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The Granite and Glacial Landscapes of the Peneda-Gerês National Park

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Landscapes and Landforms of Portugal

Part of the book series: World Geomorphological Landscapes ((WGLC))

Abstract

Granite and glacial landforms are presented as the main geomorphological landscape features of the Peneda-Gerês National Park. The park was established in 1971 and it is the only national park and most important protected area in Portugal. The aesthetic attractiveness is supported mainly by the distinct granite landscape of the Gerês and Peneda Mountains, where the post-orogenic Variscan Gerês granite facies occurs. The rugged relief is poorly covered by vegetation, differentiating it from the surrounding mountainous areas and the most distinctive landforms are bornhardts, locally named as “medas”. Typical glacial landforms, such as U-shaped valleys, cirques and moraines, express the sheltered character of a low-altitude glaciation, which is of great significance in the context of the Pleistocene glaciation in Southern Europe.

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Acknowledgements

This work is co-funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund, based on COMPETE 2020 (Programa Operacional da Competitividade e Internacionalização), project ICT (UID/GEO/04683/2013) with reference POCI-01-0145- FEDER-007690 and Portuguese national funds provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Earth Sciences, Pole of the University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Paulo Pereira & Diamantino Insua Pereira

Authors
  1. Paulo Pereira
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  2. Diamantino Insua Pereira
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Correspondence to Paulo Pereira .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Geographical Studies, Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Gonçalo Vieira

  2. Centre of Geographical Studies, Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    José Luís Zêzere

  3. Centre of Geographical Studies, Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Carla Mora

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Pereira, P., Pereira, D.I. (2020). The Granite and Glacial Landscapes of the Peneda-Gerês National Park. In: Vieira, G., Zêzere, J., Mora, C. (eds) Landscapes and Landforms of Portugal. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03641-0_10

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