Key Iberian Geographical Features and Climatic Phenomena
Berrocal
Also called “chaos of balls,” berrocals are formed by the decomposition of granite, an impermeable rock that is hard but susceptible to chemical decomposition. This decomposition is intense in crack networks. Water seeps into cracks, and ice breaks the rock. This landscape is common in the Central System, particularly in the Manzanares Pedriza.
Cárcava
A recess or deep gully in the ground caused by water force on clay and loam, impermeable rocks. A set of gullies is called badlands. Gullies are found in semiarid areas with low and intermittent rainfall (or Mediterranean areas with heavy rain). A regional example is the landscape of Las Barrancas in Puebla de Montalbán, Toledo.
Cerro Testigo
Hard and soft horizontal rock layers where erosion has sculpted horizontal landscapes. Rivers eroding soft layers form hills. If a plateau is eroded, flat-topped hills remain as witnesses.
Cuenca Sedimentaria
Ebro Depression
A depression on the Earth’s surface where sediments accumulate. Tertiary sediments filled with limestone, marl, sandstone, and clay. Sedimentary rocks form over millions of years. In the peninsula, there are two types: those caused by the collapse of a base’s edge and those located on both sides of the Alpine ranges. Sedimentary basins have a horizontal or slightly sloping landscape.
Greenhouse Effect
Retention of long-wave radiation (heat) emitted by the Earth in the lower atmosphere due to water and CO2. It conserves heat, preventing the gradual cooling that would preclude life.
Falla
A fracture in a rock layer caused by geological movements, displacing one block relative to the other. In the peninsula, faults are found in Paleozoic materials, raised areas, and sunken depressions in the plateau’s interior.
Albufera
A saltwater lagoon separated from the sea by a coastal ridge. The lagoon can have temporary or permanent contact with the sea and eventually be infilled by terrestrial inputs. Example: the Albufera of Valencia.
Thermal Amplitude
The annual temperature difference between the warmest and coldest month’s average temperature. Daily temperature oscillation also exists. An oscillation less than 15°C is typical near the coast, increasing inland. In Spain, it is less than 8°C in the Canary Islands but high in the country’s center (Toledo).
Azores High
A high-pressure center around 30°N in the eastern Atlantic. Air mass convergence causes downward movement and expulsion of tropical air. This warm air reaches northern latitudes (SW-NE direction), determining mid-latitude westerlies. Descending air creates atmospheric stability. It affects the peninsula’s climate, especially in summer.
Aridity
Characterized by insignificant rainfall and dry air. Temperatures vary greatly due to the lack of water vapor and clouds. Causes include atmospheric circulation, continental conditions, mountain barriers, and cold ocean currents.
Caducifolio Forest
A forest of trees that shed leaves in autumn and regrow them in spring. Tree species predominate, though in Spain, there are few, such as oak and beech, and others like chestnut, birch, hazel, ash, and elm. Spring brings diverse mosses and ferns covering the ground. It is typical of oceanic and mountain climates.
Desertification
The result of human action on an ecosystem, leading to the disappearance of native vegetation and its transformation into an arid or semiarid region. In Spain, it is acute in southern areas like Almería.
Foehn Effect
Orographic precipitation. Mountain barriers cause wind flows to rise and fall. Moist air forced up windward slopes cools, increasing humidity, causing saturation, condensation, and orographic rainfall. Common in the Cantabrian region. When the wind descends, humidity decreases, and clouds dissipate.
Frente
The contact surface between two air masses of different origins and characteristics. This area is tilted, as dense air enters as a wedge below lighter air.
Gota Fría
Cold drops are storms created from deep valleys or jet stream bottlenecks, separating with cyclonic motion. This storm forces warm, moist air to ascend violently, leading to abundant, often torrential, rainfall in short periods. Characteristic of the Spanish Levante in autumn.
Isotherm
Lines on a map connecting points of equal temperature. In the peninsula, they are smoother near the sea and descend inland, north, or at higher altitudes.
Karstic Model
Emergence of narrow gorges, hills, and potholes in plateau areas (poljes), where rivers disappear into sinks and long grooves mark the rock. Example: Cuenca.
Hercynian Orogeny
The geological process in the Primary Era that formed most of the peninsula’s mountains, including the Hesperian Massif, Arquitana, the Catalano-Balearic Islands, and the Ebro area.
Alpine Orogeny
Geological processes in the Tertiary that raised alpine ranges like the Pyrenees and the Andalusian ranges.
Appalachian Relief
The result of long evolution: ancient folded chains transformed into peneplains by erosion, then elevated and eroded again. Examples in Spain are the mountains between Asturias and Galicia and the Montes de Toledo.