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The Têt River Valley: A Condensed Record of Long-Term Landscape Evolution in the Pyrenees

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Landscapes and Landforms of France

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

Abstract

While coinciding with a unique biogeographical hotspot where the Mediterranean and Atlantic biomes meet in the Eastern Pyrenees, the Têt river catchment displays a spectacular suite of tectonic, glacial, periglacial, fluvial and hillslope processes. Prominent fragments of smooth, pre-Quaternary Paleic relief survive where glacial erosion has not serrated the interfluves, and well-preserved exposures of both continental and marine basin fill sequences provide a compelling record of post-orogenic landscape evolution and base-level changes since the Early Neogene. The heritage value of the physical landscape is enriched by a palimpsest of agrarian, pastoral, industrial and cultural vestiges from the Neolithic to recent history.

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Correspondence to Marc Calvet .

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Calvet, M., Gunnell, Y., Delmas, M. (2014). The Têt River Valley: A Condensed Record of Long-Term Landscape Evolution in the Pyrenees. In: Fort, M., André, MF. (eds) Landscapes and Landforms of France. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7022-5_13

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