Abstract
To the South of the Douro and within the Vouga river systems, not far from the Atlantic coast, the Northwest Beira Highlands rise steeply from the coastlands and plains. They are composed of small mountains, but have a very marked relief because the Hercynian Massif (Maciço Antigo), after suffering repeated folding, granitization and metamorphism, has been greatly worn down by erosion (Ferreira, 1978). They include the Montemuro Mountain in the South Douro river system, the Gralheira Massif (Freita, Arada and Arestal hills), and the Caramulo Mountain to the South (see location map of Portuguese continental highlands in the introductory article to this chapter).
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Coelho, C.O.A., Valente, S., Ribeiro, C. (2010). Northwest Beira Highlands – Freita and Caramulo Hills (Portugal). In: Evelpidou, N., Figueiredo, T., Mauro, F., Tecim, V., Vassilopoulos, A. (eds) Natural Heritage from East to West. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01577-9_21
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