Baetic System

Baetic System
Mulhacén in the winter
Highest point
Peak	Mulhacén
Elevation
Geography
Schematic representation of the Baetic System of mountain ranges Schematic representation of the Baetic System of mountain ranges
Country	Spain and little bit in Gibraltar (UK)
State/Province	mostly Andalusia, small parts in Murcia, Castile-La Mancha, Valencian Community and Gibraltar (only Rock)
Range coordinates
Parent range	Gibraltar Arc
Geology
Orogeny	Alpine Orogeny

Sierra Crestellina, near Casares

Map of the Baetic System in Andalusia

Tajos del Sabar, near Alfarnate

The Baetic System (Spanish: Sistema Bético) is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. Located in the southern and eastern Iberian Peninsula, it is also known as the Baetic Cordillera, Baetic Ranges or Baetic Mountains. The name of the mountain system derives from the ancient Roman region of Baetica, one of the Imperial Roman provinces of ancient Hispania.

Geography

The Baetic System is made up of multiple mountain ranges that reach from western Andalusia to the Region of Murcia, southern Castile-La Mancha and the Land of Valencia. To the north, the Baetic Ranges are separated from the Meseta Central and the Sierra Morena by the basin of the Guadalquivir. The Iberian System rises north of the eastern part of the Prebaetic System, the northernmost prolongation of the Baetic System. Generally the mountain ranges that are part of this system are aligned in a southwest-northeast direction.

The most well-known range of the Baetic System is the Sierra Nevada, where the Mulhacén, the highest mountain in continental Spain and in the Iberian Peninsula is found. The Rock of Gibraltar is also considered to be part of the Baetic System, but not the Cabo de Gata area further east which includes rocks of volcanic origin.

Geology

The Baetic System as a geological feature belongs to a larger orogen usually called the Gibraltar Arc, which represents the westernmost edge of the Alpine Orogeny. The geodynamic mechanisms responsible for its formation are so far relatively unknown.

Geologically the Rif mountains in Morocco and the Serra de Tramuntana in the island of Majorca are extensions of the Baetic System. The Gibraltar Arc geological region follows the Moroccan coast from Oujda in the east to Tanger in the west, then crosses the Strait of Gibraltar and goes east again from Cádiz to Valencia and the Balearic Islands.

Ecology

The Baetic System is home to a number of Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub plant communities, including shrublands, oak woodlands, broadleaf forests, and coniferous forests, which vary with elevation, soils, and topography.

The Baetic System, together with the Rif Mountains of Morocco, which face the Baetic Ranges across the Alboran Sea, is one of the Mediterranean basin's ten biodiversity hotspots, known to ecologists as the Baetic-Rifan complex. The Baetic mountains are home to a rich assemblage of Mediterranean plants, including a number of relict species from the ancient laurel forests, which covered much of the Mediterranean basin millions of years ago when it was more humid.

Subdivision

The Baetic System is divided into the following sub-chains:

Penibaetic System

The Penibaetic System includes the highest point in the peninsula, the 3,478 m high Mulhacén in the Sierra Nevada; other ranges and features are:

• Serranía de Ronda
• Rock of Gibraltar
• Sierra de las Nieves
• Sierra Blanca
• Cordillera Antequerana
• Sierra de Tejeda
• Sierra de Almijara
• Sierra de Alhama
• Sierra Nevada
• Sierra de Lújar
• Sierra de la Contraviesa
• Sierra de Cogollos
• Sierra de Gádor
• Sierra de Baza
• Sierra de los Filabres
• Sierra de Alhamilla
• Sierra Espuña
• Sierra Cabrera
• Sierra de las Estancias
• The Surco Intrabético comprises a series of valleys and depressions separating the Penibaetic from the Subbaetic System

Subbaetic System

The Subbaetic System occupies a central position within the Baetic System. Highest point 2,027 m (6,650 ft) high Peña de la Cruz in Sierra Arana.

• Sierra del Aljibe, includes the Alcornocales Natural Park
• Sierra de Grazalema
• Sierra de Gibalbín
• Sierras Subbéticas de Córdoba
• Sierra Elvira
• Sierra de Loja
• Sierra de Arana
• Sierra de Cogollos
• Sierra de la Alfaguara
• Sierra de Huétor
• Sierra Sur de Jaén overlapping with the Prebaetic System

Prebaetic System

The Prebaetic System is the northernmost feature of the whole Baetic System. Highest point 2,382 m high La Sagra.

• Sierra Mágina
• Sierra de la Sagra
• Sierra de Cazorla
• Sierra de Segura
• Sierra de Alcaraz
• Sierra de Castril
• Sierra de la Sagra
• Sierra del Taibilla
• Sierra de María, overlapping with the Penibaetic System
• Serra Mariola
• Montgó Massif
• Sierra de Bernia
• Penyal d'Ifac

See also

• Geography of Spain
• Geology of the Iberian Peninsula
• Baetic Depression
• Tabernas Desert

External links

• Sierra Nevada Natural Park
• Sierra del Aljibe
• Parque Natural de la Sierra de los Filabres y comarca del Alto Almanzora
• Cuenca del Guadalquivir