Natural heritage Bay of Cadiz: the tertiary site of “El Manantial”

Abstract

The aim of this work lies in specialized not only fossil remains, but its post depositional and public dissemination issues. It is hidden underground objects subject to a process of upwelling by the effect of the tides, the overlap of interests and skills of Cultural Heritage Natural analysed.

So far, the project coordinator, Juan Jose Lopez Amador, has sought from the competent researchers as complete paleontological cataloguing possible of all the remains that are deposited in the Museum of El Puerto de Santa Maria, overlooking an assessment scientific as tight as possible. In advance we anticipate that the fossils are embedded in a context of Tertiary sedimentary, dated by foraminifera in about five millions of years. The most defining include fish (for example large sharks), and marine mammals (such as whales and Sirenia), plus turtles, crustaceans, bivalves, echinoderms, gastropods, barnacles, corals, sponges, and algae. As most curious features we can speak of the emergence of birds and plants (wood and seeds).

The fossils appear in an excellent state of preservation, but doing so cemented restoration work an essential added value for both studio and exhibition of the remains.