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Carvalho, de G. S., Granja, H. M., Loureiro, E., Henriques, R. 2006. Late Pleistocene and Holocene environmental changes in the coastal zone of northwestern Portugal.
J. Quaternary Sci., Vol. 21 pp. 859–877. ISSN 0267–8179.
Received 17 December 2004; Revised 31 October 2005; Accepted 6 January 2006
ABSTRACT: This paper examines the Quaternary changes in the coastal zone of northwestern
Portugal through the relationship between sediments and landforms. By interpolating the available
data from geomorphology, lithostratigraphy, sedimentology and geochronology, it was possible to
reconstruct existing palaeoenvironments, the oldest of which date back to the last interglacial. The
main landforms are a high and a low platform bounded by scarps. River sands and silty sediments
formed in a lacustrine environment (Antas Formation, MIS 5) are associated with the high platform.
Two deposits are associated with the low platform: the Cepães Formation (MIS 3) consisting of a
lower set of river sand beds and an upper gravel beach bed, and the Aguçadoura Formation (MIS
1) consisting of Holocene lagoonal beds. Copyright ß 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Figure 1 Location of northwestern Portuguese coastal zone, the coastal segments between Esposende and Póvoa de Varzim, and sites of lithostrati-
graphic interest mentioned in this paper (Antas, Cepães and Aguçadoura)
1998, 2003; Granja et al., 1992, 1999; Granja and de Groot, standing of sea-level changes is based on a generalised sea-
1996; de Groot and Granja, 1998). level curve over the last 20 000 years for the shelf of northwes-
This model postulates that the main geomorphological fea- tern Portugal, which is not constrained by geochronological
tures of the coastal landscape are fault scarps that delimit an data (Dias et al., 1997). Because of the spatial variability of
apparently flat surface with a slight westward incline on which sea level in the area, eustatic sea-level curves are not applic-
it is possible to distinguish two platforms separated by a step: a able either (Tooley, 1994; Pirazzoli and Pluet, 1991; Pirazzoli,
high platform between 60 and 40 m, and a low platform 1996).
between 30 and 10 m. A foredune forms the western limit of To determine the age of the coastal deposits referred to in this
the low platform, in which the estuaries of the coastal segment paper, it may be possible to correlate them with the supposedly
are found. Quaternary deposits found in the fluvial valleys of northwes-
The model includes those deposits that are interpreted as tern Portugal (Minho, Lima, Cávado, Ave and Douro rivers),
being marine, fluvial, lagoonal, estuarine or aeolian in origin, but deposits consisting of lithostratigraphic sequences of gravel
and possibly deformed by tectonic movements. Current under- and lutite beds have not yet yielded geochronological data to
Copyright ß 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Quaternary Sci., Vol. 21(8) 859–877 (2006)
LATE PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE CHANGES IN NORTHWESTERN PORTUGAL 861
Figure 2 Detail of the topographic map of the coastal zone between the Neiva River and the Cávado estuary showing the main landscape features.
Areas with crowded contour lines indicate the positions of fault scarps
allow any correlation with the coastal deposits (Alves, 1995a, b, Geological background of the area
2004; Alves and Pereira, 1999; Braga, 1989). Some of the beds
from the Minho and Cávado river deposits contain plant
fossils which are considered to be Late Pliocene to Early Pleisto- The bedrock of the area consists of two Palaeozoic formations
cene (Teixeira et al., 1969; Teixeira, 1979; Alves, 1995a, 2004). and granites, crossed by quartz veins (Teixeira, 1956; Teixeira
On the basis of the estimated ages of the sands (radiocarbon and Assunção, 1963; Teixeira and Medeiros, 1965; Teixeira
and OSL, i.e. optical stimulated luminescence datings), we have et al., 1969; Pereira, 1992). The Palaeozoic formations are:
correlated our Quaternary stratigraphic units with the global cli- the ‘Formação de Esposende’ (Esposende Formation), consist-
mate change data from Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) chronostra- ing of quartzites with small conglomerate lenses, phyllites and
tigraphy (van Andel and Tzedakis, 1996; van Andel, 2003). shales; and the ‘Formação da Barca do Lago’ (Barca do Lago
Copyright ß 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Quaternary Sci., Vol. 21(8) 859–877 (2006)
862 JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE
Figure 3 Schematic geological cross-section of the coastal zone of northwestern Portugal between the Neiva and the Cávado rivers. The vertical
scale of the profiles has been exaggerated; Antas and Aguçadoura formations with approximate position and thickness
Copyright ß 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Quaternary Sci., Vol. 21(8) 859–877 (2006)
LATE PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE CHANGES IN NORTHWESTERN PORTUGAL 863
helpful in defining sedimentary sequences, units of which 1998; Carvalho et al., 2002) or in the coastal zone of Galicia,
were sampled in order to understand their origin and chronol- Spain (Mosquera-Santé, 2002; Vidal-Romani, 2002; López-
ogy. Cancelo, 2004).
