Snow cover as a morphogenic agent determining ground climate, landforms and runoff in the Valdecebollas massif, Cantabrian Mountains

Abstract

Snowfalls are important meteorological events affecting the physical environment of the Cantabrian Mountains. This work analyzes the effects of snow on several elements such as relief, landforms, ground climate and snowmelt waters. The ground thermal regime and associated parameters were studied using temperature data loggers and satellite images and were described in combination with observed geomorphological processes and landforms. A geomorphological map was drawn up and trends in climate patterns and runoff were calculated. Ground temperature monitoring in warm years is not optimal, though allow to know the limit conditions for developing cold processes. Results show that geomorphological processes are not significant and that solifluction deriving from snowmelt, is the only active process in years without freeze or with thick snow cover. Snowfall evolution in recent decades in correlation with flow water and climate features provide the certainty that snow distribution also affects efficacy in runoff generation and moves the flow peak in rivers due to early snowmelt.

Keywords

• snow
• periglacial geomorphology
• cantabrian mountains
• runoff
• landforms