Managing the Estrela Aspiring Geopark: A framework for Promoting geoheritage conservation

The serra da Estrela (1,993 m asl) is the highest mountain range in mainland Portugal and is part of the Iberian Central Cordillera. Bounded by fault scarps, a granite massif occupies the central area forming a summit plateau between ci. 1,400 and 2,000 m, while surrounding the core area, there is an interplay with schists and greywackes. During the Last Glacial a plateau ice-field and five radiating valley glaciers occupied the highest parts of the mountain with an estimated equilibrium line altitude at 1,650 m asl. The plateau style of the glaciation and the ELA just below the plateau edge made the Estrela very sensitive to climate fluctuations, having resulted in several terminal moraine complexes that reveal several glacial stages. The central plateau area shows widespread glacial erosion features and an almost complete stripping of the Cenozoic weathering mantle. The non-glaciated plateaus show a rich landscape dominated by granite weathering landforms. The remarkable glacial landscape of the serra da Estrela when considering its setting in SW Europe, together with other relevant geoheritage such as periglacial, weathering and mass wasting phenomena, tectonic, petrological and hydrogeological features, are at the core of Estrela’s application to become a UNESCO Global Geopark.