Cantabrian Mountains

This article covers the Cantabrian Mountains. This is not to be confused with the Sierra Cantábrica , a small mountain range in the province of Álava in the Basque Country.

Cantabrian Mountains
Location of the Cantabrian Mountains within the Iberian Peninsula
Pico Tres Mares , 2150 m
Highest peak	Torre de Cerredo ( 2648  msnm )
location	Northern Spain
Coordinates	43 ° 12 ′  N , 4 ° 51 ′  W Coordinates: 43 ° 12 ′  N , 4 ° 51 ′  W

The Cantabrian Mountains ( Spanish Cordillera Cantábrica or Sistema Cantábrico ) is a mountain range in northern Spain . It represents the western extension of the Pyrenees and runs over 480 km through the autonomous regions of Navarre , Basque Country , Cantabria , Castile-León and Asturias to Galicia . The demarcation to the Pyrenees is fluid, but can be drawn along the line Pamplona - Leitza - Oria River - Donostia-San Sebastián . The highest peaks of the Cantabrian Mountains are in the central mountain range Picos de Europa , the highest peak of which is the mountain Torre de Cerredo with 2648 m.

The Cantabrian Mountains is a climate divide between the green, maritime dominated north side (known as Spanish España Verde , "Green Spain") and the continental Castilian plateau (Spanish Meseta ) to the south. It limits both the Meseta and the upper Ebro basin to North. Its eastern part is made of folded Mesozoic Kreidekalkschichten ( Alpine orogeny constructed as in the subsequent Pyrenees), in the West there is an old hull Mountains ( Variscan orogeny , Caledonian orogeny ) with coal leading carbon - sediments in the central area.

Current location ( outcrop ) of middle and late Paleozoic orogen complexes (hatched). It should be noted that these are partly contained in the Young Mesozoic-Tertiary mountain belts (e.g. the Pyrenees ). In addition, the Urals and the East Asian complexes are rarely subsumed under the term “Variscan”.

The industrial development of the regions of Asturias and the Basque Country in the 19th century is based on the deposits of iron ore , hard coal, zinc , lead , manganese and potash in the Cantabrian Mountains. In the last few decades, the mining and heavy industries have declined sharply, as in other European regions.

The protected areas of the mountain system, the Picos de Europa National Park and the Parque Natural de Somiedo are among the few refuges of European brown bears , also there are significant Wolfs - and vultures - populations .

In the Cueva del Mirón cave near Ramales de la Victoria , the oldest evidence of a burial in the Magdalenian era on the Iberian Peninsula was discovered in 2010 , the 18,700 year old so-called Dama Roja de El Mirón (the “Red Lady from El Mirón ”).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Matthias Weiller: Pyrenees , accessed on April 17, 2020.
2. ^ Michael RW Amler: Stratigraphy, Fauna Development and Paleoecology in the Carboniferous of Cantabria (Northern Spain) , accessed on April 17, 2020.