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The Sestola-Vidiciatico Unit

The Unit primarily consists of heavily fractured marly rock layers, in which grey and whitish-hazelnut brown bands and slivers of limestone, marly limestone and even sandstone strata are interbedded. These rock masses, which are between 20 and 75 million years old, were formed from deposits of sediment in a deep marine basin located in areas near the ancient Ligurian Ocean.

The Unit's current position within the Apennines, with outcroppings in their Reggiano, Modenese and Bolognese mountains, is the result of a complex process, which began with underwater landslides and continued with the intense compressional forces of the Apennine orogeny.  The Unit outcrops in the park between Vidiciatico and Lizzano, at the foot of the steep forested slopes.

As these are impermeable materials, abundant springs can be found along the outcroppings, such as those at the Sboccata dei Bagnadori.