How is it possible that the size of a mountain increases with rain? This occurs in places like Cardona, a town in Barcelona where there is a diapir, a term that comes from the Greek and means "to go through". It is a geological formation in which certain materials, located in the earth's crust and that can be deformed, ascend through rocks of greater density.
One of the tourist attractions of the aforementioned town is its Salt Mountain. "It is a unique natural phenomenon in the world and today it still grows as the rain erodes it," explains Cardona's website. Precipitation wears away soil and rock, allowing underground salt deposits to rise to the surface.
National Geographic defines the Catalan mountain as "a kind of mushroom two kilometers high that emerges from the earth's skin as if it were a grain." The medium exposes: "A ductile material such as salt, subjected to strong pressure, can make its way vertically underground, as lava does, taking advantage of the fissures between the most brittle rocks above it."
This place in Barcelona was for decades an important source of salt, which was extracted in the Nieves de Cardona mine. It was active between 1929 and 1990. The site became the Salt Mountain Cultural Park, which tourists can discover on a guided tour that includes a tour 86 meters deep. Next to the mining facilities, there is a museum area that explains "the history of the exploitation of salts, the geology, mineralogy and botany" of the space.
Cardona is not the only place in Spain that has a saline diapir. These types of formations can also be seen in other parts of the country, such as in Pinoso (Alicante), in Cabezón de la Sal (Cantabria) and in Poza de la Sal (Burgos).
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