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SIERRA NEVADA, THE

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 57 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SIERRA See also:

NEVADA, THE , a See also:mountain range of See also:southern See also:Spain, in the provinces of See also:Granada and Amerfa. The Sierra Nevada is a well-defined range, about 55 M. See also:long and 25 M. broad, situated to the See also:south of the See also:Guadalquivir valley, and stretching from the upper valley of the See also:river Genii or Jenil eastwards to the valley of the river See also:Almeria. It owes its name, meaning "the snowy range, " to the fact that several of its peaks exceed ro,000 feet in height and are thus above the limit of perpetual See also:snow. Its culminating point, the Cerro de Mulhacen or Mulahacen (11,421 ft.) reaches an See also:altitude unequalled in Spain, while one of the neighbouring peaks, called the Picacho de Veleta (11,148 ft.), is only surpassed by Aneto (11,168 ft.), the loftiest See also:summit of the See also:Pyrenees. The Sierra Nevada is composed chiefly of soft micaceous See also:schists, sinking precipitously down on the See also:north, but sloping more gradually to the south and south-See also:east. On both sides deep transverse valleys (barrancas) follow one another in See also:close See also:succession, in many cases with See also:round, See also:basin-shaped heads like the cirques of the Pyrenees (q.v.). In many of these cirques See also:lie alpine lakes, and in one of them, the See also:Corral de Veleta, there is even a small See also:glacier, the most southerly in See also:Europe. The transverse valleys open on the south into the See also:longitudinal valleys of the See also:Alpujarras (q.v.). On the north, east and See also:west there are various See also:minor ranges, such as the Sierras of Parapanda, Harana, See also:Goa, See also:Baza, See also:Lucena, Cazorla, Estancias, Filabres, &c., which are connected with the See also:main range, and are sometimes collectively termed the Sierra Nevada See also:system. The See also:coast ranges, or Sierra Penibetica, are not included in this See also:group. The Sierras de See also:Segura See also:form a connecting See also:link between the Sierra Morena and the Nevada system.

End of Article: SIERRA NEVADA, THE

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