Leaders: Fernando Rull, Jesus Martinez-Frias, Jesus Medina, Antonio Sansano, Aurelio Sanz
A two days post-conference field trip is organised by the Centro de Astrobiologia at Madrid in the Rio Tinto and Pena del Hierro areas. The departure will be after the MEPAG meeting on Friday 17 June. The return will be in Lisbon on 19 June mid-afternoon.
The two geological locations comprise a wide area where it is possible to find primary minerals formed by hydrothermal activity that affected the volcanic materials found in Dique de la Peña Area, as well as secondary minerals originated by acidic leaching on the hydrothermal substrate (these secondary minerals are old sulphates and phylloslicates). It is also possible to find gossan (older than 6My) in this area. This gossan is the final outcome of the diagenetic evolution of the sulphate associations under neutral conditions (less acidic). And finally it is possible to see at the source a lot of efflorescence and oxides and hydroxides mediated by the bacterial activity. Efflorescence can be also seen at the Anabel Garden Area very close to Peña del Hierro.
During the field trip we will visit the Mining Museum "Ernest Lluch" and we will get an historical perspective of about 5000 years of mining activity.
We will visit also some tunnels of old mines. If you have some concern, such as claustrophobia, about this type of activity please contact Stefania Celenza.
Programme
Friday 17 June: Departure from the Hotel Tivoli at 14:00. Arrival at Nerva after 18:00. After dinner: introduction to the main aims of the field trip and general description of key aspects of the Rio Tinto area with oral presentations of 30 min each.
- Jesus Martinez Frias (CAB). A general overview of the area. Geological context and mineralogy and metalogeny of the Iberian Pyrite Belt and in particular of Rio Tinto Area.
- Jose Miguel Nieto. (University of Huelva). A global view of the geochemistry of the Tinto-Odiel system, natural versus anthropic contamination in the last 4.500 years. Hydrogeochemistry of the river, type and role of metals and influence on the ocean.
- Ricardo Amils (CAB). An overview of the biochemistry, the bacterial activity, relevance in the context of Astrobiology and the potential of the area for studies in relationship with the search for life on Mars.
Saturday 18 June: visit to Rio Tinto and the surrounding areas.
10.00 Depart from the hotel
10.30 Visits to the Mining Museum "Ernest Lluch". Historical perspective of about 5000 years of mining activity (2 hours scheduled) with a guide in English. The visit continue with the historical description of Peña del Hierro area where will enter using a tunnel to the bottom of Peña del Hierro hole and with the field trip activities. Lunch will take place at the field. Return to the hotel around 16.30h.
18.00 Rio Tinto trip using the old mining train. The train has been reserved for the participants.
Sunday 19 June: departure from Nerva to Lisbon. Optional stop in Portugal in the Iberian Pyrite Belt. Arrival at Hotel Tivoli in Lisbon in mid-afternoon.
Accommodation and meals
The accommodation is at the Hotel Vazquez Diaz (http://www.hotelvazquezdiaz.es) at Nerva in double and single rooms. The number of single rooms at Hotel Velazquez is limited and to accommodate extra requests an hotel at Minas de Rio Tinto (6 km apart) could be used.
Dinner will be at the Hotel Velazquez and participants staying at Minas de Rio Tinto will be shuttled. Lunches will be consumed in the field and lunch bags will be collected at the Hotel Velazquez Diaz in the morning.
Registration
The cost of the field trip is 270 € in double room and 290 € in single room that can be paid by VISA or MasterCard using the secure server at the end of the registration process.
If you need to use other means of payment contact Stefania Celenza (see contact below).
The registration fees include transportation, meals, accommodation, and guidebook.
To register follow this link or click on the proper link in the left of this page.
The maximum number of participant to this field trip is 50.
Deadline
The deadline for the field trip registration is 6 May 2011
Contacts
For any inquiries, questions or comments contact:
Stefania Celenza
IRSPS
Universita d’Annunzio
Viale Pindaro 42
65127 Pescara Italy
Email: celenza@irsps.unich.it
Phone: +39-085.453-7512