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The Estrela Geopark—From Planation Surfaces to Glacial Erosion

2020; Springer Nature (Netherlands); Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-3-319-03641-0_27

2213-2104

Gonçalo Vieira, Emanuel Castro, Hugo Gomes, Fábio Loureiro, Gonçalo Poeta Fernandes, Filipe Patrocínio, Gisela Firmino, João Forte,

Karst Systems and Hydrogeology

The Estrela GeoparkEstrela Geopark rises to 1993 m asl and occupies an area over 2000 km2 in the western sector of the Iberian Central SystemIberian Central System, the mountainMountains range that extends from GuadarramaGuadarrama in Spain to MontejuntoMontejunto in the north-west of Lisbon. The EstrelaEstrela is located in the Central Iberian ZoneCentral Iberian Zone showing various types of granites and the turbiditic metasediments of the Beiras GroupBeiras Group as the main lithologiesLithology. After the planationPlanation of the Variscan orogenVariscan orogen, the Alpine compressionAlpine compression uplifted the Iberian Central SystemIberian Central System and rejuvenated the landscape, elevating the planation surfacesPlanation surface in a pop-up structurePop-up structure and accelerating fluvialFluvial erosionErosion along the main Late Variscan faultsLate Variscan faults. The elevation of the Serra da EstrelaSerra da Estrela, the plateauPlateau character of the summit and its position as the first barrier to the moist Atlantic air masses entering Iberia, generated the ideal conditions for fast glacialGlacial inception during the cold phases of the PleistocenePleistocene. The last glacial showed the formation of an extensive plateau ice fieldPlateau ice-field and several valley glaciersValley glaciers, which deeply sculpted the landscape, leaving an excellent imprint of glacial processes in the mountainMountains. The interplay of glacial erosionGlacial erosion, granite weatheringGranite weathering, tectonicsTectonics and fluvialFluvial erosionErosion generated a landscape of very high scenic, scientific and educational value. These, together with a rich biodiversityBiodiversity and long historyHistory of human presence with strong cultural and economic links to the mountainMountains, are the main reasons for the labelling of the EstrelaEstrela as a UNESCOUNESCO Global Geopark.