The Galician massif is also known as the Galician-Leonese massif and it is a mountainous system whose location is towards the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Most of this system can be found in the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia, although other provinces such as León and Zamora are also covered by these mountains.
One of the most characteristic aspects of the Galician massif is its antiquity. The rocks that make up this mountain system date back to the Paleozoic. Its average altitude is 500 meters and the maximum altitude it reaches is 2,127 meters in the Peña Trevinca area, the summit of the Trevinca massif, one of the systems that make up the Galician massif.
The highest point of the Galician massif is in Peña Trevinca. Source: SanchoPanzaXXI
Another peculiar element of these mountains is that their limits to the east are mixed with the mountains of León and the Cantabrian mountain range; this implies that the Galician massif has an important extension.
The entire massif is inhabited by flora and fauna of very particular characteristics. There you can find different varieties of oak, hazelnut, birch, holly and fern, among other plant species.
As for the fauna, the Galician massif is home to various vertebrate species among which the grouse and the bear stand out, which are in danger of extinction. Powerful rivers, cold winters and a humid climate characterize this mountainous system that refers to a time as distant as the Paleozoic.
Geological origin
The Galician massif is part of the so-called Paleozoic base, which is nothing more than a plateau made up of relatively hard metamorphic and magmatic rocks, whose deposited materials correspond to the Alpine orogenic cycle.
This Spanish mountainous system dates from an earlier time that is associated with the Paleozoic period. In the secondary period it suffered significant devastation and later, in the Tertiary era, it fractured as a consequence of the process of alpine orogenesis, generating various blocks.
Along with metamorphic and magmatic materials coexist those typical of the Paleozoic era, such as granite, a characteristic component of this mountain system.
Some of the other geological elements that make up the Galician massif are schist, slate, micacite and gneiss.
characteristics
One of the main characteristics of the Galician massif is that it can be considered an extension of the Central Plateau through the northwestern area. This plateau is the oldest in the Iberian Peninsula, its size covers about 400,000 square kilometers and reaches average heights close to 600 meters above sea level.
This mountain system has different relevant elevations; The main ones include the Sierra de San Mamede, the Sierra de Courel, the Sierra de Cabrera, the Peña Trevinca massif, the Sierra de Queixa, the Sierra de Segundodera, the Sierra del Oribio and the Invernadeiro mountains, among many others.
Weather
The precipitations in the Galician massif occur with abundance and regularity. Average humidity in this area has been determined to be around 80% and temperatures are normally between 15 ° C and 8 ° C.
The prevailing climate in this massif is oceanic, which is also known as Atlantic or maritime. There are usually fogs in the mornings and the winds that it receives from the west bring as a consequence copious and constant rains.
As a result of the low temperatures that this area experiences in winter (it reaches up to 6 ° C), it is common for higher areas to have snow instead of rain, and it also tends to hail quite a bit in general.
Relief
The reliefs in this area are characterized by being soft. The entire system rises from the sea in a somewhat domed staggered fashion. After reaching the summits (which tend to be rather flat), the relief descends again until it reaches the plateau, which is crammed with eroded materials on its eastern side.
Just as it is possible to find great heights such as those of the Sierra de Segundodera and Peña Trevinca, in the same way you can find tectonic trenches that filled their spaces in the Tertiary and Quaternary periods.
Rivers
The structures of the system favor that each one of the rivers that are found there are deeply encased in the faults, located in such a way that they do not oppose them.
All the rivers in the area flow into either the Cantabrian Sea or the ocean. As rainfall in the area is abundant, the rivers are mighty. The extension of these bodies of water are not very long and this is due to the fact that their source is generated very close to the coasts.
The Miño river is the main one in the area, and the Sil river corresponds to its main tributary. These rivers produce significant erosion, which contributes to the conformation of the complex relief that this system has.
This same erosion has been exploited by man, since various reservoirs have been built whose purpose is to generate electricity.
Flora
The most prevalent in the Galician massif are the deciduous forests, as well as the moors (vegetal formation that is usually little diverse and with thorns) and the meadows.
In spite of the scarce alignment of the mountains of the massif, it is possible to find a vegetation of great uniformity in all its extension. Oak is the most common tree in the area and is accompanied by other species such as chestnut, yew, ash and hazel, among others.
In the Galician massif, meadows and bushes coexist with large deciduous forests, and the plant diversity of the area is such that in 2006 one of the mountain ranges of the massif (the Sierra de Ancares) was recognized as a biosphere reserve by Unesco.
Fauna
Several vertebrate animals such as bears and grouse are the main inhabitants of these mountains; it is also possible to find golden eagles and royal owls.
Likewise, deer, foxes, otters, wildcats, wolves, weasels, reptiles, marten, amphibians, martens, roe deer and many other species inhabit the Galician massif. As we mentioned earlier, several of the beings that make life in this mountain system are in danger of extinction.
References
- “Massif Galician-Leonese” in Wikipedia. Retrieved on March 27, 2019 from Wikipedia: wikipedia.org
- "Massif galaico" in Entre Cumbres. Retrieved on March 27, 2019 from Entre Cumbres: entrecumbres.com
- "Montes de León" in Ecured. Retrieved on March 27, 2019 from Ecured: ecured.cu
- "Geological and geomorphological evolution of the Spanish territory" in Web History. Retrieved on March 27, 2019 from Web History: sites.google.com
- Geological and Mining Institute of Spain. "Geological heritage: the rocky rivers of the Iberian Peninsula" in Google Books. Retrieved on March 27, 2019 from Google Books: books.google.cl
- "Galician Massif" in Wikipedia. Retrieved on March 27, 2019 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org