The model must be considered a regional one because the
deposits are found very locally, and they cannot yet be corre-
lated with deposits in neighbouring areas—either because
there is no satisfactory sedimentary and chronological informa- Geomorphology
tion available for the Quaternary in those areas or there are no
comparable deposits and geoforms, such as those in the coastal The main landforms and their extension were identified
segments south of Espinho and Aveiro (Granja and Carvalho, through aerial photography. We used the 1995 photographic
1994, 2003; Granja and de Groot, 1996; de Groot and Granja, cover at a scale of 1:15 000 from the Instituto Português de
Figure 4 Schematic map of the main geomorphological units of the coastal segments between the Neiva and the Cávado rivers
Copyright ß 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Quaternary Sci., Vol. 21(8) 859–877 (2006)
864 JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE
Table 1 Luminescence dating results from samples of the Cepães and the Antas formations
Cepães Formation
Sample ED(GY) K% Th ppm U ppm Water content Dose rate Gy/Ka OSL age
Cepães 2 145.2 16.3 1.99 0.4 10.7 0.50 2.46 0.08 20 5 2.76 0.13 52 500 6400
Cepães 1 135.5 11.9 1.81 0.04 6.15 0.28 1.53 0.05 15 5 2.33 0.11 58 100 5800
F. Preusser, Geographisches Institut, Köln University, 2001
Cepães Formation
Dose rate (GY/a) Water content
Sample ED(GY) Gamma Beta Annual dose Historic Saturated OSL age
Guilheta 2 130.27 13.3 1.09 0.01 3.0 0.1 3.57 0.08 2.76 0.12 5.2 36 470 3815
Guilheta 1 71.64 8.29 1.04 0.01 2.16 0.14 2.73 0.11 7.33 0.25 10.1 26 283 3212
Antas Formation
1995 351.49 76.22 1.19 0.01 2.28 0.23 2.99 0.17 5.87 0.09 10.3 117 513 26 367
R. Parish, The Geography Laboratory, University of Sussex, 1995
}
because of later diagenetic and biogenic processes. Trenches 9 6.63 0.010 2.21 1.39 4.22
through each bed, more or less perpendicular to the bedding, 8 1.38 0.384 4.49 0.10 1.52
Silt and
clay
were made for sampling (Lewis and McConchie, 1994b); all 7 5.12 0.029 3.57 0.81 2.25
the beds observed in each section were sampled. The samples 6 4.80 0.036 3.12 0.29 1.65
for OSL dating are spot samples from the bed when it was pos- 5 4.33 0.050 4.38 0.57 1.89
}
4 3.31 0.100 3.56 0.53 1.40
sible to bury a 12 cm long PCB pipe, and quickly wrap it in
sand
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LATE PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE CHANGES IN NORTHWESTERN PORTUGAL 865
Imbrication Geochronology
Imbrication of non-spheroidal pebbles shows the direction of Radiocarbon dates are calibrated with the CALIB program
the current flow. On beaches, the imbrication dips seaward, (Stuiver and Reiver, 1993). Luminescence dates were acquired
while in rivers the pebbles dip up-current (Lewis and by OSL and are from two different laboratories (see Table 1).
