The Escarpão Plateau is a unique geomorphological entity, sculpted by the combination of fluvial, karst and tectonic processes. Rising to an altitude of 130 m, it is crossed by the Ribeira de Quarteira, allowing, along its sloping banks, the observation of geological formations that bear witness to past environments, from deep sea to coastal environments. This geosite of recognised national interest contains the most complete geological section of the Upper Jurassic of the eastern Algarve (161 to 145 million years ago), consisting of limestone formations, generally very fossiliferous, with the occurrence of several groups of macrofossils of marine organisms, namely belemnites, ammonites and several molluscs and corals. The microfauna and microflora are also abundant in these rocks and have allowed the chronological differentiation of the five Formations which outcrop along the various routes that cross the plateau.

The Escarpão plateau, where the water that feeds the Albufeira-Ribeira de Quarteira aquifer infiltrates, is still a repository of human labour in the use of the soil and water, as can be seen in the magnificent dry stone walls, the levadas and  weirs.