The glaciers in Eastern Galicia

Abstract The high Galician mountains are located on the border between eastern Galicia, western Asturias, and Castilla y Leon provinces. Their altitudes range from 1639 m (in the Serra do Courel) to 2117 m (in the Macizo de Trevinca). All these mountains are characterized by significant glacier development during the last glacial cycle at least, as evidenced by the wide range of glacial landforms and deposits. The glacier tongues reached 5 km in the Serra do Courel, 14 km in the Serra dos Ancares, 16 km in the Macizo de Manzaneda, and 30 km in the Macizo de Trevinca, with ice thicknesses ranging from 100 m in the Serra do Courel to 400 m in the Bibei Valley in the Macizo de Trevinca. The Equilibrium Line Altitudes were 939 m in the Serra do Courel, 986 m in the Macizo de Manzaneda, 1043 m in the Serra dos Ancares, and 1081 m in the western slope of the Macizo de Trevinca. The phases of deglaciation differed among these massifs depending on the altitude and topography. This explains the altitudinal distribution of moraines , at elevations of c. 1400 m in the Serra do Courel, 1600 m in the Macizo de Manzaneda and the Serra dos Ancares, and above 1800 m in the Macizo de Trevinca in the last phases. This information also shows that all the mountains were covered with ice in the first phase, so that as the deglaciation progressed, the glaciers were confined only to the foot of the highest peaks of the Alto Xares Valley in the Macizo de Trevinca. The scarce number of datings compared to those from the nearby mountains allows us to infer only a relative chronology.