The Baetic System or Betic System () is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. Located in the southern and eastern Iberian Peninsula, it is also known as the Cordilleras Béticas (Baetic Mountain Ranges) or Baetic Mountains. The name of the mountain system derives from the ancient Roman region of Baetica, one of the Imperial Roman provinces of ancient Hispania.
Geography
The Baetic System is made up of multiple mountain ranges that reach from western Andalusia to the Region of Murcia, southern Castile-La Mancha and southern Land of Valencia. To the north, the Baetic Ranges are separated from the Meseta Central and the Sierra Morena by the basin of the Guadalquivir. The Iberian System rises north of the eastern part of the Prebaetic System, the northernmost prolongation of the Baetic System. Generally the mountain ranges that are part of this system are aligned in a southwest-northeast direction.
The most well-known range of the Baetic System is the Sierra Nevada, where the Mulhacén, the highest mountain in continental Spain and in the Iberian Peninsula is found. The Rock of Gibraltar is also considered to be part of the Baetic System, but not the Cabo de Gata area further east which includes rocks of volcanic origin.
Geology
The Baetic System as a geological feature belongs to a larger orogeny usually called the Gibraltar Arc, which represents the westernmost edge of the Alpine Orogeny. The geodynamic mechanisms responsible for its formation are so far relatively unknown.
Geologically the Rif mountains in Morocco and the Serra de Tramuntana in the island of Majorca are extensions of the Baetic System. The Gibraltar Arc geological region follows the Moroccan coast from Oujda in the east to Tangier in the west, then crosses the Strait of Gibraltar and goes east again from Cádiz to Valencia and the Balearic Islands.
Ecology
The Baetic System is home to a number of Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub plant communities, including shrublands, oak woodlands, broadleaf forests, and coniferous forests, which vary with elevation, soils, and topography.
The Baetic System, together with the Rif Mountains of Morocco, which face the Baetic Ranges across the Alboran Sea, is one of the Mediterranean basin's ten biodiversity hotspots, known to ecologists as the Baetic-Rifan complex. The Baetic mountains are home to a rich assemblage of Mediterranean plants, including a number of relict species from the ancient laurel forests, which covered much of the Mediterranean basin millions of years ago when it was more humid.
Subdivision
The Baetic System is divided into the following sub-chains:
Penibaetic System
The Penibaetic System includes the highest point in the peninsula, the 3,478 m high Mulhacén in the Sierra Nevada; other ranges and features are:
Serranía de Ronda
Rock of Gibraltar
Sierra de las Nieves
Sierra Blanca
Cordillera Antequerana
Sierra de Tejeda
Sierra de Almijara
Sierra de Alhama
Sierra Nevada
Sierra de Lújar
Sierra de la Contraviesa
Sierra de Cogollos
Sierra de Gádor
Sierra de Baza
Sierra de los Filabres
Sierra de Alhamilla
Sierra Espuña
Sierra Cabrera
Sierra de las Estancias
The Surco Intrabético comprises a series of valleys and depressions separating the Penibaetic from the Subbaetic System
Subbaetic System
The Subbaetic System occupies a central position within the Baetic System. Highest point high Peña de la Cruz in Sierra Arana.
Sierra del Aljibe, includes the Alcornocales Natural Park
Sierra de Grazalema
Sierra de Gibalbín
Sierras Subbéticas de Córdoba
Sierra Elvira
Sierra de Loja
Sierra de Arana
Sierra de Cogollos
Sierra de la Alfaguara
Sierra de Huétor
Sierra Sur de Jaén overlapping with the Prebaetic System
Prebaetic System
The Prebaetic System is the northernmost feature of the whole Baetic System. Highest point 2,382 m high La Sagra.