Sierra de Villuercas

Sierra de Villuercas
Sierra de Villuercas
	Sierra de Guadalupe
	The Sierra de Villuercas and Santa Lucia Dam
Highest point
Peak	La Villuerca
Elevation	1,603 m (5,259 ft)
Coordinates	39°29′00″N5°24′00″W / 39.48333°N 5.40000°W Coordinates: 39°29′00″N5°24′00″W / 39.48333°N 5.40000°W
Dimensions
Length	62 km (39 mi)NW/SE
Width	15 km (9.3 mi)NE/SW
Geography
	Sierra de Villuercas Location in Spain
Location	Extremadura
Country	Spain
Parent range	Montes de Toledo
Geology
Orogeny	Alpine
Age of rock	Silurian
Type of rock	Granite

Last updated February 22, 2019

Sierra de Villuercas or Sierra de las Villuercas, also known as Sierra de Guadalupe after nearby Guadalupe town, is a mountain range in the greater Montes de Toledo range, Spain. It is located in province of Cáceres, autonomous community of Extremadura.

Guadalupe, Cáceres Place in Extremadura, Spain

Guadalupe is a municipality located in Las Villuercas comarca, province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain with currently just over 2,000 inhabitants. The monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe is situated here.

Mountain range A geographic area containing several geologically related mountains

A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills ranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arisen from the same cause, usually an orogeny. Mountain ranges are formed by a variety of geological processes, but most of the significant ones on Earth are the result of plate tectonics. Mountain ranges are also found on many planetary mass objects in the Solar System and are likely a feature of most terrestrial planets.

The Montes de Toledo are one of the main systems of mountain ranges in the Iberian Peninsula. They divide the drainage basin of the Tagus from the basin of the Guadiana. The highest peak is 1,603 m high La Villuerca.

The Tagus is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. It is 1,007 km (626 mi) long, 716 km (445 mi) in Spain, 47 km (29 mi) along the border between Portugal and Spain and 275 km (171 mi) in Portugal, where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean near Lisbon. It drains an area of 80,100 square kilometers (30,927 sq mi). The Tagus is highly utilized for most of its course. Several dams and diversions supply drinking water to places of central Spain and Portugal, while dozens of hydroelectric stations create power. Between dams it follows a very constricted course, but after Almourol it enters a wide alluvial valley, prone to flooding. Its mouth is a large estuary near the port city of Lisbon.

The Guadiana River, or Odiana, is an international river defining a long stretch of the Portugal-Spain border, separating Extremadura and Andalucia (Spain) from Alentejo and Algarve (Portugal). The river's basin extends from the eastern portion of Extremadura to the southern provinces of the Algarve; the river and its tributaries flow from east to west, then south through Portugal to the border towns of Vila Real de Santo António (Portugal) and Ayamonte (Spain), where it flows into the Gulf of Cádiz. With a course that covers a distance of 829 kilometres (515 mi), it is the fourth-longest in the Iberian peninsula, and its hydrological basin extends over an area of approximately 68,000 square kilometres (26,000 sq mi).

Description

The Sierra de Villuercas stretches for about 60 km in a roughly NNW/SSE direction in the southeast of Cáceres Province. From its northern end a lower ridge stretches in an arch further westwards from Deleitosa. Southwards there is a straight low ridge aligned in a N/S direction connecting with the Sierra de los Golondrinos prolongation further south straddling river Guadiana. The lower Sierra de Montánchez extends further west of the Sierra de Villuercas.

Deleitosa is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. As of 2010, according to the (INE) census the municipality had a population of 834 inhabitants. In 1950 during the Francoist era, W. Eugene Smith visited Deleitosa to show the poverty of Spain in photographs.

Sierra de Montánchez is a mountain range in the greater Montes de Toledo range, Spain. It is named after nearby Montánchez town, the capital of the Tierra de Montánchez comarca, located on its slopes. This range gives its name to the Mancomunidad Integral Sierra de Montánchez.

