Museo Jurásico Asturias
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The Dinosaur Coast

La Griega Beach

This route begins at the information panel situated on the right bank of the estuary, immediately beyond the bridge, close to the camping site.

Starting from here we walk towards the cliff on the east side of the beach. About 500 m from the information panel, on the surface of a single reddish sandstone block we observe two protuberances of decimetrical dimensions which correspond to natural cast of a manus and a pes print of quadrupedal dinosaurs heading in opposite directions.

plano_yacimientos_2Following the very edge of the cliff for about 150 m, we come to a sandstone slab, slightly sloping seawards. Its surface is cut across by small cracks of tectonic origin (joints) running in different directions. Less than one metre higher up lies a grey limestone of the Tereñes formation which contains minute gastropod fossils and various large, roughly rounded depressions (occassionall up to 1,25 m wide) with a bulky peripheral outline. What we are looking at are the footprints can be regarded among the largest in the world. Their badly-preserved condition, however, makes it difficult to observe them in detail. In addiction, there is a trackway formed by 8 footprints of a slightly smaller sauropod.

Three-toed footprints occur on the sides of that surface as well: some of them make up a trackway. These tracks belong to bipedal dinosaurs, though they are more difficult to identify.


About 30 m further on we come upon an area of red sandstone of the Vega Formation containing vertical pale green-coloured root traces. They are evidence of fossil soils and represent the vegetated areas between Jurassic river courses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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