Understanding Iberian Peninsula’s Hydrology, Climate, and Soil

Posted on Nov 22, 2024 in Geology

Factors of the Iberian Peninsula

Climate

Influenced by temperature and rainfall, Spain has two main climatic zones: wet (oceanic) Spain and dry (Mediterranean) Spain.

Relief

The relief influences watersheds, the erosive capacity of rivers and lakes, and aquifers. The terrain also affects the feasibility of hydraulic works. The type of rock determines water filtration capacity.

Vegetation

Vegetation curbs erosion, protects from solar radiation, and reduces evaporation.

Human Impact

Humans both utilize water resources and construct works to regulate them.

Hydrological Elements

  • Absolute Flow: The amount of water passing through a point in a second (measured in m³/s).
  • Flood: Maximum river flow.
  • Drought: Minimum river flow.
  • Irregularity Coefficient: Calculated by dividing the average annual maximum flow by the average annual minimum flow.
    • (-3) Regular
    • (3-7) Semiregular
    • (+7) Irregular
  • River Regime: Seasonal variation of river flow, dependent on rainfall.
    • Nival Regime: Rivers originating in high mountains, often with frost and snow. Floods occur in summer and spring due to melting ice; low flow in winter.
    • Rainfall Patterns: Flow depends on precipitation. For example, oceanic climates have maximum flow in winter, while Mediterranean climates have maximums in spring and fall.
    • Mixed Regime:
      • Nivo-pluvial: Significant flow from snowmelt.
      • Pluvio-nival: Maximum flow from rainfall.
  • Watershed: Land area where water drains into a main river and its tributaries. Within each watershed, rivers create a hierarchical drainage network.
  • Hydrographic Basin: Set of watersheds draining into the same sea.

River Characteristics by Region

  • Cantabrian Watershed:
    1. Short rivers originating in mountains near the coast.
    2. High erosive forces, but mitigated by vegetation.
    3. Regular flow and regime, primarily from rainfall.
  • Atlantic Watershed:
    1. Irregular regime.
    2. Long rivers originating near the Mediterranean.
    3. Flows through plains.
    4. Summer drought and floods in spring and fall.
  • Mediterranean Watershed:
    1. Short rivers, such as the Ebro.
    2. Significant erosion and sediment transport.
    3. Very irregular regime.
    4. Summer drought and catastrophic autumn floods.
    5. Torrents that only carry water after rainfall.
  • Balearic and Canary Islands: No permanent rivers. Only streams (intermittent water flows) and torrents.

Lakes

Endogenous Lakes (Formed by Earth’s Internal Phenomena)

  • Volcanic Lakes: Formed in craters of ancient volcanoes (e.g., Campo de Calatrava).
  • Tectonic Lakes: Formed by land subsidence due to faulting.

Exogenous Lakes (Formed by External Phenomena)

  • Glacial Lakes: Formed by glacial excavation, creating cirques or valley lakes.
  • Karstic Lakes: Formed in areas where limestone or gypsum has dissolved.
  • Endorheic Lakes: Found in arid or semiarid flat regions. Water cannot reach the sea and evaporates or diminishes.
  • Aeolian Lakes: Formed by wind erosion in soft materials.
  • Coastal Lakes or Lagoons: Saltwater lakes separated from the sea by a coastal barrier.

Wetlands

Extensions of land covered by shallow water (e.g., lagoons, marshes, deltas, albuferas).

Aquifers

Underground water reservoirs formed when rainwater infiltrates the ground and accumulates above an impermeable layer. Water discharges through springs, rivers, the ocean, or directly. Aquifers are particularly important in the Canary and Balearic Islands.

Vegetation

Vegetation refers to the plant cover of a territory. It consists of plant formations (groups of individual plants with similar size and physiognomy). Physical factors influencing vegetation include climate, terrain, soil, and location on the peninsula. Human factors include the introduction of new species and vegetation degradation.