This range is parallel to the Sierra de la Palomera and Sierra de Altamira further east of Guadalupe. There is an abundance of fossils of Ammonites, Trilobites, Brachiopods, Graptolites and Cloudinids in certain points of the range.^[1]

Brachiopod Phylum of marine animals also known as lamp shells

Brachiopods, phylum Brachiopoda, are a group of lophotrochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, while the front can be opened for feeding or closed for protection. Two major groups are recognized, articulate and inarticulate. The word "articulate" is used to describe the tooth-and-groove features of the valve-hinge which is present in the articulate group, and absent from the inarticulate group. This is the leading diagnostic feature (fossilizable), by which the two main groups can be readily distinguished. Articulate brachiopods have toothed hinges and simple opening and closing muscles, while inarticulate brachiopods have untoothed hinges and a more complex system of muscles used to keep the two valves aligned. In a typical brachiopod a stalk-like pedicle projects from an opening in one of the valves near the hinges, known as the pedicle valve, keeping the animal anchored to the seabed but clear of silt that would obstruct the opening.

The highest point of the range is conspicuous La Villuerca (1,603 m), which gives name to Las Villuercas comarca and is the highest point of the greater Montes de Toledo range. Cervales (1441 m), Carbonero (1428 m), Ballesteros (1342 m), Sobacorbas (1320 m) o Risco Redondo (1287 m).^[2]

La Villuerca, also known as Risco de la Villuerca, Pico la Villuerca and Pico de las Villuercas is the highest peak of the Sierra de Villuercas range, also known as Sierra de Guadalupe.

Las Villuercas Comarca in Extremadura, Spain

Las Villuercas is a comarca located in the province of Cáceres, western Spain. It belongs to the Autonomous Community of Extremadura.

A comarca is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies: Panama, Nicaragua, and Brazil. The term is derived from the term marca, meaning a "march, mark", plus the prefix co-, meaning "together, jointly".

Geology

The Sierra de Villuercas geological structure is similar to the geology of the Appalachians. The range is mainly composed of slates and quartzites that are often exposed in its jagged peaks.

The geology of the Appalachians dates back to more than 480 million years ago. A look at rocks exposed in today's Appalachian Mountains reveals elongate belts of folded and thrust faulted marine sedimentary rocks, volcanic rocks and slivers of ancient ocean floor - strong evidence that these rocks were deformed during plate collision. The birth of the Appalachian ranges marks the first of several mountain building plate collisions that culminated in the construction of the supercontinent Pangaea with the Appalachians and neighboring Little Atlas near the center. These mountain ranges likely once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rocky Mountains before they were eroded.

Slate A fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, weakly metamorphic rock

Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. Foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering, but instead is in planes perpendicular to the direction of metamorphic compression.

Quartzite is a hard, non-foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to grey, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink and red due to varying amounts of iron oxide (Fe₂O₃). Other colors, such as yellow, green, blue and orange, are due to other minerals.

There are also interesting conglomerate geological formations made up of quartzite boulders and unstratified clays known locally as "rañas".^[3]

History

This mountainous area was the scenario of the Battle of the Sierra Guadalupe, a bloody conflict at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.^[4]

Related Research Articles

Extremadura is an autonomous community of the western Iberian Peninsula whose capital city is Mérida, recognised by the Statute of Autonomy of Extremadura. It is made up of the two largest provinces of Spain: Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by the provinces of Salamanca and Ávila to the north; by provinces of Toledo and Ciudad Real to the east, and by the provinces of Huelva, Seville, and Córdoba (Andalusia) to the south; and by Portugal to the west. Its official language is Spanish.

The province of Ciudad Real is a province in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is bordered by the provinces of Cuenca, Albacete, Jaén, Córdoba, Badajoz, and Toledo. It is partly located in the old natural region of La Mancha. Its capital is Ciudad Real. It is the third largest province by area in all of Spain, after Cáceres and Badajoz. The historic comarca Campo de Calatrava is located in the center of the province.

The province of Badajoz is a province of western Spain located in the autonomous community of Extremadura. It was formed in 1833. It is bordered by the provinces of Cáceres in the north, Toledo, Ciudad Real in the east, Córdoba in the south-east, Seville, and Huelva in the south and Portugal in the west.

