The geology of the southern part of the Pisuerga basin and the adjacent area of Santibañez de Resoba, Palencia, Spain

The ”Cordillera Cantabrica”, which borders the Old-Castilian meseta in the north, is mainly a Hercynian mountain chain. The area with which this study is concerned is part of the southern border of this mountain belt and lies in the northeast in part of the province of Palencia. The topographic elevation varies from approximately 1000 m at the southeastern border to 2000 m in the northeastern and western parts. The central part of the mountain range has a true mountain climate, but towards the south this rapidly becomes semi-arid continental. The Pisuerga River, flowing south, is the main river; its drainage-area borders towards the northeast on that of the Ebro River and towards the west — near Santibañez — on that of the Carrion River. For more information about the topography, morphology, and Quaternary history of this territory, the reader is referred to the publications of Hernandez Pacheco (1944) and Nossin (1959).