Reconstrucción del máximo glaciar registrado en el sector central de la Cordillera Cantábrica. Comparativa entre las vertientes norte y sur

Zusammenfassung

This work quantifies the asymmetry in the development of palaeo-glaciers in the Central Cantabrian Mountains during the local maximum. Numerical methods were used to reconstruct the former ice surface from the geomorphological evidence. The ELA values for each mountain slope were calculated applying the AABR method to the individual glacial catchments with surface extents greater than 4 km2. Results show that glaciers occupied a total extent of 390 km2 of the total 600 km2 studied. Approximately 75 % of the total surface was located in the southern slope. Glacier tongues were markedly shorter in the northern slope (3-6 km) compared with those installed in the southern one (14-18 km), even when the regional ELA was about 30 m lower in the northern side of the mountains. This asymmetry was related to topo-climate factor, being important the greater slope gradient recorded in the northern side of the mountains that produced small accumulation areas.