The Llobregat river becomes young again in front of the monastery and the factory of Sant Benet de Bages: the slope increases and the flow speeds up in a stretch of rapids resulting from the outcrop of a reef limestone that is harder than the remaining rocks in the area. The rock is best seen on the left bank, opposite to Sant Benet, in the municipality of Talamanca. Corals, oysters, shells, sea urchins, nummulites and other marine animals from the Eocene can be identified there as fossils.
The images show the Llobregat river in the Sant Benet rapids (Sant Fruitós de Bages and Talamanca), in an unusual low flow. Just after the rapids, the Sant Benet channel joins the river and restores its full flow.
[photos Jordi Badia]