Oceanic Climate Vegetation

  • Deciduous Forests: Trees lose their leaves annually in autumn and regrow them in spring.
    • Beech Forests: Require abundant and frequent rainfall. Thrive on siliceous and calcareous soils. Produce high-quality wood used for furniture and tools. Grow rapidly in the Navarrese Pyrenees and Cantabrian Mountains.
    • Oak Forests: Need less humidity than beech forests and are found at lower altitudes. Grow slowly in Galicia and the Cantabrian Mountains. Wood used for construction (buildings and boats). Also includes Pyrenean oak and gall oak forests. Many have been lost and replaced with fast-growing trees (pine and eucalyptus).
  • Heathlands: Dense vegetation of bushes, including heather, gorse, and broom.
  • Meadows: Extensive areas of herbaceous vegetation and grasslands.

Mediterranean Climate Vegetation

  • Evergreen Forests: Trees do not lose their leaves. They are medium-height, with non-straight trunks, thick bark, and a rounded crown.
    • Holm Oak Forests: Adapt to all soil types and have very hard, resistant wood. Acorns are used for livestock feed. Wood used for carpentry and tools.
    • Cork Oak Forests: Require some moisture, mild winters, and siliceous soils. Found from the Duero River to the lower Guadalquivir. Wood used for barrels, ships, and cork.
    • Pine Forests: Secondary forests adapted to various conditions. Often replaced by faster-growing species.
    • Dehesa System: Clearing of holm and cork oak forests, combining fruit, firewood, and timber production. Protects the soil while allowing for agriculture and grazing.
  • Shrublands: Result from forest degradation due to human activity.
    • Maquis: Dense scrubland with tall shrubs (up to 2m), including rockrose, heather, broom, and lentisc.
    • Garrigue: Less dense shrubland with low-level plants, such as thyme, rosemary, and lavender.
    • Steppe: Discontinuous vegetation with grasses, low shrubs, and scattered spiny plants, such as palm, thyme, and asparagus.

