Iberian meseta

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Location of the Meseta on the Iberian Peninsula
Spring in the "Nordmeseta"

As Meseta is situated in the center of the Iberian Peninsula (specifically Spain ) located over 200,000 square kilometers Castilian highlands called. Since the term meseta does not exclusively designate the Castilian highlands, but plateaus in general and in the geological context mostly stands for Variscan mountain ranges , it is more precisely Iberian meseta or Iberian massif , also called Meseta Central in Spanish .

geography

The Central Meseta is bordered by the Cantabrian Mountains in the north, the Iberian Mountains in the east and the Sierra Morena in the south . In the southwest it merges into Extremadura , with which it forms a unit in geological terms. The Iberian Scheidegebirge , which runs mainly in an east-west direction, divides the Meseta into a northern and a southern part.

North Meseta

The “ North Meseta” (Meseta Norte) , drained by the Duero and about 650 to 900 m high, corresponds roughly to the autonomous community of Castile-León and includes the historical landscapes of Old Castile and León . In it, grain is grown on large areas , but also viticulture - e.g. B. in the Ribera del Duero growing area - and sheep breeding play a role.

Biggest cities are Burgos , León , Valladolid and Palencia . Through the northern part of Nordmeseta a longer part of the runs in an east-west direction Camino de Santiago .

South Meseta

The approximately 500 to 700 m high "South Meseta" (Meseta Sur) , through which the Tajo River flows, is divided into individual mountain ranges and gives a less uniform picture than the North Meseta. It corresponds to the historical landscape of New Castile and is divided between the autonomous communities of Castile-La Mancha and Madrid .

In its western part you can find grazed holm oak forests ( dehesas ) , otherwise the land is mainly used for wine and olive growing , but also for grain and sheep breeding .

Biggest cities are Madrid , Toledo , Albacete and Ciudad Real .

Others

The Meseta is home to the Iron Age Meseta cultures.

Meseta in September

Web links

Commons : Nordmeseta  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christiane Martin, Manfred Eiblmaier (ed.): Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences . Spektrum-Verlag, Heidelberg [among others] 2000-2002
  2. ↑ see various chapters in: Wes Gibbons, Teresa Moreno (Ed.): The Geology of Spain . The Geological Society Publishing House, Bath, 2006. ISBN 1-86239-110-6 .

literature

  • W. Schüle: The Meseta cultures of the Iberian Peninsula. Mediterranean and Eurasian elements in early Iron Age cultures of southwestern Europe . 1969
  • Büttner, Wilfried, Werner Eckert-Schweins & Bernd-Michael Lipke (eds.) (2003): Diercke geography for high schools in Bavaria. Grade 7. westermann. ISBN 978-3141141238 (pp. 88–89)