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Glacial and Periglacial Landscapes of the Serra da Estrela

2020; Springer Nature (Netherlands); Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-3-319-03641-0_15

2213-2104

Gonçalo Vieira, Alexandre Nieuwendam,

Karst Systems and Hydrogeology

The Serra da EstrelaSerra da Estrela is a granite-dominated plateauPlateau mountainMountains located in Central PortugalCentral Portugal, reaching an elevation of 1993 m. Its position in the western part of the Iberian Central SystemIberian Central System, elongated morphology in an SW–NE direction, generates an important barrier to the moist Atlantic air masses when they move into Iberia's interior. This orographic rainfallRainfall effect is important today, as it was in the PleistocenePleistocene, generating high amounts of precipitation, which in the Pleistocene were key for glacier development. The presence of a plateauPlateau above 1400 m and a regional equilibrium line altitude at about 1650 m were key for the development of a plateau ice field, very sensitive to small climateClimate oscillations, but responsible for the development of several radiating valley glaciersValley glaciers. The effects of this glacial systemGlacial system on the landscape were remarkable, with the development of numerous landforms and deposits, which are rare in such a geographical setting. The main geomorphological highlights are the erosional landscapeErosional landscape of the western plateauPlateau, as well as the glaciated section of the Zêzere valleyZêzere valley, which under the action of 11.3 km long and over 340 m thick glacier, developed impressive glacialGlacial features. The periglacialPeriglacial action occurred mainly in the non-glaciated parts of the plateaus and valley slopes and testify the significance of frost action all over the mountainMountains, with the presence of permafrostPermafrost at the plateausPlateau and sites above about 1300 m.