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Irati Forest

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By Irene, Ana, Naroa and Iranzu

Formation and proofs of it

The Irati Forest emerged from the ocean 80 million years ago, but it isn’t as high as other parts of the pyrenean mountain range. The Pyrenees formed because of the collision between the Iberian and Eurasian tectonic plate. Two peaks stand out: Mt. Ori (2.017 m) and Urkulu Peak, that measures 1.423 m.

To prove that the Irati Forest emerged from the ocean, they have been found many sea animals fossils that prove it. For example, they have been found trilobite fossils, which are an extinct type of arthropods.

One piece of information that has surprised us a lot is that a fossil of a tooth of mosasaurus globidens, a species of mosasaur that had rounded teeth to break the shells of the molluscs it fed on, has been found there.

Typical forms

The Irati forest has a large cave and karst system. Sometimes these caves collapse and as a result, chasms are formed. It also has fissures and ravines, which makes access more complicated for the exploitation of the natural environment. It has a lot of flysch formations. Flysch formations are layers that alternate between hard materials (limestones...) and soft materials (clays...) that were formed by the sedimentation of materials a long time ago. 

Important geological formations

The floor of the Irati Forest is mostly composed of flysch formations that altern layers of limestones and clays. In that type of floor are very common the caves, for example the Arpea cave, as you can see is made by layers of flysch formations. There are a lot of mountains such as the Mesa de los Tres Reyes (2442 m) that is between the border of Spain and France. Another example is Mt. Ori, that is 2017 m high. All these mountains were formed by the collision between the Iberian and Eurasian tectonic plates. There are a lot of rivers but the most known is the Irati river, one of the most abundant rivers in Navarre. 

Predominant rock types

The predominant rocks in the Irati Forest are limestones, clay and marls. The most important are limestones because is the most common rock type there.

Biotic and abiotic factors

Biotic factors are those relating to the living beings that inhabit a biotope and the relationships that are established between them. Examples in this ecosystem are beeches, wild boars, golden eagles... A relationship established between them is, for example, a trophic chain. Abiotic factors are the physical and chemical factors that determine the characteristics of a biotope: luminosity, pressure, temperature, humidity, salinity, etc. The days are usually partly cloudy, the average temperature is 18.0 ºC and the salinity is low because it is an area with a lot of precipitation.