Geomorphology of the mouth of the Arosa estuary (Coruña-Pontevedra, Spain)

Abstract

<p>This paper presents a geomorphological analysis of the littoral zone of the Arosa-Pontevedra estuary mouth and identifies geomorphological units and categorizes them into morphogenetic systems. The different morphogenetic systems are used to establish a comprehensive evolutionary analysis, contrasting the depositional systems found in the continental littoral zone with the marine erosional systems (‘rasas’). The compiled cartography groups the geomorphological units into the following: the lithoestructural morphogenetic system with large-scale forms (domes, inselbergs, residual relief, etc.) and small-scale forms (gnammas, tafoni, channels, etc.); the littoral morphogenetic system comprised of marine (marine terraces, beaches, tidal bars, tombolos and coastal arrows), transition (marshes, lagoons and fan deltas) and eolian (dune systems) settings; the fluvial morphogenetic system with channelled (alluvial, flood plain and river terraces), transition (alluvial fans and alluvial cones) and sheet flood (pediments and glacis) systems; the gravitational morphogenetic system (colluvium); and the alteration morphogenetic system (sand-alteration).</p