McConchie, 1994a). The morphodynamics of the present shin- The OSL methodology used in the laboratory of the Geography
gle beach were interpreted from field data. The pebble imbrica- Institute of the University of Cologne is described in Murray and
tion was measured during low tide and fair weather conditions Wintle (2000) and Preusser and Karper (2001). The OSL dates of
on the ridge crests, and on the horns and bays of the beach Parish (unpublished report, 1995) were obtained with a Riso
cusps (Belinho Beach, Esposende). automated reader and OSL green light stimulation; gamma dose
rates were taken in the field with a small gamma spectrometer;
the standard cosmic dose applied was based on Aitken (1985).
Pebble morphometry
Pebble shape was defined using the morphometric roundness Results and palaeoenvironmental
and flatness indices of Cailleux (Cailleux, 1947; Cailleux and interpretation
Tricart, 1959). Since rock petrography controls these morpho-
metric indices we have applied morphometry only to quartzite
pebbles, which are the most common type in the sedimentary First, the stratigraphic (lithostratigraphy and geochronology)
units of the area. and sedimentological results are presented, then the genetic
Roundness Flatness
x x mm 3 KG Mean Maximum Mean Maximum
}
9 — — — — — 518 833 2.16 4.16 Beach
8 — — — — —
7 1.25 0.420 0.86 0.66 5.72
6 2.51 0.175 0.75 0.75 2.69
5 3.00 1.257 0.28 0.28 2.54 Fluvial (pebbles displaced
4 1.48 0.359 0.03 0.03 5.18 from beach deposits)
3 1.18 0.215 0.27 0.27 1.21 487 842 1.90 2.75
2 — — — — —
1 (schists)
Morphometry Imbrication
Belinho Beach (no. of pebbles ¼ 204) 510 1.48 N 41.28 4.38 E 40.58 1.588 SW
Cepães Formation (no. of pebbles ¼ 514) 478 1.50 N 56.78 9.98 E 24.48 1.898 SW
Copyright ß 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Quaternary Sci., Vol. 21(8) 859–877 (2006)
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14
Table 5 C dating of the samples of the lagoonal units of the Aguçadoura Formation (yr BP)
Figure 5 Units of the Antas Formation and variations of the mean and standard deviation of the samples
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LATE PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE CHANGES IN NORTHWESTERN PORTUGAL 867
interpretation is reported formation by formation. Finally, we faults are recognised in the field by their fault breccias in the
propose a sequence of palaeoenvironments that we consider granites.
to have prevailed in the coastal segment during the Pleistocene At Antas, near the St. Cristóvão Chapel, a sand-mining expo-
and the Holocene. Table 6 and the geomorphological sche- sure shows beds which are characteristic of the formation
matic map of Fig. 4 synthesise the interpretations. (Fig. 5 and Table 2): a lower set of sand beds overlain by
silty-clay beds (Granja, 1990). The beds are in lateral contact
with the granitic outcrops through fault breccias with granitic
and silty-clay bed remains, and small silty-clay injections
The high platform through the crushed granite. The topographic altitude of the
top of the sequence is about 90 m.
The units that constitute the Antas and the Cepães formations
are devoid of fossils. Sedimentological interpretations of the Sedimentology
clastic deposits are therefore needed to establish the environ- No sedimentary structures can be recognised in the field. The
mental conditions in which they were generated. In the standard deviation of the lower sands (between 2.02 and
absence of clearly recognisable sedimentary structures in the 4.38) classifies them as poorly to very poorly sorted sand (Folk
field, the interpretations presented here are based on grain-size and Ward, 1957; Folk, 1966; Lewis and McConchie, 1994a,b;
analysis of the sands and silts (Friedman plots), on pebble mor- Tucker, 2001) (Fig. 5).
phometry (Cailleux, 1947; Cailleux and Tricart, 1959) and on The grain-size characteristics of the upper beds have a mean
pebble imbrication. between 1.38 and 6.63 (between 0.010 and 0.050 mm, silt
and clay), and a standard deviation between 2.21 and 4.38,
(very poorly sorted).
