Praia das Rodas by Jorge Mataix-Solera, distributed by EGU under a Creative Commons licence.
Often listed as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, Praia das Rodas is located on the Isla do Faro, part of the three-island Cíes archipelago within the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park. The beach faces eastwards, towards Vigo and the Galician coast of northwestern Spain, its accumulation of sand forming a land-bridge between two islands during low tide. All three islands are the visible peaks of submerged granitic mountains.
Soil scientist Jorge Mataix-Solera visited Praia das Rodas in 2007. “The picture was taken when I arrived by boat to the island in the early morning, the day after I was on a PhD thesis evaluation committee at the University of Vigo. This beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, composed of quartz sand from granitic material,” he explains.
Beaches form over thousands of years from the deposit of sediment and other materials that moves from land into the ocean and back again.
To view more from Jorge Mataix-Solera’s astounding collection of photos, please visit: http://www.jorgemataix.com.
Imaggeo is the online open access geosciences image repository of the European Geosciences Union. Every geoscientist who is an amateur photographer (but also other people) can submit their images to this repository. Being open access, it can be used by scientists for their presentations or publications as well as by the press. If you submit your images to imaggeo, you retain full rights of use, since they are licenced and distributed by EGU under a Creative Commons licence.
