Jalón (river)
Encyclopedia
The river Jalón is located in the northeast of Spain
, and is one of the principal tributaries
of the Ebro
. It has a length of 224 kilometres (139.2 mi) and drains a watershed of 9338 square kilometres (3,605.4 sq mi). The flow rate
in Calatayud
is 20.8 m3/s, but is highly irregular due to the great range of Mediterranean rainfall patterns.
The course of the river forms the main communication route between the Castilian Plateau and the Ebro. Until the late twentieth century, roads and railways between Madrid
and Zaragoza
followed this path.
(Soria
), and then runs through Arcos de Jalón
, to Monreal de Ariza
, province of Zaragoza
, Aragón
.
The tributary river Nágima joins at Monreal de Ariza
and the Henar at Cetina
before the river enters a limestone gorge
at Alhama de Aragón
. The Jalón then meanders through the Paleozoic
zones of the Cordillera Ibérica
near Bubierca
, being joined by the Piedra
at Castejón de las Armas
, and the Manubles at Ateca
. At Calatayud
, the river expands into a broad valley and is joined by the Jiloca
, Perejiles and Ribota. The next section meanders through the Sierra de Algairén
and the Sierra de la Virgen
.
Once out of the mountains the river enters the Ebro
valley and is joined by the rivers Aranda, Grío and Alpartir before joining the Ebro at Torres de Berrellén
, a suburb of the city of Zaragoza
.
s, eagle
s, and vulture
s. Other species include owl
s, wren
s, and herons. Poplar
, willow
and ash. Carp
, trout
and eel
s were economically important in the past and are returning as pollution is being combated. The Plan Hidrológico del río Jalón, a river management plan, was adopted by the Spanish Ministry of the Environment and the governments of Aragon, Castile and León
and Castile-La Mancha
in 2007.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and is one of the principal tributaries
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the Ebro
Ebro
The Ebro or Ebre is one of the most important rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the biggest river by discharge volume in Spain.The Ebro flows through the following cities:*Reinosa in Cantabria.*Miranda de Ebro in Castile and León....
. It has a length of 224 kilometres (139.2 mi) and drains a watershed of 9338 square kilometres (3,605.4 sq mi). The flow rate
Volumetric flow rate
The volumetric flow rate in fluid dynamics and hydrometry, is the volume of fluid which passes through a given surface per unit time...
in Calatayud
Calatayud
Calatayud is a city and municipality in the province of Zaragoza in Aragón, Spain lying on the river Jalón, in the midst of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range. It is the second-largest city in the province after the capital, Zaragoza, and the largest town in Aragón other than the three provincial...
is 20.8 m3/s, but is highly irregular due to the great range of Mediterranean rainfall patterns.
The course of the river forms the main communication route between the Castilian Plateau and the Ebro. Until the late twentieth century, roads and railways between Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
followed this path.
Geography
The Jalón rises in one of the springs at the foot of the Sierra Ministra, in an old fountain located at the base of Monteagudillo, a hill in Benamira, MedinaceliMedinaceli
Medinaceli is a municipality and town in the province of Soria . Its name derives from the Arabic toponym madīnat sālim . The town is named after one Salim bin Waral, head of a Masmuda Berber family which settled there in the 8th century....
(Soria
Soria (province)
Soria is a province of central Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. Most of the province is in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico areaIt is bordered by the provinces of La Rioja, Zaragoza, Guadalajara, Segovia, and Burgos....
), and then runs through Arcos de Jalón
Arcos de Jalón
Arcos de Jalón is a municipality located in the province of Soria, Castile and León, Spain. , it has a population of 1,782....
, to Monreal de Ariza
Monreal de Ariza
Monreal de Ariza is a municipality located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 257 inhabitants....
, province of Zaragoza
Zaragoza (province)
Zaragoza is a province of northern Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Aragon.Its capital is Zaragoza, which is also the capital of the autonomous community. Other towns in Zaragoza include Calatayud, Borja, La Almunia de Doña Godina, Ejea de los Caballeros and Tarazona.Its...
, Aragón
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
.
