The Exceptional Fossil Record of the Sierra Norte de Sevilla UNESCO Global Geopark. The Early Cambrian of the Constantina-San Nicolás del Puerto area (Seville Province, Spain)

Authors

• Eduardo Mayoral Alfaro * ^{1, 2}
• Eladio Liñán ³
• Jose Antonio Gámez Vintaned ⁴
• Rodolfo Gozalo ⁵
• María Eugenia Eugenia Dies Álvarez ⁶
• Ana Santos ²
• Luis Collantes Ruiz ⁷
• Alberto Gil-Toja ⁸

1. Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra Universidad de Huelva, Spain
2. 2CCTH - Science and Technology Research Centre, University of Huelva, Avda. Fuerzas Armadas, s/n, E-21071 Huelva, Spain
3. Department of Botany and Geology, University of València, E-46100 Burjassot, Spain.
4. Department of Specific Didactics-IUCA, University of Zaragoza, E-50009 Zaragoza, Spain
5. Department of Geosciences, Faculty of Sciences & Information Technology, Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), 32610 Bandar Seri Iskandar (Perak), Malaysia
6. Department of Specific Didactics-IUCA, University of Zaragoza, 50009-Zaragoza, Spain
7. Centro de Geociências, Universidade de Coimbra, Rua Sílvio Lima, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal
8. Parque Natural Sierra Norte de Sevilla – Geoparque Mundial de la UNESCO

Abstract

Early Cambrian fossils sites of two Natural Monuments of the Sierra Norte de Sevilla Geopark are highlighted. The first of these shows archaeocyath and stromatolite bioconstructions at the Cerro del Hierro site, one of the most complete and best exposed in the European Cambrian record. The other exceptional setting is the Constantina site, which preserves about 90 discoid structures, which have been interpreted as ancient jellyfish. This site is one of the oldest and best-preserved soft-bodied biotas in the Cambrian record worldwide. Cerro del Hierro also has industrial heritage through its important mining history, which, together with its paleontological value, provides a series of routes that have made it the most visited tourist and educational site in the Geopark. Although the Constantine site is not yet ready to receive visitors, both sites have been proposed as International Geosites and therefore enjoy the maximum Spanish legal protection.

Keywords

• Jellyfish
• Stromatolite
• Archaeocyath
• Corduban
• Ovetian.

References