Crystal beach

This is my entry for #monomad challenge by @monochromes.

Hello to all!
Hot day in Italy.
To find a fresh place, we went to a river shore called Crystal Beach, along Tanaro river, between Verduno and Pollenzo cities (in Piedmont region, north Italy).

Along Tanaro river, you can find stones belonged to the ancient Mediterranean sea that was here 5-7 millions of years ago. After ancient climate change, within the closure of Strait of Gibraltar (that connected Mediterranean with Atlantic ocean), the sea evaporated, leaving here great amount of salt crystal: rock salt, selenite and anhydrite, that you can find after the enduring water erosion of the river.

Looking for the place, we got lost, but it has been a pleasure to visit these wonderful place (Langhe region), famous for vineyards and hazelnuts trees.

We finally found the beach, near a closed restaurant called 'La Cascata' (The waterfall).

River water was calm but high (due to intense rain of last months in north Italy). There was a small beach with sand, and a rocky bank plenty of shining crystal of salt!

There were also some sources of water, who have eroded, through centuries, the least resistant rock layers, flowing down the rocky salt layer:

Here you can view some layers of rocks. Above, the salt layer:

The layer below the salt layer was, I suppose, shales rocks, and you can watch the astonishing effects of erosion, that create a sort of stratified topographic map. It is impressive to think how many years for every minimun step!

Ps: we have found this place on Instagram: an influencer has posted some pictures and video on his/her profile. The place was really amazing, but influencer have forgotten to tell about some rubbish we find along the way, so I'll publish also that pic, trying to equilibrate some exceeding of beauty you can find on social media:

Pictures taken with Sony Alpha 7iii
13.07.2024