The particular shapes or needles in the region of Agulles in Montserrat massif states the so-called Montserrat relief type. No doubts, the slim monoliths or needles are its most spectacular and characteristic morphology.
The relief of Montserrat comes from the interaction of three elements: the rock material, the structure and the erosion. The material is the conglomerate, a rock made of stones of different nature that are glued in a matrix of sand, clay and calcareous concrete. As a whole, conglomerate rocks are very homogeneous and resistant to the erosion. The structure is a deep deposit of almost flat layers of conglomerate rock with a net of vertical fractures that isolates columns. The erosion by water and ice which is reponsible for sculpting and rounding the columnar structures.
[photos Jordi Badia (1st) and Marc Vilarmau (2nd)]
- See the article Caiguda de roques a Montserrat (= Fall down of rocks in Montserrat), in Catalan, by Jordi Badia.
- See the article Conglomerat (= Conglomerate), in Catalan, by Jordi Badia.