The Mondego River and Its Valley
Publication Date
1-1-2020
Document Type
Contribution to a Book
Publication Title
Landscapes and Landforms of Portugal
Editor
Gonçalo Vieira, José Luís Zêzere, Carla Mora
DOI
10.1007/978-3-319-03641-0_14
First Page
175
Last Page
184
Abstract
The Mondego is the largest river that has both its headwaters and estuary in Portugal. Flowing in Central Portugal from Serra da Estrela to the city of Figueira da Foz, it has a semi-torrential regime with irregular inter- and intra-annual discharge variations as a result of a Mediterranean climate. This regime was responsible for the occurrence of large floods, mainly in the Lower Mondego, a region that through history has also suffered from significant siltation. The Mondego valley shows four major sectors from an entrenched valley in Serra da Estrela to a wide floodplain downstream from the city of Coimbra. The morphological characteristics of the valley and the phases of stability responsible for the benches and fluvio-torrential and fluvial (terrace) deposits are key in the understanding of the landscape of Central Portugal in which the Mondego River is the largest and major contributor.
Keywords
Floods, Fluvial geomorphology, Fluvial terraces, Mondego River
Department
Geology
Recommended Citation
Lúcio Cunha, João Santos, and Anabela Ramos. "The Mondego River and Its Valley" Landscapes and Landforms of Portugal (2020): 175-184. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03641-0_14
