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The glaciers of the western massifs of Cantabria

Abstract:

Several mountains of the Western Cantabrian Mountains hosted glaciers during the Pleistocene, namely the Sierras of Peña Sagra, Peña Labra, Cordel, Híjar, and La Concilla. The headwaters of the valleys of Nansa and Saja on the northern side and the Ebro on the southern side are located here. The glacial morphology mainly dominates under summits above 2000 m, with the fronts at altitudes of 1200-1300 m. However, some sectors of these mountains, with peaks between 1600 and 2000, also had glaciers, with fronts at 1400-1500 m. The glacial landforms show a strong dissymmetry between the northern and southern slopes. The 80% of glaciers were located in Nortehrn slopes, where the moraine systems are more developed and better preserved. The Northern slopes were devoid of glaciers in Peña Sagra and the eastern portion of the Sierra de Híjar, while the southern slope of the Cordel included cirque glaciers. In these massifs, glacial processes were driven by the Atlantic climate associated with intense snowfalls brought by the northwest and the north winds. The Brañavieja Glacier was the most extensive, with successive frontal and lateral moraine systems located at altitudes of 1210, 1640, and above 1900 m. This complex reflects the succession of glacial phases in the whole area, defined by a frontal, an intermediate, and the last moraine systems at the top of the cirques.