Switchbacks and Ocean Rocks

We had a gorgeous day in the field today. As the sun shone down, we traveled up into the mountains to check out a sequence of rocks called ophiolites. Basically, these rocks represent what oceanic crust is made up of. In Italy, these rocks were scraped from the ocean bottom and thrust up to the tops of the mountains where we, geologists, can see this rarity. Think of them like this: as two tectonic plates collided, lots of sediment and bits of the oceanic crust were squeegeed at margin where the oceanic plate slipped under the continental crust and built up to 1000s of meters above the sea today.

Students looking at pillow basalts at an outcrop.

The mountains were too much for our rental van.

We spent most of the day driving up switchbacks into the rugged coastal mountains. There we saw some features of ophiolites, called pillow basalts, which look like giant, well, mushroom-shaped pillows. In the evening, we made our way by train to the Cinque Terre. These are a collection of 5 medieval villages that make up Italy's first national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For years it was only accessible by footpath, but now is connected by train and a small road. Due to a flat tire we got in the mountains earlier in the day, we only made it to Monterosso al Mare to see some more rocks.

Tomorrow we leave La Spezia for Florence, by way of Carrara to see the pure marbles of the Alpi Apuane!

The coast of the Mediterranean as seen from
Monterosso al Mare, including some a cool sculpture!

I tried to order shrimp scampi, but just got giant grilled prawns.
I have a hard time eating food that looks at me.