Karst de Pinar Negro

In the eastern part of the Sierra de Segura a spectacular karst landscape appears, characterized by the presence of an exokarst of exceptional beauty with an immense field of sinkholes and grapevines, dotted with chasms, of different scale. This karst relief is lithologically and structurally controlled, and conditioned by a high mountain climate, with snow periods that accentuate the dissolution in the karst cavities. In this area, a carbonate plateau that ranges from Campos de Hernán Perea to those of Pinar Negro, there are a series of chasms, within sinkholes and grapevines, among which the Campo del Espino, the Hundimiento, the Cortijo stand out. , and mainly the Pinar Negro chasm.

The morphology of these cavities, with frequent equilibrium chimneys, uses and some sub-horizontal galleries, with clear structural control, reflects the importance of dissolution in their geomorphological evolution, with few examples of tectonic chasms like these. The most important chasm in terms of its development is that of the Pinar Negro, which constitutes the sink of a large sinkhole measuring 105 x 130 m. In the area surrounding the mouth, a small channel runs through which a stream of water temporarily circulates, penetrating the cavity as a ponor. It has a large mouth (8 x 2 m.) That communicates with a large initial shaft of 10 x 16 m. that descends to 104 m., where a second 40 m well begins; reaching the bottom of the main road of the chasm. Fifteen meters above the second well is the side road of smaller dimensions, but that reaches greater depth, reaching more than 100 m.

Source: Inventory of Georecourses of Andalusia. Ministry of Environment. Junta de Andalucía.