| Sistema Ibérico | |
| Range | |
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View of the Moncayo Massif from Alcalá de Moncayo
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| Country | Spain |
|---|---|
| Communities | Aragon, Castile and León, La Rioja, Valencian Community Catalonia, Castile-La Mancha |
| Highest point | Moncayo |
| - elevation | 2,313 m (7,589 ft) |
| - coordinates | |
| Orogeny | Alpine |
| Period | Tertiary |
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Location of the Sistema Ibérico in the Iberian Peninsula
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The Sistema Ibérico or Iberian System is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. It is a vast and complex system of mountain chains and massifs located in the central regions of the Iberian Peninsula, but reaching almost the Mediterranean coast in the Land of Valencia in the east.
From the hydrographic viewpoint this system is of the highest importance in the Iberian Peninsula, for it contains the watershed between the Ebro basin and the basins of the rivers Duero, Tajo, Guadiana (Záncara-Gigüela), Júcar and Turia (as Guadalaviar), among others.
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The Sistema Ibérico mountain range borders the Meseta Central on its western end and separates the Meseta Central from the Ebro valley and from the Mediterranean coast.
This system runs northwest-southeast between the Ebro plain and the Meseta Central for over 500 km, from the La Bureba corridor in Burgos Province close to the Cordillera Cantábrica to the Mediterranean sea close to Valencia in the south and close to Tortosa and the Ebro delta in the east. The bulk of the Sistema Ibérico is located in the southern half of Aragon. The Prebaetic System rises south of the southernmost end of the Iberian System.
The geology of the Iberian System is complex, for it can hardly be defined as a homogeneous system. It is composed of numerous haphazard and motley series of mountain ranges, massifs, plateaus and depressions without a definite common petrologic composition and overall structure. Some of the parts of the system stand geologically isolated, interrupting the continuity of the whole, linked to the other parts through high plateaus of varying altitudes.[1]
Some ranges have forested patches, consisting mainly of Pinus pinaster, Pinus sylvestris and Pinus uncinata pines and Quercus rotundifolia, Quercus pyrenaica and Quercus faginea oaks, even Fagus sylvatica beeches and Betula pendula birches grow in some humid slopes, where Pteridium aquilinum, Polypodium vulgare ferns may also be found. Other ranges may be rocky and quite bare with heath (Erica arborea, Erica vagans, Calluna vulgaris), broom and bushes (Juniperus communis, Cytisus purgans, Erinacea anthyllis) and Calluna vulgaris shrub, as well as thyme and Festuca and Nardus stricta grasslands. Often the southern slopes are drier than the northern ones and may be subject to wildfires in periods of prolonged drought, especially in the summer.
Bogs are not common in the Iberian Peninsula, but high altitude bogs form in the few areas of the Sistema Ibérico where the water remains stagnant, like near Orihuela del Tremedal, Bronchales and in the place known as Fuente del Hierro, at an altitude between 1.400 and 1.550 m. The plants growing in these bogs are mainly Polytrichum mosses, Potentilla erecta, Pinguicula vulgaris, Vaccinium myrtillus, Calluna vulgaris, and also Drosera rotundifolia, a carnivorous plant that doesn't grow further south in Western Europe.
Centaurea pinnata is an endangered species of plant present in the Sierra de Vicort and Sierra de Santa Cruz mountain ranges.[2]
Large zones of the mountainous Iberian System have undergone heavy depopulation since the second half of the 20th century. There are many ghost towns scattered across different parts of the Iberian System, especially in Teruel Province.[3] A great number of surviving towns have only a residual population. The exodus from the rural mountainous areas in Spain rose after General Franco's Plan de Estabilización in 1959. The population declined steeply as people emigrated towards the industrial areas of the large cities and the coastal towns where tourism grew exponentially. Other causes of the strong emigration have been the abandonment of traditional agricultural practices, like sheep and goat rearing, by the local youth, as well as the lifestyle changes that swept over rural Spain during the second half of the 20th century.[4]
The heavy depopulation has favored wildlife, so that one of the last colonies of griffon vultures in Europe is in the Iberian System. Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos, Hieraaetus fasciatus, Hieraaetus pennatus, Circaetus gallicus) are also relatively common in the lonely heights. Among the mammals, the Spanish Ibex, Roe Deer, Wild Boar, European badgers, common genets, among others, have their habitat in many of these desolate mountain ranges.[5]
The most common reptiles in the Iberian System are Lacerta lepida, Psammodromus algirus, Psammodromus hispanicus, Podarcis muralis and Podarcis hispanica. Chalcides chalcides, Chalcides bedriagai and Anguis fragilis, are relatively rarer. The snakes present in these mountains are Natrix maura, Natrix natrix, Malpolon monspessulanus, Elaphe scalaris, Coronella girondica, Coronella austriaca and Vipera latastei.
Some amphibians are abundant in or near ponds and rivulets throughout the whole system, like Rana perezi, Bufo bufo, Bufo calamita, Alytes obstetricans, Triturus marmoratus and Lissotriton helveticus, the latter also at high altitude, whether in intermittent or permanent bodies of water. Others are rarer, like Hyla arborea and Salamandra salamandra, but still having a wide distribution, especially in humid forested zones. The Iberian ribbed newt (Pleurodeles waltl), however, is rarely found in the mountainous areas. Many invertebrates, including the Austropotamobius pallipes crayfish, and certain fishes, like Salaria fluviatilis and Cobitis paludica are common in the upper course of the Sistema Ibérico rivers.[6] Some mountain streams have been stocked with trout.[7]
Traditional cattle rearing activities, formerly so important in central Iberia, still survive on dry grasslands in certain villages around the system. There are also a number of hunters visiting some of the ranges, mainly those that are relatively closer to the urban areas and especially on weekends.[8]
There are important mining areas in some of the ranges of the system, some of which make it one of the most important mining regions in Spain,[9] like in Sierra Menera, Sierra de Arcos and Sierra de San Just.[10] One of the comarcas of Aragon located in the Iberian System was given the name of Cuencas Mineras since mining is the main activity in the comarca.[11]
The Sistema Ibérico comprises several mountain ranges and massifs:
The main peaks of the system are: Moncayo (2,313 m), Monte San Lorenzo (2,262 m), Pico de Urbión (2,228 m), Peña Cebollera (2,129 m), Javalambre (2,020 m) and Peñarroya (2,019 m). Other locally important summits are Cerro Calderón (1,837 m), Mont Caro (1,441 m), Tossal d'Orenga (1,144 m) and Montegordo (837 m),
The Sistema Ibérico is not as high as other mountain systems in Spain. It is, however, very significant from the hydrographic point of view for important rivers of the Iberian Peninsula have their source in its mountains, which divide the Atlantic from the Mediterranean watershed. The following rivers rise in the Sistema Ibérico: