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Spain The Meseta Central and Associated Mountains
The Meseta Central, a vast plateau in the heart of
peninsular
Spain, has elevations that range from 610 to 760 meters.
Rimmed
by mountains, the Meseta Central slopes gently to the west
and to
the series of rivers that form some of the border with
Portugal.
The Sistema Central, described as the "dorsal spine" of
the
Meseta Central, divides the Meseta into northern and
southern
subregions, the former higher in elevation and smaller in
area
than the latter. The Sistema Central rims the capital city
of
Madrid with peaks that rise to 2,400 meters north of the
city and
to lower elevations south of it. West of Madrid, the
Sistema
Central shows its highest peak of almost 2,600 meters. The
mountains of the Sistema Central, which continue westward
into
Portugal, display some glacial features; the highest of
the peaks
are snow-capped for most of the year. Despite their
height,
however, the mountain system does not create a major
barrier
between the northern and the southern portions of the
Meseta
Central because several passes permit road and railroad
transportation to the northwest and the northeast.
The southern portion of the Meseta is further divided
by twin
mountain ranges, the Montes de Toledo running to the east
and the
Sierra de Guadalupe, to the west. Their peaks do not rise
much
higher than 1,500 meters. With many easy passes, including
those
that connect the Meseta with the Andalusian Plain, the
Montes de
Toledo and the Sierra de Guadalupe do not present an
obstacle to
transportation and communication. The two mountain ranges
are
separated from the Sistema Central to the north by the
Tagus
River.
The mountain regions that rim the Meseta Central and
are
associated with it are the Sierra Morena, the Cordillera
Cantabrica, and the Sistema Iberico. Forming the southern
edge of
the Meseta Central, the Sierra Morena merges in the east
with the
southern extension of the Sistema Iberico and reaches
westward
along the northern edge of the Rio Guadalquivir valley to
join
the mountains in southern Portugal. The massif of the
Sierra
Morena extends northward to the Rio Guadiana, which
separates it
from the Sistema Central. Despite their relatively low
elevations, seldom surpassing 1,300 meters, the mountains
of the
Sierra Morena are rugged.
The Cordillera Cantabrica, a limestone formation, runs
parallel to, and close to, the northern coast near the Bay
of
Biscay. Its highest points are the Picos de Europa,
surpassing
2,500 meters. The Cordillera Cantabrica extends 182
kilometers
and abruptly drops 1,500 meters some 30 kilometers from
the
coast. To the west lie the hills of the northwest region.
The Sistema Iberico extends from the Cordillera
Cantabrica
southeastward and, close to the Mediterranean, spreads out
from
the Rio Ebro to the Rio Jucar. The barren, rugged slopes
of this
mountain range cover an area of close to 21,000 square
kilometers. The mountains exceed 2,000 meters in their
northern
region and reach a maximum height of over 2,300 meters
east of
the headwaters of the Rio Duero. The extremely steep
mountain
slopes in this range are often cut by deep, narrow gorges.
Data as of December 1988
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