La Ruta Lyell: una proposta geoturística per a la divulgació i la didàctica del patrimoni geològic de Catalunya

In the summer of 1830 Charles Lyell carried out an expedition through Catalonia with the aim of learning about Olot volcanism. The most important route starts in Barcelona and reaches Ceret (Vallespir, Northern Catalonia), passing through high-value of geological and landscape such as Montjuïc, Montserrat, Súria, Cardona, the Lluçanès, the Vic plain, the Cabrerès, the Garrotxa volcanic area and the Salines massif. The implementation of a long-distance route similar to other thematic paths and focused on the teaching of geology and the interpretation of the landscape while following in the footsteps of this expedition (Lyell Route) can generate an original product in the line of sustainable tourism. This itinerary would bring socio-economic and scientific-cultural benefits to the territories through which it passes and to society as a whole. Finally, it is clear that to carry out this project optimally requires solid and assertive collaboration between different geological and environmental actors, especially those who develop their activity on the territory of the Lyell Route.

Catálogo de los bivalvos rudistas del Santoniense inferior de la Formación La Cadièred’Azur (cuenca de Le Beausset, Sudeste de Francia) del Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona

Catalogue of the Santonian rudists from the La Cadière-d’Azur Formation (Le Beausset Basin, SE France) of the Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona The inventory and revision of the 162 catalogue numbers of rudist bivalves from the Lower Santonian of the La Cadière-d’Azur Formation (Le Beausset basin, SE France) has allowed identifying 17 species. The specimens, kept in the palaeontology collections of the MCNB, come from some rudist classical localities in the region such as Moulin de la Roque, Le Castellet, La Cadière-d’Azur and Le Beausset. The recognized species are Hippuritella maestrei (Vidal), Hippuritella toucasi(d’Orbigny), Hippurites matheroni Douvillé, Hippurites socialis Douvillé, Hippurites sublaevis Matheron, Pseudovaccinites beaussetensis (Toucas), Pseudovaccinites galloprovincialis (Matheron), Biradiolites acuticostatus (d’Orbigny), Biradiolites angulosissimus Toucas, Biradiolites fissicostatus d’Orbigny, Bournonia excavata (d’Orbigny), Praeradiolites caderensis Toucas, Praeradiolites toucasi (d’Orbigny), Radiolites galloprovincialis Matheron, Radiolites squamosus d’Orbigny, Plagioptychus aguilloni (d’Orbigny) and an indeterminate requienid. Among them, H. maestrei is cited for the first time in the region, while others have already been reported in the Le Beausset basin outcrops by previous studies.

Els macroforaminífers i la fauna associada del Maastrichtià del sector Prebètic valencià sud (Est de la Península Ibèrica)

Larger foraminifera and associated fauna from the Maastrichtian of the southern valencian Prebaetic sector (E Iberian Peninsula) The benthic foraminiferal assemblage and the associated fauna found in the Upper Cretaceous deposits of the Serra de la Solana, Valencia (Spain) have been revised. The study has allowed us to confirm the presence of the foraminiferal species Hellenocyclina beotica Reichel, Siderolites aff. calcitrapoides Lamarck, Orbitoides apiculata Schlumberger, Orbitoides gensacicus (Leymerie) and Omphalocyclus macroporus (Lamarck), as stated by previous authors. In addition, the revision has permitted to identify some other species, never cited before in Serra de la Solana and neighbour regions in Iberian Peninsula, such as Fissoelphidium operculiferum Smout and Selimina cf. spinalis Inan and two different morphotypes of rotaliids that we have left in open nomenclature, namely, Rotaliidae indet. sp. 1 and Rotaliidae indet. sp. 2. The rudists and echinoid found associated to these benthic foraminifera have been also revised. The rudist species found are Hippurites radiosus Des Moulins, Hippurites cornucopiae Defrance, Hippurites cf. lamarcki Douvillé, and Apricardia sp., the two latter cited in Serra de la Solana for the first time. The echinoid assemblage is composed of the species Pygopyrina darderi (Lambert), Linthia payeni (Coquand) and Hemipneustes striatoradiatus (Leske). The whole assemblage, typical of shallow-water platform environments, is Upper Maastrichtian in age and shows some differences in respect other contemporaneous asseblages from other paleogeographical areas.

Catálogo de la colección petrológica de Pere Antiga i Sunyer (1854-1904) del Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona

Catalog of the petrological collection of Pere Antiga i Sunyer (1854-1904) of the Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona The didactic collections of natural sciences are an excellent resource for teaching at any educational level. In the 19th century, Pere Antiga i Sunyer treasured collections for the Antiga School, which he ran since it was inherited from his father. In 1888, when the school was closed, the collections were sold to the Martorell Museum, currently the Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona. The collection catalogue consisted of 100 specimens with their corresponding lithological description and localities. The curator of Petrology at that time, Maximino San Miguel de la Cámara, reviewed and registered 97 of these 100 specimens. Nowadays, only 47 records are preserved from the Antiga collection that have been studied and documented again. In the present study we detail the complete catalogue of the Antiga collection that includes the lithological description, the locality and the most relevant features of each sample.

Conservació i condicionament de la vitrina de les sals del Museu Martorell (Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona): 1921-2018

Conservation and conditioning of the salts showcase of the Museu Martorell (Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona): 1921-2018 The Cardona salts showcase was built and designed in 1921 by Francesc Pardillo. Located at the Museu Martorell building (Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona) it exposes and preserves a collection of salt rocks from the Cardona Salt Mountain. These specimens were donated at the end of 19th century by Ms. Casilda de Salabert i Arteaga (Medinaceli Duchess) and Mr. Miguel De Elías Marchal and represent a collection with a significant heritage and historic value. Due to the trace of time and the lack of conditioning interventions, this showcase did not preserve the samples in optimal conditions. The specimens began an alteration process interacting with high relative humidity, also generating the general degradation of the showcase furniture. In order to stop this degradation, it has been carried out an integral conditioning of this showcase but also of the salt specimens. This process has been executed respecting the original design of the showcase and carrying out the minimum intervention into the rock samples. In addition, a new passive and sustainable system to control environmental conditions has been set up to maintain optimal humidity conditions. This action stopped the degradation of the showcase as well as the specimens and guarantees their preservation over time.