First and necessary warning: do not think about going there on a trip, but be content to admire the photographs. Wonderful and fascinating, they turn the clock back millions of years. Exactly atIt was from the Triassic (between 250 and 200 million years ago), or when the Arera was under the sea. And, as we know, treasures are hidden under the sea. With its 2,512 meters above sea level, Pizzo Arera dominates the Bergamasque Prealps presenting notable faunistic, botanical, geological and mineralogical aspects. But the most surprising and intriguing reality is essentially invisible, because it is hidden underground – he explains Giorgio Pannuzzo by the Bergamo speleological group Le Nottole, author of the shots – The underground heritage of the immense Arera, both as regards the mining environments excavated by man starting from the second half of the 19th century, for several tens of kilometers, and for the incredible abysses nature of the Arera, one of the deepest and most intricate in all of Lombardy, over 600 meters deep and about 17 kilometers of total development.
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Bergamo, the mysterious world in the depths of the Arera
Karst environments
After decades of collecting geological and topographical data, numerous abysses have been discovered and traveled. The most important for development and depth have entrances in the range between 1,300 and 1,600 meters above sea level – continues Pannuzzo -. The most accredited hypotheses suggest that the underground karst environments can develop for over 2,000 meters in altitude, between an altitude of 2,512 and 470 meters above sea level. A similar difference in height, if entirely practicable, would bring this underground system to the top of the national and European rankings. At the moment only a hypothetical potential, but those who do research are optimistic by nature, therefore nothing is ever excluded. A decisive surprise could be hidden behind any underground ravine.
Decades of exploration
Meanwhile, a Surprise with a capital S la Lacca della Seggiovia (Lacca in Bergamasco means deep cavity). Together with the abyss Frank Zappa and Demetrio Stratos, this cavity now forms a karst system called “della Plassa” – continues Pannuzzo -. It took decades of exploration to identify viable passages that connect the individual abysses. Currently the system of the Plassa extends for about 5,700 meters, with a difference in height of 422 meters. The entrance to the Lacca della Seggiovia was identified in 1995 and the exploration gradually evolved in the following years. Even today there are points where possible prosecutions are suspected, therefore speleologists continue to frequent it in search of new underground routes.
Petrified mussels
La Lacca della Seggiovia has a geological singularity that has placed it at the center of the interest of speleologists and geologists from all over Italy. After about two hours of descent from the entrance, in vertical progression on a rope, you reach an inclined environment with a very strong slope, immediately baptized as Well of the Mussels, a unique spectacle discovered for the first time about fifteen years ago. Along the inclined descent, one of the walls was dotted with singular formations, with an appearance absolutely similar to petrified mussels. In all of Italy there is no such thing and therefore the search for specialists started who could give a well-founded explanation of this unexpected natural phenomenon.
Two hypotheses
The simplest and most direct question: are they real mussels? Attempts to investigate have followed over the years, without having great certainty on the mechanism of the formation of the “Mussels”. Geologists and paleontologists have been consulted several times who have, however, expressed conflicting opinions. The most popular ideas are two, they could actually be fossils of ancient mussels or concretions, formed following a dripping process similar to the one that leads to the genesis of stalagmites and that we therefore do not have to do with the fossil residues of these bivalve molluscs.
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In-depth analyzes with special instruments would be needed, which have never been done. Suitable equipment is extremely expensive and available to large university laboratories or specialist companies. We – concludes Pannuzzo – are speleologists, simply enthusiasts who finance themselves to carry out scientific research in their free time and do not have the necessary resources. Incidentally, we are not talking about exaggerated ciphers, but about a few thousand euros: a small sponsorship could clarify a great and fascinating mystery.
May 13, 2021 | 08:19
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