Sierra Morena
F1
Topographic Map of Spain
The Sierra Morena is a 800-1000 m high, on average, low mountain range which separates out the rest of Andalusia to the north of the plateau of Castile and Extremadura. In the west, the Sierra Morena where the gently rolling Sierra de Aracena and the Sierra Norte in the central and eastern landscapes are more rugged. Here we find the Sierra de Hornachuelos and the Sierra de Cardena - Montoro, followed by the east the Sierra de Andújar and Despeñaperros.
Geology
Geologically, the Sierra Morena to the southern edge of the Castilian Meseta is; show their rounded forms that they must have been in long- past geological epochs. Since then, the erosion could develop their flattening and smoothing effect. It was formed about 350-250 million years ago, in the so-called hercynian - Variscan orogeny phase.
According to their time of origin of the Sierra Morena is mainly of Precambrian and Paleozoic, ie in the Erdfrühzeit and Paleozoic rocks incurred up. This rock is metamorphic in part; that is, it has changed in the course of the earth. In the Sierra Morena mainly occur schist and gneiss. In some places, we also find quartzite that with its more rugged forms of the uniformity of the Sierra Morena breaks, such as in the Sierra Madrona and Despeñaperros. Where magma, liquid molten rock from inside the earth, was able to advance in the earth's crust during mountain building, it solidified into granite, like in Los Pedroches, Linares or Santa Elena.
After a long period of geological calm the Sierra Morena presented during the later Alpine orogeny phase an abutment for which auffaltenden under pressure from the African plate rocks dar. She lifted along the Guadalquivirflexur, so the Guadalquivir absenkte towards the Sierra Morena. The larger difference in height meant that its tributaries cuts deeper into the rock. So the Pass of Despeñaperros has been created that was already considered as a gateway to Andalusia in the story and lead you through the day, both the railway line Madrid- Seville as well as the National Road N IV.
Mineralogy, historical resource
Already under the Phoenicians, mainly from Tyre, Morena minerals were mined in the Sierra ( Tartessos, Almaden de la Plata), especially silver, cinnabar and mercury. The Romans limited the mercury mining in the mines to an annual maximum of 5000 kilos, which were sent to Rome and processed there. Even under Arab rule were the occurrence - in Almaden are the largest deposits of cinnabar in the world - further exploited (al- ma ʿ Adin, " the minerals, the mines "). From the mercury deposits the silver mines of America were supplied (Mexico, Peru), since the mid-16th century. worked with the patio process of Bartolomé de Medina.
Fauna
The Sierra Morena is one of the most important areas of distribution of the critically endangered Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus ). There live about 180 animals of this extremely rare and can only be found on the Iberian peninsula Raubkatzenart.
Mention in the literature
Due to their remoteness, the rich ore deposits and the chemical and technical knowledge which belongs to the mining and has been handed down to a large extent by the Arabs ( Alchemy), surrounded the Sierra Morena long after the Christian conquest (1492 conquest of the last independent Muslim kingdoms, 1502 expulsion of all Muslims from Spain, then pursuit of the secret Muslim and Jewish faith accompanying persons, 1609 and referral of the remaining Moriscos ) the aura of magical and supernatural. In his great novel The Saragossa Manuscript ( 1805/09/15-1847 ) Jan, the Earl Potocki put the region a literary monument.