Sistema Iberico

mountains in the northeastern Pyrenees peninsula in Spain, near the northeastern edge of the Meseta. The mountains extend 440 km from the northwest to the southeast with a maximum elevation of 2,313 m (Moncayo). The Sistema Iberico, consisting of folded block massifs, is composed of mesozoic limestones, multicolored sandstones, and quartzites. A depression occupied by the valley of the Jalon River divides the mountains into tall massifs with alpine peaks to the northwest (for example, the Sierra de la Demanda and the Sierra del Moncayo) and lower, karstic massifs to the southeast (for example, the Sierra de Gúdar). Mediterranean shrubs grow there; in the northwestern region there are also coniferous and oak forests. Iron ore deposits are located in the Sistema Iberico.