Research undertaken by the University of Oviedo confirms the evolution of this geographical accident, which rises more from Cape Peñas to the east than to the west. • A rupture was observed and a drop of 50 metres in the tidal platform height at Cape Peñas, due to the Ventaniella Fault movements
Research from the University of Oviedo has established that the Cantabria tidal platform —the flat relief between the Cantabria Coast and the Burela Coast (Lugo)— has risen more from Cape Peñas to the east than to the west. The elevation, homogeneous in nature in this section of the Asturias central-eastern area, is related to the thickness of the earth's crust on the Cantabria margin. The results of the study, developed within the framework of two research projects, have just come to light in the journal "Geomorphology".
The origin of the Cantabria tidal platform is linked to the action of the sea and corresponds to an old marine abrasion platform (which can be seen today on any beach). Using high-resolution digital terrain models and powerful computer programs, the University has extensively researched its geometry. To the west of Cape Peñas, the tidal platform gradually decreases in height, until it disappears in the Burela area. A rupture in the tidal platform and a drop of 50 metres in height has been observed on Cape Peñas. This is due to the movement of the renowned Ventaniella Fault.
This research revealed different unknowns about the tidal platform's tectonic evolution in the last hundreds of thousands of years, and a new regional elevation model of the Cantabria margin has been established, by better understanding how this elevation occurred. The signatories of the study are Carlos López-Fernández, Sergio Llana-Fúnez, Gabriela Fernández-Viejo, María José Domínguez-Cuesta and Luis María Díaz-Díaz from the Department of Geology at the University of Oviedo.
Article data
Article: "Comprehensive classification of elevated coastal platforms on the north Iberian margin: A new template to quantify uplift rates and tectonic patterns"
Authors: Carlos López-Fernández, Sergio Llana-Fúnez, Gabriela Fernández-Viejo, María José Domínguez-Cuesta, Luis María Díaz-Díaz. Department of Geology
Journal: Geomorphology
Publication date: May 2020
Research group: GEOCANTABRICA and GEOCAN COSTA (GRUPIN14-044, GRUPIN-IDI-2018-184) and COSINES Project (CGL2017-83909-R, MINEECO / AEI / FEDER, UE).
