relief of spain

SOME IMPORTANT CONCEPTSOME IMPORTANT CONCEPT

Plains are large areas of flat land with no hills or slopes.

Plateau is a plain at a high altitude.

Depressions are plains which are lower than the surrounding land.

Hill are small elevation in the ground. They have lower altitude than mountains.

Mountain is a big elevation in the ground.

Several mountains grouped together are called a mountain range.

A long line of mountain ranges is called a mountain chain.

Valleys are low areas between mountains. Rivers are often found in valleys.

Depresion

PlateauHill Valley

Plain

Mountain

MOUNTAINS

♦ The Central Plateau: It is a big plain in the Iberian Peninsula.Central System (Sistema Central) divide the Plateaut into two parts:

•The North Subplateau. •The South Subplateau

Toledo Mountains (Montes de Toledo)

The relief in Spain is composed of:

♦ The Mountains that go around the plateau are:The Lion Mountains (Montes de León) with Teleno as one of its highest peaks.The Cantabrian Range (Cordillera Cantábrica) where we find Picos de Europa and Torre Cerredo as one of the highest peaks.The Iberian System (Sistema Ibérico) – Moncayo is

one of its highest peaks.Sierra Morena – Bañuelas and Despeñaperros.

♦ The Mountains that are far from the plateau are:The Galizian Massif (Mazizo Galaico) – Cabeza de Manzanera is one of the highest peaks.The Pyrenees, (Pirineos) that separate Spain from France and where we can find important peaks like Aneto and Monte

Perdido.The Basque Mountains (Montes Vascos) – Peña GorbeaThe Catalonian Range (Cordilleras Costeras Catalanas) where we can find Turó de L`Home.The Betic Chain (Cordilleras Béticas) are divided into:

● Cordillera Penibética – The highest peak is Mulhacén.● Cordillera Subbética – The highest peak is Sagra.

♦ The most important depressions in the peninsula are:The Ebro depression: located among the Pyrinees, The Iberian System, The Catalonian Coast and the Mediterranean Sea.The Guadalquivir depression: located among Sierra Morena, The Betic Chain and the Atlantic Ocean.

THE HIGHEST PEAKS IN SPAIN ARE:

1º. TEIDE (Tenerife)

2º. MULHACÉN (Andalucía)

3º. ANETO (Aragón)

4º. VELETA (Andalucía)

5º. POSETS (Aragón)

RIVERS

Spain has 3 watersheds:Spain has 3 watersheds:

Cantabrian watershed Atlanctic watershed Mediterranean watershed

A WATERSHED is an area of land in which water flows over on its way to the sea.

The rivers that flow into the Bay of Biscay are short as they start in the mountains near the coast.Their flow is regular and high due to the abundant rainfall. The most important rivers from the Cantabrian Coast are:

Bidasoa, Nervión, Pas, Besaya, Deva, Sella, Nalón, Eo

CANTABRIAN WATERSHEDCANTABRIAN WATERSHED

MEDITERRANEAN WATERSHEDMEDITERRANEAN WATERSHED

Most of the rivers that carry water to the Mediterranean Sea are short and have limited and irregular water flow, except the Ebro.The most important rivers from the Mediterranean Coast are:

Ter, Llobregat and Ebro

Júcar, Segura and Mijares

ATLANTIC WATERSHEDATLANTIC WATERSHED

The rivers are long and carry high volumes of water that flow into the Atlantic Ocean.Guadalquivir, Tinto, Odiel, Guadiana, Tajo, Duero, Elsa, Pisuerga, Tormes, Miño, Tambre, Ulla y Eume.

Galician Rivers

Rivers that cross the Meseta

Andalusian Rivers

Short with high flow due to abundant rainfall

Long with high but irregular flow

Usually long with very low flow.

LAKES

LAKES AND LAGOONSLAKES AND LAGOONS

Spanish lakes are small in comparison to European lakes.

The biggest lake in Spain is Sanabria (Zamora)The second biggest lake is Banyoles (Gerona)

The largest inland lagoon of shallow saltwater is Gallocanta (Zaragoza) Ruidera Lagoon (Ciudad Real)

Albufera de Valencia (Valencia) is a freshwater lagoon on the coast of Spain.