justificação do valor científico
The Cacela fossiliferous outcrop is known by the scientific community for more than a century. In 1866 and 1867, Pereira da Costa, co-director of, at the time, the Portuguese Geological Commission presents a group of precious plates of Tertiary gastropods, the large majority from this region. Plates of fossil gastropods, cephalopods and bivalves were subsequently published with a brief introductory note by Gustave F. Dollfus (Dollfus et al. 1903-04) in which Berkeley Cotter concludes for the presence of a fossiliferous Tortonian (Upper Miocene) at Cacela, after analyzing 283 species from this locality.
In 1940 mollusk fossil assemblages collected by J. Bourcart are compared with other known fossiliferous sites such as Dar-bel-Hamri (Lower Pliocene of Morocco) to confirm its previous attribution to the Upper Miocene (Bourcart; Zbyszewski, 1940, Chavan, 1940).
During the 50Â’s additional information is presented as extensive descriptions of fossil fish teeth and other skeleton remains (Zbyszewski; Almeida, 1950), pectinids (Ferreira, 1951) and new species of bivalves (Veneridae) and gastropods (Mitridae) (Freneix, 1957, Brébion, 1957).
The scientific interest for these fossiliferous outcrops continue to present day with more recent works reviewing the stratigraphy of the Cacela formation based on micropaleontological (foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton) and isotope age determinations (see Cachão; Silva, 2000) concluding that its original attribution to the Tortonian is still perfectly valid.The importance of Cacela as a Geoconservation site has been object of papers (e.g. Santos et al., 2001) and thesis (Pereira, 2004) while still unexplored paleontological fields (e.g.icnhonology) are currently the subject of new research thesis.
BOURCART, J.; ZBYSZEWSKI, G. (1940) - La faune de Cacela en Algarve (Portugal). Com. Serv. Geol. Portugal, Lisboa, XXI: 3 - 60.
BRÉBION, Ph. (1957) - Le «Mitra fusiformis» des couches tortoniennes de Cacella est une espèce nouvelle: «Mitra pereirai» n. sp.. Com. Serv. Geol. Portugal, Lisboa, XXXVIII (1): 241-242.
CACHÃO, M.; SILVA, C. M. da (2000) – The three main marine depositional cycles of the Neogene of Portugal, Ciências da Terra (UNL), 14: 303-312.
CHAVAN, A. (1940) - Les fossiles du Miocène supérieur de Cacela. Comun. Serv. Geol. Portugal, Lisboa, XXI: 61 - 106.
DOLLFUS, G.F., COTTER, J.C. B.; GOMES, J.P. (1903-04) - Mollusques Tertiaires du Portugal. Planches de Cephalopodes, Gastéropodes et Pélécypodes laissés par F. A. PEREIRA DA COSTA. Comiss. Service Géologique du Portugal, Lisboa, 46+VIII p.
FERREIRA, O. V. (1951) - Os Pectinídeos do Miocénico do Algarve. Com. Serviços Geológicos de Portugal, Lisboa, XXXII (1): 153 - 173.
FRENEIX, S. (1957) - Lamellibranches nouveaux du Miocène du Portugal. Com. Serv. Geol. Portugal, Lisboa, XXXVIII (1): 227 - 239.
PEREIRA, H.J. (2004) – Contribuição para a valorização, geoconservação e gestão da jazida fossilíferade Cacela (Parque Natural da Ria Formosa, Algarve, Portugal). Master thesis Univ. Algarve (unpublished).
SANTOS, A., MARQUES da SILVA, C., BOSKI, T. CACHÃO, M, CANCELA da FONSECA, L.; MOURA, D. (2001) – The palaeontological heritage of Ribeira de Cacela (Algarve, Portugal). Its preservation in the Portuguese context. Revista Española de Paleontología, N. Extr. : 99 – 103.
ZBYSZEWSKI, G.; ALMEIDA F.M. (1950) - Os Peixes miocénicos portugueses. Com. Serv. Geol. Portugal, Lisboa, XXXI: 309 - 412.