The Sierra Madre de Oaxaca is a mountain range in southern Mexico . It is primarily in the state of Oaxaca , and extends north into the states of Puebla and Veracruz .
23-537: The mountain range begins at Pico de Orizaba , and extends in a southeasterly direction for 300 km (190 mi) until reaching the Isthmus of Tehuantepec . Peaks in the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca average 2,500 m (8,200 ft) in elevation, with some peaks exceeding 3,000 m (9,800 ft). Cerro Zempoaltépetl is the highest peak in the range. The Sierra is composed of several sub-ranges, including
46-843: A variety of rock types . Most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earth's land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide belt . The Pacific Ring of Fire includes the Andes of South America, extends through the North American Cordillera , the Aleutian Range , on through Kamchatka Peninsula , Japan , Taiwan , the Philippines , Papua New Guinea , to New Zealand . The Andes
69-722: Is 7,000 kilometres (4,350 mi) long and is often considered the world's longest mountain system. The Alpide belt stretches 15,000 km across southern Eurasia , from Java in Maritime Southeast Asia to the Iberian Peninsula in Western Europe , including the ranges of the Himalayas , Karakoram , Hindu Kush , Alborz , Caucasus , and the Alps . The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in
92-476: Is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arisen from the same cause, usually an orogeny . Mountain ranges are formed by a variety of geological processes, but most of the significant ones on Earth are the result of plate tectonics . Mountain ranges are also found on many planetary mass objects in
115-682: Is a town, and the surrounding municipality of the same name, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca . It is some 50 km west of Tuxtepec , and is part of the Tuxtepec District of the Papaloapan Region . The municipality is at an altitude of 140 meters above sea level, and covers 154.38 km , located on the left bank of the Santo Domingo river . The climate is hot, averaging 24.7 °C year round, with rainfall in
138-538: Is at work while the mountains are being uplifted until the mountains are reduced to low hills and plains. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example. As the uplift was occurring some 10,000 feet (3,000 m) of mostly Mesozoic sedimentary strata were removed by erosion over the core of the mountain range and spread as sand and clays across the Great Plains to
161-531: Is drier, having been stripped of much of its moisture. Often, a rain shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. As a consequence, large mountain ranges, such as the Andes, compartmentalize continents into distinct climate regions . Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to erosional forces which work to tear them down. The basins adjacent to an eroding mountain range are then filled with sediments that are buried and turned into sedimentary rock . Erosion
184-594: Is the land of the Sierra Zapotecs . It is the birthplace of Mexico's only indigenous president, Benito Juárez . The main towns of the Sierra Juarez are Ixtlan de Juárez , San Ildefonso Villa Alta, and Villa Hidalgo Yalalag. The Sierra Chinanteca, north of the Sierra Juárez, are home to Chinantec towns including Santiago Comaltepec, San Pedro Yolóx and San Felipe Usila. The Sierra Mixe , as
207-634: The Gulf of Mexico . A number of drier valleys, including the Tehuacán and Cuicatlán valleys and Valley of Oaxaca , lie to the west in the rain shadow of the range. Other major mountain range systems in the region are the Sierra Madre del Sur to the south and southwest along the Pacific coast, and the Sierra Madre de Chiapas to the east across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec . The Blanco River rises at
230-583: The Mithrim Montes and Doom Mons on Titan, and Tenzing Montes and Hillary Montes on Pluto. Some terrestrial planets other than Earth also exhibit rocky mountain ranges, such as Maxwell Montes on Venus taller than any on Earth and Tartarus Montes on Mars . Jupiter's moon Io has mountain ranges formed from tectonic processes including the Boösaule , Dorian, Hi'iaka and Euboea Montes . Jalapa de D%C3%ADaz San Felipe Jalapa de Díaz
253-473: The Ocean Ridge forms the longest continuous mountain system on Earth, with a length of 65,000 kilometres (40,400 mi). The position of mountain ranges influences climate, such as rain or snow. When air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools, producing orographic precipitation (rain or snow). As the air descends on the leeward side, it warms again (following the adiabatic lapse rate ) and
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#1732792008425276-519: The Solar System and are likely a feature of most terrestrial planets . Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys . Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology . They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes , for example thrust sheets , uplifted blocks , fold mountains, and volcanic landforms resulting in
