Surco Intrabético
Encyclopedia
The Surco Intrabético is a discontinuous series of valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...

s in the Baetic Cordillera
Baetic Cordillera
The Baetic System is the main system of mountain ranges in Spain. Located in southern and eastern Spain, it is also known as the Baetic Cordillera, Baetic Ranges or Baetic Mountains...

 of Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...

, Spain
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...

, which separate the Cordillera Penibética
Cordillera Penibética
The Cordillera Penibética mountain range is the most southerly of the Baetic Cordillera; it runs along the south coast of Andalusia, from the province of Cádiz, across the province of Almería, into the Region of Murcia...

 to its south from the Cordillera Subbética
Cordillera Subbética
The Subbaetic Mountains or Subbaetic System is one of the two main systems of mountain ranges that is part of the Baetic System in the southern Iberian Peninsula...

 to its north. These valleys run more or less parallel to the Mediterranean coast
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

. Together, these valleys constitute a route from eastern Andalusia and the valley of the Guadalquivir
Guadalquivir
The Guadalquivir is the fifth longest river in the Iberian peninsula and the second longest river to be its whole length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is 657 kilometers long and drains an area of about 58,000 square kilometers...

 to the Spanish Levante
Levante, Spain
The Levante is a name used to refer to the eastern region of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. It roughly corresponds to the former Xarq Al-Andalus, but has no modern geopolitical definition...

, the eastern Mediterranean coastal region of Spain. From west to east, the valleys of the Depression of Ronda
Depression of Ronda
The Depression of Ronda is a sedimentary basin in the form of a plateau located within the Cordillera Penibética, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the series of valleys forming the Surco Intrabético....

, the Hoya of Antequera
Hoya of Antequera
The Hoya of Antequera is a sedimentary basin located in the northern part of the province of Málaga, Andalusia, Spain...

, the Depression of Granada
Depression of Granada
The Depression of Granada or Granada Depression is a totally enclosed valley in Andalusia, Spain. The river Genil runst through the valley upon exiting from the Sierra Nevada until it passes through the Infiernos de Loja...

, the Hoya of Guadix
Hoya of Guadix
The Hoya of Guadix is a natural plain in the northern part of the province of Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It covers some , and is formed by the basins of the Rivers Fardes and Guadix. It is surrounded by the heights of the Sierra Nevada to the south, the Sierra de Baza to the east, the Sierra...

, the Hoya of Baza
Hoya of Baza
The Hoya of Baza is a valley in the northern part of the province of Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the series of valleys forming the Surco Intrabético....

, the Hoya of Huéscar and the Hoya of Lorca.

The valleys of the Surco Intrabético stand in contrast to the adjacent mountain ridges that define their collective border and the rocky spurs—formed of limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

, and yielding a dry, nearly treeless landscape—that separate them from one another in that they are formed of soft materials such as clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...

s, silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...

s and conglomerates
Conglomerate (geology)
A conglomerate is a rock consisting of individual clasts within a finer-grained matrix that have become cemented together. Conglomerates are sedimentary rocks consisting of rounded fragments and are thus differentiated from breccias, which consist of angular clasts...

, with deep soils suitable for agriculture; the limiting factor to human activity is the scarcity of water.

Literally, Surco Intrabético means "Intrabaetic Groove": that is, a groove within the Baetic Cordillera. This is really a more correct term than Intrabaetic Depression, because much of the Surco Intrabético is at rather high altitudes; hence, it is more of an altiplano
Altiplano
The Altiplano , in west-central South America, where the Andes are at their widest, is the most extensive area of high plateau on Earth outside of Tibet...

 than a depression.

The Surco Intrabético formed at the end Oligocene
Oligocene
The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...

 and beginning of the Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

, as the Baetic ranges were being formed. It is believed that at that time the entire Baetic system was surrounded by water, and the Surco formed a single, continuous valley, sometimes referred to as the Baetic Depression. Later, the spurs crossing the Surco were raised up, turning it into a series of separate valleys.

The valleys of the Surco Intrabético are quite heterogeneous, although all are sedimentary basin
Sedimentary basin
The term sedimentary basin is used to refer to any geographical feature exhibiting subsidence and consequent infilling by sedimentation. As the sediments are buried, they are subjected to increasing pressure and begin the process of lithification...

s. The Depression of Ronda, the westernmost of the valleys, falls fully within the Cordillera Penibética. The Hoya of Antequera is intimately related to the original Baetic Depression: it was a great gulf
Bay
A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...

 of the sea that separated the Sierra Morena
Sierra Morena
The Sierra Morena is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain.It stretches for 400 kilometres East-West across southern Spain, forming the southern border of the Meseta Central plateau of the Iberian Peninsula, and providing the watershed between the valleys of the Guadiana to the...

 from the Andalusian ranges. The Depression of Granada is intermediate between the Penibético and Subbético. Finally the Hoyas of Guadix, Baza and Huéscar are more related to the Subbético.

The Surco Intrabético provides a route for Autovía A-92
Autovía A-92
The Autovía A-92 is a highway in Andalusia, Spain. It is a major east–west route running north of the Sierra Nevada and is known as the Carretera Sevilla a Granada and Autovía de Andalucia....

 that connects Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...

 to Almería
Almería
Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...

, passing through Antequera
Antequera
Antequera is a city and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. It is known as "the heart of Andalusia" because of its central location among Málaga, Granada, Córdoba, and Seville...

, Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...

, and Guadix
Guadix
Guadix, a city of southern Spain, in the province of Granada; on the left bank of the river Guadix, a sub-tributary of the Guadiana Menor, and on the Madrid-Valdepeñas-Almería railway...

. Its branch Autovía A-92N passes through Cúllar
Cúllar
Cúllar is a municipality located in the province of Granada, Spain. According to the 2005 census , the city has a population of 4898 inhabitants. The linguist Gregorio Salvador Caja is one of its most famous personalities....

 and Baza
Baza
Baza may refer to:*Baza, Granada, a town and municipality in Granada, Spain*Bazas or Aviceda, genus of bird of prey in the Accipitridae family...

 to Puerto Lumbreras
Puerto Lumbreras
Puerto Lumbreras is a Spanish municipality in the autonomous community of Murcia. It has a population of 12,881 and an area of 139 km² .-External links:* *...

, where it meets Autovía A-7
Autovía A-7
The Autovía A-7 is a Spanish autovía which starts in La Jonquera, near the French frontier and ends in Algeciras....

, which, in turn continues to Murcia
Murcia
-History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...

and the Spanish Levante.
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