The Regional Natural Monument of Pedreira do Campo, which singularly translated means field quarry, is an area located west of Pico do Facho and Ponta do Figueiral, in the civil parish and municipality of Vila do Porto, on the island of Santa Maria in the Eastern Group of the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. Along with other sites in Santa Maria, Pedreira do Campo is an area known for the discovery of oceanic fossils, which has allowed a specific assessment of the age of the island.
History
The first references to this area came from the religious scholar and historian Gaspar Frutuoso who, writing in the 16th century, referred to calcareous sandstone deposits in a quarry near Figuerial, describing the sandstone as "... seafood shells glued on it". Even after its modern re-discovery, by García-Talavera, it attracted little attention, until the first international expedition Paleontology in Atlantic Islands. A workshop followed, entitled Marine Fossils of the Azores: Perspectives on the Future, which first suggested "a proposal for protection and classification of Pedreira do Campo as a Natural Regional Monument. A technical report was published that eventually laid the foundation for the Natural Monument designation. On 25 December 2002, a resolution-in-council by the Regional Government designated Pedreira do Campo as a Regional Natural Monument, which was approved as Decree 11/2004/A on 23 March 2004.
Geography
Pedreira do Campo is a area, once associated with a rock quarrying, but since 2004 integrated into a protected area, that includes exposed sediments, extrusive magmatic and fossil deposits deep and above sea level. The rock formation is delimited by a composite of sedimentary rock from the Touril Volcanic Complex and magmatic rocks of the Facho-Pico Alto Volcanic Complex. These units are estimated at five million years in age, from the Miocene to Pliocene epochs. The sedimentary deposits consist of horizontal layers intercalated into volcanic material of limestones, breccias, sandstones and conglomerates, as well as sub-aerial deposits. It is one of the areas where abundant fossilized bicarbonate rocks have been discovered, including micro- and macro-fossils of algae, coral, bi-valve mollusks, gastropods, echinoderms, as well as bio-eroded sponges and bi-valve skeletons. In terms of natural biological species, the area is known for Myrica faya, Myrtus communis and the endemic Scabiosa nitens. Migratory and marine bird species common to the area include the common buzzard, the Columbian rock pigeon, European greenfinch and Atlantic canary.
