Abstract
To the South of the Douro and within the Vouga river systems, not far from the Atlantic coast, the Northwest Beira Highlands rise steeply from the coastlands and plains. They are composed of small mountains, but have a very marked relief because the Hercynian Massif (Maciço Antigo), after suffering repeated folding, granitization and metamorphism, has been greatly worn down by erosion (Ferreira, 1978). They include the Montemuro Mountain in the South Douro river system, the Gralheira Massif (Freita, Arada and Arestal hills), and the Caramulo Mountain to the South (see location map of Portuguese continental highlands in the introductory article to this chapter).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Coelho, C. 2006. Soil Erosion in Portugal. In J. Bordman & J. Poesen (eds.) Soil Erosion in Europe: 359–367.London: Wiley.
Ferreira, A. B. 1978. Planaltos e Montanhas do Norte da Beira. Mem. Cent. Est. Geog. n. 4. Lisboa: Centro de Estudos Geográficos.
Guia de Portugal 1984–1985. I – Beira Litoral, II – Beira Baixa e Beira Alta, 2nd ed.. Lisboa: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.
Moura, A. R. 2001. A Serra da Freita. Aveiro¨129.
Ribeiro, O. 1954. Portugal: O Mediterrâneo e o Atlântico. Lisboa: Sá da Costa.
GTGA 2006. Projecto para a candidatura do Geoparque Arouca à Rede Europeia de Geoparques. Arouca: Grupo de trabalho do Geoparque Arouca. Available at:http://www.cm-arouca.pt (accessed: 30/01/2006).
Sá, A. A., Brilha, J., Cachão, M., Couto, H., Medina, J., Rocha, D., Valério, M., Rábano, I. & Gutiérrez-Marco, J. C. 2007. Arouca Geopark: a new project towards the sustainable development based on the conservation and promotion of the geological heritage. In VII Congresso de Geologia: 893–896. Évora: Universidade de Évora.
Valente, S. & Figueiredo, E. 2003. O turismo que existe não é aquele que se quer… In O. Simões & A. Cristóvão (org.) TERN – Turismo em Espaços Rurais e Naturais: 95–106. Coimbra: Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra.
Valente, S., Coelho, C., Ferreira, A., Amaral, L. & Silva, F. 2008. Traditional water management systems – Are they still important to local communities? In Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol. 10. Vienna: EGU General Assembly 2008.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Coelho, C.O.A., Valente, S., Ribeiro, C. (2010). Northwest Beira Highlands – Freita and Caramulo Hills (Portugal). In: Evelpidou, N., Figueiredo, T., Mauro, F., Tecim, V., Vassilopoulos, A. (eds) Natural Heritage from East to West. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01577-9_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01577-9_21
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-01576-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-01577-9
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)