Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 4.4
The southern landforms of Sierra Nevada (photo by the authors)
drained by the deeply incised Guadalfeo river and its northern tributaries, and to the
south is separated from the Mediterranean by the Sierra Contraviesa.
The mountain front shows well-developed triangular facets produced by stream
dissection along the southwest border of the Sierra Nevada (Birot, 1965; Riley
and Moore, 1993). These facets suggest active faulting during the Quaternary
(Silva, 1994). Also suggestive are triangular facets at different elevations that
suggest several stages of uplift and reactivation of tectonic process (Riley and
Moore, 1993). The classic landscape related to the morphological phenomena of
soil degradation is well recognizable on these slopes. Only in the alluvial terraces
along the watercourses are some areas of soil present; in these areas an intensive
agriculture has developed.
4.8 Characteristic mountain landscapes
of the Mediterranean islands
4.8.1 Sardinian mountain landscape
The mountain landscape of Sardinia is characterized by the presence of the Gennar-
gentu massif, a Palaeozoic massif whose peaks reach the highest heights at Bruncu
Spina (1829 m) and Punta La Marmora (1834 m). The Gennargentu gives rise to the
main waterways of eastern Sardinia: the Cedrino and the Flumendosa rivers.