Riparian Vegetation

ACTION OF LOW X AME.
MOUNTAIN: -> PYRENEES. DISTRIBUTED IN VEGETATION 4PISOS: * BASEMENT FLOOR, 1200M, INCLUDES oaks and holm oaks. * Subalpine: 1200-2400M, INCLUDING CONIFERS (FIR, PINE BLACK OR Pine). * FLOOR ALPINE: 2400-3000M, X INCLUDES SNOW COVERED MEADOW AND GROW ABOUND PEKEÑOS bare rocks and plants adapted to LIVING IN ROCKS. * FLAT Nival: +3000 M, NO AY VEGETATION Due to the snow. Specific places where the snow disappears, K AY PEKEÑOS PLANTS AS Liken and mosses. -> MOUNTAIN PENINSULA. LACK subalpine. * BASEMENT FLOOR: BOSKE features of the weather (OJA Expires on perennial Atlantic and Mediterranean). * FLAT SUPRAFORESTAL: PEKEÑOS ALBUSTROS K varies depending on climate. * AT THE TOP: THE BLACK ATLANTIC ZONE IN MEDITERRANEAN AND SCRUB.
CANARY ISLANDS: VEGETATION OF GREAT INFLUENCE WITH RIKEZA Mediterranean, Atlantic and Africa. + IMPOR. Enden (OWN there) RELIKIAS (VEGETATION K occupy large tracts at other times). VEGETATION LOCATED IN FLOOR: * 1st FLOOR: FROM SEA LEVEL ASTA LS 300-500M, is characterized X aridity. SCRUB ABOUND RALOS and ASPERA (Lardon and TABAIBA). * 2nd FLOOR: 200-800M, + K ACE AS POSSIBLE WET K GROW PALMS, DRAGO and Sabinas. * 3rd FLOOR: 800-1200M, 2Further: WOODED (BOSKE laurel, DENSO Y + 20 species) BOSKE FRAYAL-HEATH (X laurel DEGRADATION ACTION OF AME). * 4th FLOOR: 1200-2200m, BOSKE of conifers, mainly PINE CANARY. * 5 th FLOOR: +2200 M, Tenerife and La Palma. GREAT Nudez or absence of vegetation, with bushes scattered but Foristas RIKEZA HIGH (widow of TEIDE).
SOILS:SURFACE LAYER OF THE EARTH’S CRUST. SOLID is composed of elements (fungi or bacteria, water and oxygen). THE SCIENCE IS THE K EDEFOLIGIA out the soil. -> Soil formation: * ROCK MOM: MINERAL SUBSTRATE FROM WHICH TO FORM A FLOOR CAN BE: Silicea (LOOSE and permeable), Chalice (thick and permeable) and clay ( COMPACT AND WATERPROOF). + INFLUENCE IN THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF THE SOIL. If it rains A LOT, arid and + POOR SOIL AS THIS CAN BE ZONAL OR CLIMAX AND Azonal E Intrazonal. * TOPOGRAPHY: ACCUMULATE soled flats and steeply AY + erosion and landslides. * LIVING: PLANTS THAT CAN INFLUENCE INCREASING impoverish or soil fertility. EJ: Fungi and bacteria decompose organic matter and HUMUS FORM. Can destroy or improve the soil. * TIME: BY THE LEVEL OF EVOLUTION soil is different: young soils (Do not complete its development) and often progress. -> HORIZONS AND PROFILE: THE SET OF FORM Orizont the soil profile: * HOR. A: + SURFACE, high in humus and dark colors. IS LAND OF DRAG WORK AND SUFFERING elements, water carries substances. * HOR. B: + CLEAR BY THE ABSENCE OF HUMUS, distinguishes a first layer of accumulation, and a transition to C. * HOR.CYD: IS IN DEPTH. FORMED HOR.C bedrock ALTERED X and segment. HOR. D is NOT ALTERED X bedrock. -> SOIL TYPES: – ZONAL: * Ocean Climate. EVOLUTION, rich in organic matter and acid RAIN AND K ARRSTRAN THE SURFACE BASS. Reinforced when aridity SEE THE ROCK IS AND VGTACION SILICEA SSTITUY X SE pine or eucalyptus. 1 ROKEDO SILICEO: brown earth Umeda (GREAT FOR FARMING), Rankers (ZONA + HIGH OR PNDIENTE under rigorous EROSION, ACT TO GRASS AND BOSKE, NNKA FOR CROP) 2nd ROKEDO Calyx: EARTH BROWN LIMESTONE (Xcelent FOR CULTURE, AS BEAN AND CORN) TERRA Fusco (CALIZADURA AND AREA ON MOUNTAIN). * WEATHER meditterraneo. ALTERED X VERY ACTION MAN AND THE EROSION. ROCA 1 Silica: TIEERA BROWN SOUTHERN, WITH POOR SOIL HUMUS AND STRUCTURE SHORTAGE LOOSE, EASY erosion. IS DEDICATED TO RANGE OF OAK AND GRASSLAND. Limestone 2nd: RED MEDITERRANEAN SOIL (rich in nutrients and Excelnte for cultivation), TERRA ROSSA (hard limestone, meadow-BOSKE DOMINATE OR SCRUB AND CULTURE OF TREE) 3rd clay and marl: Tierra Negra. 4th steppe climate: GRAY LAND O Subdesert SEROSEM (ALMOST ALWAYS DRY AND RICO in limestone and poor in humus, sparse vegetation). -AZONLES: DO NOT HAVE A profile defines, for being young. SOIL Intrazonal, WELL-DEFINED PROFILE: THE PARDOS Chalice and Rendzinas over limestone, alluvial riverside mired in endorheic AREAS, SANDBLASTING, salinity of the marshes and VOLCANO.