299-939: The Verde - Atoyac and Tehuantepec , which empty into the Pacific. Much of the Sierra is composed of Jurassic-Cretaceous limestone . Water has in many places eroded the limestone into karst topography, including several large cave systems. These include the Chevé Caves (−1536 m) in the Sierra Juaréz, and the Huautla Caves (−1560 m) in the Sierra Mazateca. The Sierra Madre de Oaxaca pine-oak forests ecoregion lies above 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) in elevation. The humid Oaxacan montane forests ecoregion lies below 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) in elevation, on
322-638: The Sierra Madre de Oaxaca descends towards the Isthmus of Tehuantepec , home to the Mixe people , descendants of the ancient Olmecs of Mexico's Gulf Coast, lies to the east. The major Mixe centers are San Pablo and San Pedro Ayutla, Santiago Zacatepec, and Santa María Totontepec , and the major peak of the area is Zempoateptl , the sacred mountain of the Mixe people. 17°00′N 96°30′W / 17.000°N 96.500°W / 17.000; -96.500 Mountain range A mountain range or hill range
345-838: The Sierra de Zongolica– Sierra Mazateca between the Río Blanco canyon and the Santo Domingo River , the Sierra Juárez between the Santo Domingo and Cajones rivers, the Sierra de Villa Alta south of the Cajones River, the Sierra Ixtlán southwest of the Sierra Juárez, and the Sierra Mixe in the southeast. The eastern slopes of the range are wetter, intercepting moisture-laden winds from
368-485: The east. This mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift. The removal of such a mass from the core of the range most likely caused further uplift as the region adjusted isostatically in response to the removed weight. Rivers are traditionally believed to be the principal cause of mountain range erosion, by cutting into bedrock and transporting sediment. Computer simulation has shown that as mountain belts change from tectonically active to inactive,
391-648: The eastern slopes above the Veracruz lowlands. To the east, the xeric Tehuacan Valley matorral ecoregion occupies the Tehuacan valley to the northwest, the Balsas dry forests ecoregion occupies the upper basin of the Santo Domingo River , which lies in the rain shadow of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca. The Southern Pacific dry forests ecoregion lies to the south along the Pacific Coast of Mexico , extending into
414-466: The months of June, July, August, September and October. Forested areas contain fig, avocado, mahogany, oak, cedar, limaloe, palm and ceiba hormiguillo. Wildlife includes deer, brocket deer, jaguar, white-tailed deer, gray fox, porcupine, armadillo and raccoon. The municipality includes the following communities: The main economic activity is agriculture, with crops that include large-scale coffee, corn, beans, sugar cane, medicinal plants and fodder. Some of
437-560: The northern end of the range, and cuts a large canyon through the Sierra on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. The Papaloapan River drains much of the northern and central Sierra, including both the eastern and western slopes of the range, before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. At the eastern end, the northern slopes are drained by tributaries of the Coatzacoalcos River . The southern slopes are drained by several rivers, including
460-627: The rate of erosion drops because there are fewer abrasive particles in the water and fewer landslides. Mountains on other planets and natural satellites of the Solar System, including the Moon , are often isolated and formed mainly by processes such as impacts, though there are examples of mountain ranges (or "Montes") somewhat similar to those on Earth. Saturn 's moon Titan and Pluto , in particular, exhibit large mountain ranges in chains composed mainly of ices rather than rock. Examples include
483-537: The upper basin of the Tehuantepec River and the Valley of Oaxaca . Culturally and geographically, the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca System can be split into many smaller sierras or subranges, each with unique ecologies and human cultures. The Sierra Mazateca , located in northwestern Oaxaca state, reach elevations around 2,600 metres (8,500 ft). Cerro Rabon is its most unusual peak, albeit not its highest,
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#1732792008425506-569: The whale shaped "Holy Mountain of the Mazatecs". It is the homeland of the Mazatec people . Important towns include: Huautla de Jiménez , Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón , and Jalapa de Díaz . The Sierra de Cuicatlan, south of the Sierra Mazateca, are a range which divides the low canyonlands of Cuicatlan from the Sierra Juarez to the west and is home to the Cuicatec people. The Sierra Juárez
529-543: The world, including Mount Everest , which is 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) high. Mountain ranges outside these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera , Appalachians , Great Dividing Range , East Siberians , Altais , Scandinavians , Qinling , Western Ghats , Vindhyas , Byrrangas , and the Annamite Range . If the definition of a mountain range is stretched to include underwater mountains, then
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