Catalonian Mountains

mountains in northeastern Spain, stretching about 250 km from northeast to southwest along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, from the Pyrenees to the lower course of the Ebro River. They consist of two parallel chains, a maritime chain with elevations of 400–600 m, and an interior chain with elevations to 1, 712 m (Mount Montseny), divided by a longitudinal tectonic basin. The mountains are composed of Paleozoic crystalline rock (granites, quartzites, and others, mainly in the northern part), as well as of Mesozoic and Cenozoic limestones, sandstones, and clay. There is karst. The climate is Mediterranean. The mountains are covered by forests of several species of oak, chestnut, beech, Aleppo pine, stone pine, and maquis. The foothills and foothill plains are sites of olive plantations, vineyards, orchards, and corn and wheat fields.