Figure 6 Samples from the Antas Formation units in a modified Friedman plot (skewness versus standard deviation; Friedman, 1967). All samples are
scattered in the river sand field
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868 JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE
1996). It was not possible to obtain any datings from the upper of the upper beds suggests an environment of quiet water, as
silty-clay beds. occurs in a lacustrine environment.
Environmental interpretation
Standard deviation versus skewness of all the poorly and very Other clastic deposits linked to the high platform
poorly sorted sands of the lower beds (Fig. 6) fall within the
river sands domain according to Friedman (1967, 1979a, b). The eastern side of the high platform is limited by conspicuous
The grain size of the very poorly sorted silty and clayey sand scarps in the landscape. These scarps correspond to faults, as is
Figure 7 Cross-section of the Cepães Formation (Azul settlement, Cepães). The river sands of the two beds are dated 58 100 5800 and
52 500 6400 yr, OSL. Sedimentological data in Table 3
Figure 8 Cross-section of the Cepães Formation (Padre Gil settlement, Cepães). Sedimentological data in Table 3
Copyright ß 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Quaternary Sci., Vol. 21(8) 859–877 (2006)
LATE PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE CHANGES IN NORTHWESTERN PORTUGAL 869
shown by the presence of granitic breccias, and injections of In the low platform, two sets of clastic deposits of different
the silty and clayey upper beds of the Antas Formation in the origin and chronology were identified: the Cepães Formation
breccias. The clastic deposits (Pinhote Conglomerate, Outeiro and the Aguçadoura Formation.
Conglomerate and Gatinheira-Góis Sands) observed west of
the scarps and linked to the high platform are very thin (less
than 1 m) and separate from each other. The Pinhote Conglom-
erate consists of granitic pebbles embedded in a sandy matrix, Cepães Formation
and is observed at the base of the scarps. The Outeiro Con-
glomerate consists of a sandy matrix with quartzite and quartz The Cepães Formation corresponds to a 4–6 m thick sedimen-
pebbles, and is found in the western part of the high platform. tary sequence, observed near Cepães in the foundations of the
The Gatinheira-Góis Sands are coarse sands, accumulated near settlements of Padre Gil, Azul and Carda (Figs. 7 and 8).
the dead cliff and between the granitic outcrops of the high
platform. The high platform is interpreted as having been Sedimentology
reworked by marine processes because the Outeiro Conglom- The sedimentary sequence, with no recognisable structures,
erate has a marine morphometry (mean pebble flatness of 1.99 can be subdivided into a lower set of sand beds, mostly poorly
and mean roundness of 459). This morphometry data can be or very poorly sorted, and a gravel bed at the top consisting of
interpreted as having been produced by beach processes, when quartzite pebbles with a roundness of 518–459 and flatness
the fault scarps acted as a cliff. around 2.00. Its base consists of some channels and a band
With the exception of the Antas Formation, which is located of sharp schist cobbles. The sedimentology of the beds
against the cliff, we do not have any further information about observed in the settlements of Padre Gil and Azul is sum-
the age of the deposits associated with the high platform. marised in Table 3 and Fig. 7 and 8.
Geochronology
The dated samples from the Cepães Formation were taken in
the yellowish sands of bed 7, and bed 4 of the Azul settlement
The low platform (Fig. 7). The estimated ages are 58 100 5800 yr (OSL) and
52 500 6400 yr (OSL). The other dated samples were taken
A slope break in the landscape marks the boundary between in a cross-section at Guilheta (Esposende), in a sand bed with
the high and the low platforms. It is interpreted as a younger a thickness of about 1 m, below a gravel bed similar to bed 9
abandoned cliff, representing the western limit of the high of the Azul settlement and bed 6 of the Padre Gil settlement.
