Rock layers
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Kent Wang — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kent Wang — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jörg Braukmann — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jörg Braukmann — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kent Wang — CC BY-SA 4.0
Zumaia is a small town on the Basque coast of northern Spain, about 23 km west of San Sebastián and 54 km east of Bilbao in a straight line. Geologists prize its two beaches, Itzurun and Santiago, because they lie among the longest set of continuous rock strata in the world. These formations are called flysch and span from the mid-Cretaceous to recent times, over 100 million years. The Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary, linked to the extinction of the dinosaurs, is exposed at Itzurun beach, where ammonite fossils can be found. The strata run for about 8 km between the beaches of Deba and Getaria, with Zumaia in the middle. The cliffs drop to the sea in thin, parallel, tilted layers of grey and white rock, like the pages of a giant open book. At low tide long striped rock slabs are exposed on the shore, running into the water, with green meadows above the cliffs. Visitors go down to Itzurun beach at low tide to see the layers up close, walk the coastal cliff path, or take a boat to see the cliffs from the sea. Check the tide times, and sunset over the strata is beautiful.
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At low tide.
Along the coast.
Itzurun beach, Zumaia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
At low tide.
Yes, from San Sebastián.