
Comuni	Alagna Valsesia

Cimalegna is a perfect place to examine the geological history of the north-western Alps, with particular regard to the 200 million years long geodynamic evolution that led to continental rifting, opening of the Mesozoic Ligure-Piemontese ocean (western Tethys), its progressive closure (from 90 Ma) and subduction, continental collision (45 Ma) between the European margin (Pennidic zone) and the overlying Adriatic margin (Austroalpine), later uplift of the Alps.
At a global scale, this does mean a divergent litosferic plate margin (continental rifting and ocean spreading) followed by a convergent plate margin, evolving from oceanic subduction to continental collision. Cimalegna and its divide from the Lys valley show and join in a very short space rocks generated in very distant areas and different environments (continent vs ocean), a long geologic history which involved shallow to deeper earth crust and slices of lithospheric mantle.
The natural environment is interesting also from a pedological point of view, allowing the recognition of soils that formed from their parent rocks in a subhorizontal zone, at high elevation and under extreme climatic conditions. Compared to the normal geologic times, soils develop very quickly, forming thin films on the surface of the earth crust.