Before Panama Became a Land Bridge: The ancient rocks beneath our feet.
3 million or 30 million - what's the difference? The math is easy but what's confusing is the answer you'll get depending on who you ask when Panama was formed. Being a simple girl myself with a short attention span, this is me trying to deliver some heavy science in a nice, quick, colorful story like we were walking back from the surf to the bar together!
When we think of Panama, we think clear turquoise water for snorkeling, powerful surf waves, a lush green jungle lining the coast, mountains rising in the distance, and howler monkeys calling from the trees. After catching a sweet wave to the beach and you're headed back to the bar for a col-col beer to celebrate your session, you'll invariably notice colorful shells and rocks along the beach that pique your interest.
But, what really contrasts with the sandy beach are the large pillows of vesicular basalt that form the shoreline. That's the black textured rock with sharp edges (you avoid with bare feet), and tiny cavities that create fascinating habitat for tide-pool life.
Careful where you step! That crunching beneath your feet was probably some kind of live crustacean...ouch!
The Azuero Peninsula, which is where we are located, contains some of the oldest exposed geological rocks known in Panama - oceanic basalt almost 90 million years old! Now hang on a volcanic hot second. That does not mean Panama is 90 million years old or that our area is the oldest part of Panama. It just means that those pillows of vesicular basalt are about 90 million years old from when volcanoes were erupting beneath an ancient ocean.
Here's the gist: deep beneath an ancient ocean, over millions of years, the movement and interaction of Earth's tectonic plates created conditions for mantle melting and volcanic activity. Magma rose through the oceanic crust erupting as lava on the seafloor where it rapidly cooled into the rounded formations of basalt know as basalt pillows. Keep in mind, this was waaaay before the Isthmus of Panama, where animals started roaming, and where we walk the beaches, was formed. Stick with me...we're getting to that part.
Like our restaurant, there were several plates on the move: the Caribbean Plate was moving relative to the surrounding North American, South American, and ancient Farallon Plate, which later fragmented into the Nazca and Cocos Plate. At the same time, volcanic forces were forming new crusts beneath the ancient ocean.
Over millions of years the moving pieces of crust, volcanic islands and oceanic rock were assembled, uplifted and reshaped. And then voilà! Tens of millions of years later, the narrow strip of land rose above the surface creating the Isthmus of Panama connecting North and South America.
The whole point of this story was to get to that - 3 million years ago when the Isthmus was created so the animals could explore new territory. Phew! Just a quick walk from the beach to the bar and we're just getting started. Next week we talk more about the animals and how they like their new land bridge called Panama.
Come for a surf, a beach walk, and end at our bar. We'd love to be your mid-winter break this year and every year.
With love from Panama,
Cari and Ryan Mackey
Owners and Hosts
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