The dynamics and evolution of a coastal sandy system over the last 142 years (1875–2017) were analyzed using geomatics techniques (historical cartography, photogrammetry, topography, and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS)). The continuous beach–dune system is a very active confining sand barrier closing an estuarine system where damage is suffered by coastal infrastructures and houses. The techniques used and documentary sources involved historical cartography, digitalizing the 5-m-level curve on the maps of 1875, 1908, 1920, 1950, and 1985; photogrammetric flights of 1985, 1988, and 2001 without calibration certificates, digitalizing only the upper part of the sandy front; photogrammetric flights of 2005, 2007, 2010, and 2014, using photogrammetric restitution of the 5-m-level curve; topo-bathymetric profiles made monthly between 1988 and 1993 using a total station; a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) since 2011 by means of two annual measurements; and the meteorological data for the period of 1985–2017. The retreat of the sandy complex was caused by winter storms with large waves and swells higher than 6 m, coinciding with periods demonstrating a high tidal range of over 100 and periods with a large number of strong storms. The retreat was 8 m between December 2013 and March 2014. The overall change of the coastline between 1875 and 2017 was approximately 415 m of retreat at Somo Beach. The erosive processes on the foredune involved the outcrop of the rock cliff in 1999 and 2014, which became a continuous rocky cliff without sands. To know the recent coastal evolution and its consequences on the human environment, the combined geomatic techniques and future TLS data series may lead to the improvement in the knowledge of shoreline changes in the context of sea level and global changes.

Permafrost is a relevant component of the Pyrenean high mountains, triggering a wide range of geomorphological cryogenic processes. Although in the past decades there has been an increase in frozen ground studies in the Pyrenees, there are no specific studies about rock wall permafrost, its presence, distribution, thermal regime, or historical evolution. This work combines measured rock surface temperatures (RSTs, from August 2013 to April 2016) along an elevation profile (four sites) on the north facing the rock wall of the Vignemale peak (3,298 m a.s.l., 42°46′16″N/0°08′33″W) and temperature modeling (CryoGRID2) to determine the presence of permafrost and to analyze its evolution since the mid‐20th century. Simulations are run with various RST forcings and bedrock properties to account for forcing data uncertainty and varying degrees of rock fracturing. Results reveal that warm permafrost may have existed down to 2,600 m a.s.l. until the early 1980s and that warm permafrost is currently found at ~2,800 m a.s.l. and up to 3,000 m a.s.l. Cold (<−2°C) permafrost may exist above 3,100–3,200 m a.s.l. Systematic investigations on rock wall permafrost must be conducted to refine those results in the Pyrenees. The elevation shift in warm permafrost suggests an imminent disappearance of permafrost in the Vignemale peak.

The beaches of the Cantabrian coast (northern Spain) are exposed to strong winter storms that cause the coastline to recede. In this article, the coastal retreat of the Gerra beach (Cantabria) is analyzed through a diachronic study using the following different geomatic techniques: orthophotography of the year 1956; photogrammetric flights from 2001, 2005, 2010, 2014, 2017; Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) survey from August 2012; Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) survey from November 2018; and terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) through two dates per year (spring and fall) from April 2012 to April 2020. With the 17 observations of TLS, differences in volume of the beach and the sea cliff are determined during the winter (November–April) and summer (May–October) periods, searching their relationship with the storms in this eight-year period (2012–2020). From the results of this investigation it can be concluded that the retreat of the base of the cliff is insignificant, but this is not the case for the top of the cliff and for the existing beaches in the Cantabrian Sea where the retreat is evident. The retreat of the cliff top line in Gerra beach, between 1956 and 2020 has shown values greater than 40 m. The retreat in other beaches of the Cantabrian Sea, in the same period, has been more than 200 m. With our measurements, investigations carried out on the retreat of the cliffs on the Atlantic coast have been reinforced, where the diversity of the cliff lithology and the aggressive action of the sea (storms) have been responsible for the active erosion on the face cliff. In addition, this research applied geomatic techniques that have appeared commercially during the period (1956–2020), such as aerial photogrammetry, TLS, LiDAR, and UAV and analyzed the results to determine the precision that could be obtained with each method for its application to similar geomorphological structures.

The structure and ice content of ice caves are poorly understood. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) can provide useful insights but has only rarely been applied to ice caves. This paper interprets GPR images (radargrams) in terms of internal structure, stratification, compaction, thickness and volume of the ice block in the Peña Castil ice cave (Central Massif of Picos de Europa, northern Spain), providing the endokarst geometry of the ice cave in GPR data reflections. Eight radargrams were obtained by applying a shielded ground‐coupled antenna with a nominal frequency of 400 MHz. Although the radargrams do not depict the ice–basal bedrock interface, they suggest that the ice block is at least 54 m deep and similarly thick. Some curved reflection signatures suggest a potential vertical displacement in the block of ice, and thus certain dynamics in the ice body. Other images show numerous interbedded clasts and thin sediment layers imaged as banded reflections. In this particular cave a direct visual inspection of the ice stratigraphy is a difficult task but GPR provides clear reflectivity patterns of some of its internal features, making GPR a suitable instrument for this and future studies to achieve a better and broader understanding of the internal behavior of ice caves.