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The Rocky Coasts of Northwest Spain

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Abstract

The coastline of Galicia is more than 2100 km long (POL Galicia 2010) (Fig. 2.1). Two broad types of coast can be differentiated in the region: zones with rías and zones without rías. Marine inlets dominate in the former, whereas rectilinear stretches dominate in the latter and only small coves or estuaries occur. The megaforms of coastal relief in northwest Spain are clearly determined by the tectonic structure, whereas lithological differentiation has played a predominant role in the genesis of meso and microforms (Pérez-Alberti and Blanco-Chao 2005). In general, different factors are involved in shaping the coastline: the overall structure is determined by tectonic processes; the lithology causes differential erosional processes that define the broad features of the coastal front; and, finally, the succession of geomorphological processes that have taken place over time have determined the specific forms and distribution of the different environments. In addition, human activity has affected many areas, particularly the low-lying coastline.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Faculty of Geography and History, University of Santiago de Compostela, Praza da Universidade 1, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain

    Augusto Pérez-Alberti & Alejandro Gómez-Pazo

Authors
  1. Augusto Pérez-Alberti
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  2. Alejandro Gómez-Pazo
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Correspondence to Augusto Pérez-Alberti .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain

    Juan A. Morales

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Pérez-Alberti, A., Gómez-Pazo, A. (2019). The Rocky Coasts of Northwest Spain. In: Morales, J. (eds) The Spanish Coastal Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93169-2_2

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