The tributary river Nágima joins at Monreal de Ariza
Monreal de Ariza
Monreal de Ariza is a municipality located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 257 inhabitants....
and the Henar at Cetina
Cetina
Cetina is a river in southern Croatia. It has a length of and its basin covers an area of . Cetina descends from an altitude of 385 m at its source to the sea level when it flows into the Adriatic Sea. It is the most water-rich river in Dalmatia....
before the river enters a limestone gorge
Canyon
A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...
at Alhama de Aragón
Alhama de Aragón
Alhama de Aragón is a spa town located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, situated on the river Jalón, a tributary of the Ebro. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 1,150 inhabitants....
. The Jalón then meanders through the Paleozoic
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...
zones of the Cordillera Ibérica
Sistema Ibérico
The Sistema Ibérico or Iberian System is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain.It is a vast and complex system of mountain chains and massifs located in the central regions of the Iberian Peninsula, but reaching almost the Mediterranean coast in the Land of Valencia in the east.From...
near Bubierca
Bubierca
Bubierca is a municipality located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 92 inhabitants....
, being joined by the Piedra
Piedra (Spain)
The Piedra is a short river in central north east Spain, a tributary of the river Jalón. It rises near Campillo de Dueñas, in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha. The Piedra has an irregular flow, due to the long dry season of the summer months, with often heavy rainfall in the spring...
at Castejón de las Armas
Castejón de las Armas
Castejón de las Armas is a municipality located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. The River Piedra joins the Jalón here. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 99 inhabitants....
, and the Manubles at Ateca
Ateca
Ateca is a municipality located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 2,044 inhabitants.Sister city is Lézat sur Lèze in France http://www.lezat.fr...
. At Calatayud
Calatayud
Calatayud is a city and municipality in the province of Zaragoza in Aragón, Spain lying on the river Jalón, in the midst of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range. It is the second-largest city in the province after the capital, Zaragoza, and the largest town in Aragón other than the three provincial...
, the river expands into a broad valley and is joined by the Jiloca
Jiloca (river)
The Jiloca is a river in Aragón, Spain, a tributary of the river Jalón, and part of the watershed of the Ebro basin. The course of the river runs through the provinces of Teruel and Zaragoza. It has a length of and an average flow rate of , although this varies between the seasons...
, Perejiles and Ribota. The next section meanders through the Sierra de Algairén
Sierra de Algairén
Sierra de Algairén is a mountain range in Aragon, Spain, located between the comarcas of Campo de Cariñena and Comunidad de Calatayud. The ridge's highest summit is Pico de Valdemadera ....
and the Sierra de la Virgen
Sierra de la Virgen
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 ridge is aligned...
.
Once out of the mountains the river enters the Ebro
Ebro
The Ebro or Ebre is one of the most important rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the biggest river by discharge volume in Spain.The Ebro flows through the following cities:*Reinosa in Cantabria.*Miranda de Ebro in Castile and León....
valley and is joined by the rivers Aranda, Grío and Alpartir before joining the Ebro at Torres de Berrellén
Torres de Berrellén
Torres de Berrellén is a municipality located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 1,450 inhabitants....
, a suburb of the city of Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
.
Ecology
Much of the course of the Jalón has been declared a Special Zone for Bird Protection. Birdlife includes falconFalcon
A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....
s, eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
s, and vulture
Vulture
Vulture is the name given to two groups of convergently evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains...
s. Other species include owl
Owl
Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
s, wren
Wren
The wrens are passerine birds in the mainly New World family Troglodytidae. There are approximately 80 species of true wrens in approximately 20 genera....
s, and herons. Poplar
Poplar
Populus is a genus of 25–35 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar , aspen, and cottonwood....
, willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
and ash. Carp
Carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...
, trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
and eel
Eel
Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...
s were economically important in the past and are returning as pollution is being combated. The Plan Hidrológico del río Jalón, a river management plan, was adopted by the Spanish Ministry of the Environment and the governments of Aragon, Castile and León
Castile and León
Castile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was so constituted in 1983 and it comprises the historical regions of León and Old Castile...
and Castile-La Mancha
Castile-La Mancha
Castile-La Mancha is an autonomous community of Spain. Castile-La Mancha is bordered by Castile and León, Madrid, Aragon, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia, and Extremadura. It is one of the most sparsely populated of Spain's autonomous communities...
in 2007.