Glacial cirques in the southern side of the cantabrian mountains of southwestern europe
A total of 156 glacial cirques located on two different areas in the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain) were identified and measured in order to continue and expand the study of these large-scale erosional forms in European mountains. Environmental variables that may explain cirque distribution (altitu...
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Published in | Geografiska annaler. Series A, Physical geography Vol. 97; no. 4; pp. 633 - 651 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Taylor & Francis
01.12.2015
Blackwell Publishing Ltd Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | A total of 156 glacial cirques located on two different areas in the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain) were identified and measured in order to continue and expand the study of these large-scale erosional forms in European mountains. Environmental variables that may explain cirque distribution (altitude, aspect and lithology), and their most important morphometric features (area, length (L), width (W), headwall height (H), and L/W, L/H and W/H indices), are analysed. Statistical analysis has been applied as indicators of contrast (ANOVA) and association (correlation and regression). Conglomerate analysis (CLUSTER) has been used to discriminate cirque groups based on their morphometric variables. Results show that cirques occur at lower altitudes in the Upper Sil River basin area than in the Montaña Central area due to a lower former equilibrium line altitude (ELA) position. In the Upper Sil River basin, environmental variables appear to have had a strong influence on the location and size of cirques: the largest cirques are located in quartzite rocks at elevations above 2000 m and face N or NE. In Montaña Central, the influence of these factors was more limited as a consequence of higher geological structure control. Cirque sizes generally are modest compared with cirques present in other mountain ranges globally, most likely due to shorter glacial occupancy in the Cantabrian Mountains. |
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Bibliography: | istex:EE1AF85EDFDC1B0448BF3E19862A0694044F8619 ArticleID:GEOA12104 ark:/67375/WNG-14CJCTVB-C ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0435-3676 1468-0459 |
DOI: | 10.1111/geoa.12104 |