platform. Since the gravel occurs at the top of the Azul and Padre
Figure 9 Beach/river sand Friedman plots (skewness versus standard deviation) from the Cepães Formation units. Samples are scattered in the river
sand field (modified from Friedman, 1967)
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870 JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE
Gil settlements, we may assume that the estimated ages of In the cross-section of the Cepães Formation (Figs. 7 and 8)
Guilheta correspond to the ending of the sequence. The beds sharp schist cobbles are observed at the base of bed 9 (Azul set-
of the Cepães Formation accumulated during the Middle tlement, Fig. 7) and at the base of bed 6 (Padre Gil settlement,
Weichselian. Fig. 8); they are interpreted as beach cobbles. The same type of
cobbles is found on the higher levels of recent shingle beaches
Palaeoenvironmental interpretation (e.g. the beaches between Belinho Beach and Regos de Baixo,
Neither fossils nor sedimentary structures are present, so grain- Esposende), originating from the Ordovician schists that out-
size data and pebble morphometry were used for the interpre- crop in the foreshore and nearshore. The top unit of the
tation. They are summarised in Table 3. The interpretation of cross-section can be interpreted as part of a beach ridge formed
the grain-size data can be made by using Friedman plots (skew- at the beginning of the gravel accumulation.
ness versus standard deviation, mean-cubed deviation versus In some sandy units of the fluvial sequence there are also
standard deviation, and simple skewness measure versus sim- quartzite and quartz pebbles with a high roundness index,
ple sorting measure). Most of the samples fall within the river but their sand samples in the Friedman plots point to a fluvial
sands domain (Figs. 9–12). origin instead. Examples are unit 2 of the Padre Gil settlement
By contrast, the units at the top of the sequence (unit 9 in (mean roundness 479 and mean flatness 2.16, Table 3) and unit
the Azul settlement, Fig. 7, and unit 6 in the Padre Gil settle- 3 of the Azul settlement (mean roundness 487 and mean flat-
ment, Fig. 8) are composed of quartzite with a high roundness ness 1.90; Fig. 11). Our interpretation is that the rounded clas-
index (mean between 427 and 518) and flatness index (mean tic pebbles could have come from high platform deposits and
between 1.90 and 2.20), which suggest a beach environment been included in the fluvial deposits.
(Table 3). This is in accordance with the morphometric data
of the pebbles of shingle beaches on the coastal segment Pebble imbrication of the Cepães Formation
north of the Azul settlement near Cepães and Esposende In the study of the imbrication of the Cepães Formation, 514
(Loureiro and Granja, 2001) and south of the Neiva River discoid and elongated quartzite pebbles between 40 and
estuary (Fig. 13). Most beaches of the recent coastal segments 150 mm in length were used. The imbrication shows that most
are almost exclusively formed of quartzite pebbles with a of the pebbles have a dip of 24.48 1.898 SW and an orienta-
roundness index between 586 110 and 435 101 and a tion of N 56.78 9.98 E.
flatness index between 2.07 0.13 and 1.90 0.08 (Lour- On Belinho Beach, North of Cepães (Esposende), the present
eiro, 1999). shingle beaches are formed almost exclusively of quartzite
Figure 10 Nearshore dunes/river sand Friedman plot (skewness versus standard deviation) from the Cepães Formation units. Samples are scattered in
the river sand field (modified from Friedman, 1979a)
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LATE PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE CHANGES IN NORTHWESTERN PORTUGAL 871
Figure 11 Beach/river sand Friedman plot (simple skewness measure versus simple sorting measure) from the Cepães Formation units. Samples are
scattered in the river sand field (modified from Friedman, 1967)
Geochronology
The geochronology of the Aguçadoura Formation was estab-
Aguçadoura Formation lished by conventional and calibrated radiocarbon dating of
the peats (Table 5) showing that the unit was formed during
The Aguçadoura Formation (Granja, 1990) is a sedimentary the Holocene.
sequence that includes a unit with fine plastic and dark (wet) The dune sands were dated by OSL: 150 10 (Bonança,
or light grey (dry) deposits, containing peat and wood remains Esposende) and 320 20 yr (Belinho Beach). A medieval
of trunks, branches and roots (Figs. 14–16). The units of the for- necropolis in Fão (Esposende) under the sand dunes (Almeida,
mation were recognised in vibrocores, piston cores, some out- 1988; Almeida et al., 1990–92) confirms these dates.