The province of Cáceres is a province of western Spain, and makes up the northern half of the autonomous community of Extremadura. Its capital is the city of Cáceres. Other cities in the province include Plasencia, Coria, Navalmoral de la Mata and Trujillo, the birthplace of Francisco Pizarro González. As of 2014, the province had 408,703 inhabitants, of whom a quarter lived in the capital. The Tagus river runs through the province.

In Spain traditionally and historically, some autonomous communities are also divided into comarcas.

The Sierra Morena is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. It stretches for 450 kilometres from east to west across the south of the Iberian Peninsula, forming the southern border of the Meseta Central plateau and providing the watershed between the valleys of the Guadiana to the north and the west, and the Guadalquivir to the south.

The Cantabrian Mountains or Cantabrian Range are one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. They stretch for over 300 km (180 miles) across northern Spain, from the western limit of the Pyrenees to the Galician Massif in Galicia, along the coast of the Cantabrian Sea. Their easternmost end meets the Sistema Ibérico.

Castilblanco is a municipality located in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2005 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 1146 inhabitants.

Guadalupe (Spain) tributary of the Guadiana, in Spain

The Guadalupe or Guadalupejo river is a right hand tributary of the Guadiana, in Spain.

Las Vegas Altas, also known as Vegas Altas del Guadiana, is a comarca in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. Its capital and administrative center is the urban area of the municipalities of Don Benito and Villanueva de la Serena. The comarca contains 16 municipalities and 90,697 inhabitants.

Serra de la Valldàngel or Serra de la Vall d'Àngel,, is a mountain range in the Baix Maestrat comarca, Castellón Province, Valencian Community, Spain.

Sierra de la Virgen is a mountain range in the Aranda and Comunidad de Calatayud comarcas, Aragon, Spain. It is located south of the Moncayo Massif between the valleys of the Jalón and the Aranda rivers, rising north of the N-234 road, roughly between Calatayud and Torrelapaja.

The Guadarranque is a short coastal river of Spain in the Andalusian comarca of Campo de Gibraltar in the province of Cádiz. It is impounded to form the Embalse de Guadarranque. Its name is derived from the Arab Wadi Ramke or "river of mares" The Guadarrranque, 43 kilometres (27 mi) long, rises in the monte de Castellar, a short distance from the city of Castellar Viejo, and empties into the Bay of Algeciras.

Serra de São Mamede is a mountain range in Portalegre District, Portugal. This range is named after Saint Mammes. Together with the Serra de Arraiolos, the Serra de São Mamede is one of the few places in the Alentejo region where there might be snow in the winter.

Sierra de San Pedro is a mountain range in the greater Montes de Toledo range, Spain. It is named after Saint Peter the apostle and rises in the limits of Cáceres and Badajoz Provinces, in the western part of the autonomous community of Extremadura close to its border with Portugal. This range gives its name to the Sierra de San Pedro - Los Baldíos comarca.

References

↑ Villuercas Ibores Jara - Red Extremeña de Desarrollo Rural
↑ Julio Muñoz Jiménez, Los Montes de Toledo. Estudios de Geografía Física. Departamento de Geografía de la Universidad de Oviedo. Instituto J. S. Elcano (CSIC), Oviedo 1976
↑ Geoparque - El patrimonio geológico de la comarca de Las Villuercas
↑ Hugh Thomas, The Spanish Civil War. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1961

External links

Media related to Sierra de Villuercas at Wikimedia Commons
Las Villuercas
Las Villuercas - Ibores guide
Pictures of las Villuercas
Nieve en Las Villuercas II

This article about a location in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Villuercas Ibores Jara - Red Extremeña de Desarrollo Rural

[2] Julio Muñoz Jiménez, Los Montes de Toledo. Estudios de Geografía Física. Departamento de Geografía de la Universidad de Oviedo. Instituto J. S. Elcano (CSIC), Oviedo 1976

[3] Geoparque - El patrimonio geológico de la comarca de Las Villuercas

[4] Hugh Thomas, The Spanish Civil War. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1961