Catalan Mediterranean System
Encyclopedia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
. It is made up of a double system of coastal mountain chains: The Catalan Coastal Range
Catalan Coastal Range
The Catalan Coastal Range is a system of mountain ranges running parallel to the Mediterranean Sea coast in Catalonia. It is part of the Catalan Mediterranean System. Its main axis runs between the Foix River and the Roses Gulf and the average altitude is around 500 m...
and the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range
Catalan Pre-Coastal Range
The Catalan Pre-Coastal Range is a system of mountain ranges running parallel to the Mediterranean Sea coast in Catalonia. It is part of the Catalan Mediterranean System. Its main axis runs between the Catalan Transversal Range and the Serra de l'Espina, which connects with the Ports de...
, as well as the Catalan Coastal Depression
Catalan Coastal Depression
The Catalan Coastal Depression, , is a natural depression between the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range and the Mediterranean Sea. It is part of the Catalan Mediterranean System....
and other coastal and pre-coastal plains located among those mountain ranges.
Geology
Geologically the Catalan Mediterranean System is the result of a tectonic upliftTectonic uplift
Tectonic uplift is a geological process most often caused by plate tectonics which increases elevation. The opposite of uplift is subsidence, which results in a decrease in elevation. Uplift may be orogenic or isostatic.-Orogenic uplift:...
, about 300 km long and roughly 50 km wide.
Transversally the system can be divided in three zones:
- Northern Zone, between the EmpordàEmpordàEmpordà is a historical region of Catalonia divided since 1936 into two comarques, Alt Empordà and Baix Empordà....
comarca and the LlobregatLlobregatThe Llobregat is the second longest river in Catalonia, Spain. It originates in Castellar de n'Hug at an altitude of 1,259 meters in the Serra del Cadí, and ends in the Mediterranean Sea, in the municipality of El Prat de Llobregat, near Barcelona...
. This zone is of paleozoicPaleozoicThe Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...
and crystalline composition - Central Zone, between rivers Llobregat and Ebre
- Southern Zone, between the Baix EbreBaix EbreBaix Ebre is a comarca , on the coast in southern Catalonia, Spain.- Municipalities :Populations are for 2001.* L'Aldea - pop. 3590* Aldover - pop. 814* Alfara de Carles - pop. 377* L'Ametlla de Mar - pop. 5835* L'Ampolla - pop. 2133...
comarca and the Millars RiverMillars RiverThe Mijares or Millars is a river in Aragon and the Valencian Community, eastern Spain. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea between Almassora and Burriana. The Mijares River marks the southernmost limit of the Catalan Mediterranean System....
in the Valencian CommunityValencian CommunityThe Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia...
. Both the central and the southern zone are of mesozoicMesozoicThe Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
and tertiaryTertiaryThe Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
composition.
See also
- Catalan Coastal RangeCatalan Coastal RangeThe Catalan Coastal Range is a system of mountain ranges running parallel to the Mediterranean Sea coast in Catalonia. It is part of the Catalan Mediterranean System. Its main axis runs between the Foix River and the Roses Gulf and the average altitude is around 500 m...
- Catalan Pre-Coastal RangeCatalan Pre-Coastal RangeThe Catalan Pre-Coastal Range is a system of mountain ranges running parallel to the Mediterranean Sea coast in Catalonia. It is part of the Catalan Mediterranean System. Its main axis runs between the Catalan Transversal Range and the Serra de l'Espina, which connects with the Ports de...
- Catalan Coastal DepressionCatalan Coastal DepressionThe Catalan Coastal Depression, , is a natural depression between the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range and the Mediterranean Sea. It is part of the Catalan Mediterranean System....