crops in the foreshore of eroding beaches, and in excavations
(construction sites, sand mining, etc.). The dark, silty, and Palaeoenvironmental interpretation
humic units are called tijuca by the local population. This word We can assume that during a period of regression coastal
is of Brazilian Indian Tupi origin and described by the Portu- lagoons or palaeoestuaries were formed, in which the fine sedi-
guese writer Castro in his book ‘A Selva’ (1949) as ‘a mud ments unit accumulated. The unit overlies beach or dune sands
where cattle deeply impressed their four hooves and men broke that were dated 2477 531 (OSL) and underlies beach sands
their toes’. The term was introduced in the area by immigrants with graded bedding and bioturbation. These sands possibly
from Brazil (Granja, 1990). correspond to a beach that existed in the area before being
Copyright ß 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Quaternary Sci., Vol. 21(8) 859–877 (2006)
872 JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE
Figure 12 Beach/river sand Friedman plot (mean-cubed deviation versus standard deviation) from the Cepães Formation units. Samples are scattered
in the river sand field (modified from Friedman, 1967)
Figure 13 Belinho Beach, North Cepães (Esposende). Shingle beach almost exclusively composed of quartzite pebbles. This figure is available in
colour online at www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/jqs
buried by Little Ice Age aeolian activity during the 16th–19th sediments unit in cores and outcrops of the Aguçadoura and
centuries (Granja, 1990). Apúlia area has diatom assemblages from a freshwater to a
Near Póvoa de Varzim (Aguçadoura) a 30 cm thick bed of slightly brackish environment, interpreted as confined lagoons
Holocene fine sediments contained pollen showing a predomi- near the ocean (Granja, 1999).
nance of non-arboreal pollen, corresponding to a strongly The same unit was also cored to a depth of 11 m below the
deforested landscape (Gómez-Orellana et al., 2001). The fine surface in an former palaeochannel of the Cávado River at
Copyright ß 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Quaternary Sci., Vol. 21(8) 859–877 (2006)
LATE PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE CHANGES IN NORTHWESTERN PORTUGAL 873
Figure 14 Cross-section, sedimentological and geochronological data of the Aguçadoura Formation, near the ‘O Caçador’ snack-bar, Aguçadoura
village. Holocene beach sand injection structures into the lagoonal beds, related to fault activity (towards the right of the photograph). The fault is the
same as in the cross-section of Fig. 15
Figure 15 Cross-section through the Aguçadoura Formation, in the ‘masseira’ of Benjamim Lima Alves, near the Aguçadoura village. The lagoonal
bed with peat is visible in black, to the right of the photograph, dated 1900 40 to 1220 40 14C yr BP. The tilting of the beds towards the west is
considered of neotectonic origin, from a fault located to the left of the bed. This figure is available in colour online at www.interscience.wiley.com/
journal/jqs
Ponte do Estreito (Barqueiros-Necessidades, Barcelos), not far prior to 1780 50 14C yr BP, inferred to have occurred follow-
from Aguçadoura. Samples taken between the surface and ing a period of increased storminess that destroyed the pro-
7.9 m depth are rich in organic matter and well-preserved dia- tected environment, is indicated by the appearance of
toms. Diatom analysis identified five palaeoenvironmental brackish water species, the establishment of a lagoon in the
zones, indicating fluctuations of marine influence through time estuary, and finally silting-up again to became a supratidal
and silting-up, becoming a supratidal marsh. A sudden flooding marsh (Granja, 1999).
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874 JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE
Figure 17 The estimated river sand dates from the Cepães, Antas and Aguçadoura formations compared to the climate change curve between the end
of the Eemian interglacial (MIS 5d) and the onset of the Holocene (MIS 1), van Andel (2003: 16). All dates fall within stage MIS 3
Copyright ß 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Quaternary Sci., Vol. 21(8) 859–877 (2006)
LATE PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE CHANGES IN NORTHWESTERN PORTUGAL 875
was formed during the Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e); the Cepães * The Cepães Formation contains a lower set of fluvial beds
Formation (58 100 5300 and 26 283 3212 yr) during the and a upper bed of beach gravel.
Middle Weichselian/Devensian MIS 3 stage, and the Aguça- * The Aguçadoura Formation contains two units: beach sands
doura Formation (1900 40 and 360 50 14C yr BP) during overlain by lagoonal deposits.
the Holocene MIS1 stage (Fig. 17). * The low platform is limited to the West by Holocene para-
bolic dunes that have been destroyed by the migration of
beaches and overwashes.
* Indicators of Late Pleistocene and Holocene tectonic defor-
Conclusions mation (faults and injection structures) can be observed.
The Antas, Cepães and Aguçadoura formations (including
the aeolian sands from the Little Ice Age) reflect the complex-
An interpolation of available geomorphological, lithostratigra-
ity of changes in the coastal zone over a geologically short
phical, sedimentological and geochronological data was used
period of time (Late Pleistocene and Holocene), but one
to reconstruct the most probable environments for the Quatern-
which has witnessed large climatic and related environmental
ary formations found in the coastal segments of Esposende and
changes. As can be inferred from the sedimentary sequences
Póvoa de Varzim. Their reconstruction forms the basis for
described in this paper, the areas of the coastal zone occupied
understanding the present-day landscape, which is mostly
by the high and low platforms show indications of sea-level
composed of relict landforms (see Fig. 4, and Table 6 summar-
fluctuations induced by a combination of glacio-eustatic
ising our coastal change model). From this reconstruction the
sea-level oscillations and tectonic deformation of the coastal
main conclusions are:
margin. However, this problem needs further study, as the
* The platforms are limited by fault scarps on their eastern bor- available data are scarce and possibly ambiguous without
ders, which are interpreted as dead cliffs. additional evidence.
* A high and a low platform can be identified to the west of the
fault scarps.
* The high platform (altitude 40–60 m) can be interpreted as
Acknowledgements We thank Dr Th. de Groot and the referees of the
an abrasion platform. paper, Dr T. van der Schriek from the University of Newcastle upon
* On the high platform, the Antas Formation (altitude 90 m) Tyne and Dr S. Kortekaas from Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale,
in direct contact with the granite by a fault, was formed dur- Dunquerque, for their many critical comments and helpful suggestions.
ing stage MIS 5e (Eemian Interglacial). We also thank Ana Luı́sa Costa for the grain-size data handling and fig-
* On the high platform, thin relic deposits are found (Pinhote ure drawing. We thank Dr R. Parish, from the University of Sussex, who
conglomerate, Outeiro conglomerate and Gatinheira-Góis provided the OSL dates in 1995, and Dr F. Preusser, from the University
sands). They are of uncertain origin and age, and only the of Cologne, for the OSL dates in 2001.
Outeiro conglomerate can be interpreted as a beach deposit The authors would like to acknowledge comments by Professor
(pebble morphometry). G. M. Friedman from the Northeastern Science Foundation, City
University of New York, and Professor Tj. van Andel from Cambridge
* The low platform (altitude 6–30 m) is separated from the
University.
high platform by a sharp step in the granite and the Palaeo- We are grateful to the institutions that have supported our research
zoic rocks. It underlies the Cepães Formation on the coastal zone of northwest Portugal, the Fundação para a Ciência
(26 823 3212 to 58 100 5800 yr OSL) corresponding to e Tecnologia (FCT), the Área de Paisagem Protegida do Litoral de Espo-
stage MIS 3 and the Aguçadoura Formation (4470 50 to sende (APPLE), the City Hall of Esposende and the Centro Interdisci-
360 40 14C yr BP or 3253 cal. yr BC to 1511 cal. yr AD) plinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR), University of
corresponding to stage MIS1 (Holocene). Porto. Dr Gordon Grams edited the final English text.
Copyright ß 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Quaternary Sci., Vol. 21(8) 859–877 (2006)
876 JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE
Copyright ß 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Quaternary Sci., Vol. 21(8) 859–877 (2006)
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