The Pánuco River ( Spanish : Río Pánuco , Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpanuko] ), also known as the Río de Canoas , is a river in Mexico fed by several tributaries including the Moctezuma River and emptying into the Gulf of Mexico . The river is approximately 510 kilometres (320 mi) long and passes through or borders the states of Mexico , Hidalgo , Querétaro , San Luis Potosí , Tamaulipas , and Veracruz . According to the Atlas of Mexico , it is the fourth-largest river in Mexico by volume of runoff, and forms the sixth-largest river basin in Mexico by area.
17-838: The Pánuco River drains a basin of 98,227 km, which includes portions of the Mexican Plateau , the Sierra Madre Oriental , and the Gulf Coastal Plain . The Pánuco is formed by the confluence of its two main tributaries, the Moctezuma and the Tampaón (or Tamuín). The Moctezuma originates on the Mexican Plateau, and its headwater streams include the Tula River . It runs northward, forming
34-486: A couple of still- undescribed species are known from this river basin. A few of the endemics are seriously threatened . Mexican Plateau The Central Mexican Plateau , also known as the Mexican Altiplano ( Spanish : Altiplano mexicano ), is a large arid-to-semiarid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico . Averaging 1,825 m (5,988 ft) above sea level, it extends from
51-639: A few that were introduced . There are many endemics : six Nosferatu cichlid species, five Tampichthys minnows, nine "northern swordtails" (genus Xiphophorus ), three Gambusia species, two Ictalurus catfish, the bluetail goodeid ( Ataeniobius toweri ), dusky splitfin ( Goodea gracilis ), relict splitfin ( Xenoophorus captivus ), pygmy shiner ( Notropis tropicus ), checkered pupfish ( Cualac tessellatus ), broadspotted molly ( Poecilia latipunctata ), Tamasopo cichlid ( Herichthys tamasopoensis ), Calabazas shiner ( Notropis calabazas ) and fleshylip buffalo ( Ictiobus labiosus ). Additionally,
68-408: Is generally the highest rainfall month. Rainfall is generally low from November to mid-June, except for occasional mid-latitude storms coming from the north during the winter months. The volume of water carried by the river is highest during late summer and early fall, and is generally low from November through June. The Pánuco River basin is rich in fish. There are almost 100 fish species, including
85-503: Is home to its biggest metro areas of Guadalajara , León , Querétaro , Morelia , Mexico City , Toluca , Cuernavaca , and Puebla . The Mesa del Norte or northern plateau averages 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) in elevation above mean sea level and extends south from the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte) through the states of Chihuahua , Coahuila , Durango , Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí . Various narrow, isolated ridges cross
102-584: Is mostly covered by deserts and xeric shrublands , with pine-oak forests covering the surrounding mountain ranges and forming sky islands on some of the interior ranges. The Mexican Altiplano is one of six distinct physiographic sections of the Basin and Range Province , which in turn is part of the Intermontane Plateaus physiographic division. In phytogeography , the Sonoran Desert
119-729: Is within the Sonoran Floristic Province of the Madrean Region in southwestern North America , part of the Holarctic realm of the northern Western Hemisphere . While the plateau stretches from north to south, the southern east-west arc of the Central Mexican Plateau from Jalisco to Veracruz states historically as well as today has served as the population nexus of the Mexican nation, it
136-812: The United States border in the north to the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt in the south, and is bounded by the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Oriental to the west and east, respectively. A low east-west mountain range in the state of Zacatecas divides the plateau into northern and southern sections. These two sections, called the Northern Plateau ( Mesa del Norte ) and Central Plateau ( Mesa Central ), are now generally regarded by geographers as sections of one plateau. The Mexican Plateau
153-679: The Mesa del Norte and numerous depressions also dot the region, the largest of which is the Bolsón de Mapimí . The Río Bravo del Norte and its tributary, the Río Conchos , drain portions of the northern plateau, and the Río Pánuco and its tributaries drain the southeastern corner. Both drain to the Gulf of Mexico . Much of the northern plateau comprises internal drainage basins that do not drain to
170-764: The Moctezuma. They carve canyons through the Sierra, where they join to form the Tampaón , which continues eastwards past the Sierra onto the Gulf Coastal Plain to join the Moctezuma. The Pánuco winds another 172.5 km through the coastal lowlands, joined from the south by the Topila and from the north by the Tamesí , before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico at Tampico – Ciudad Madero , Tamaulipas. The lower Pánuco forms
187-504: The border between the states of Tamaulipas and Veracruz. The Tampico Bridge crosses the river near its mouth. In total, the Pánuco is more than 500 km in length, though only the last 15 km is navigable for larger ships. The watershed of the Pánuco and its tributaries drains portions of Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato , Querétaro, Hidalgo, Mexico , Puebla , and Veracruz. In 1519, during his cartographic expeditions along
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#1732764648430204-478: The eastern portion of the southern plateau. The Central Mexican matorral covers much of the southern plateau, with the subtropical Bajío dry forests occupying the lower portions of the Lerma–Río Grande de Santiago basin. Higher altitudes are covered by pine–oak woodlands , with oak woodlands and forests at lower elevations, and mixed pine–oak and conifer forests up to the tree line of the volcanoes that surround
221-640: The sea. The Chihuahuan Desert extends across the northern portion of the northern plateau, while the Meseta Central matorral covers the central portion, and the Central Mexican matorral extends from the southern portion of the northern plateau across the southern plateau. The Mesa Central or southern plateau is higher than its northern counterpart, averaging 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in elevation. The southern plateau contains numerous valleys originally formed by ancient lakes. It extends across
238-512: The south. The eastward-facing slopes of the Sierra generate orographic precipitation . The Mexican Plateau is in the rain shadow of the Sierra Madre Oriental, and has an arid to semi-arid climate, with an average annual rainfall of 300 mm. The principal source of rainfall is easterly trade winds , which strengthen from late June to August. Tropical cyclonic storms can bring additional moisture from August through October. August
255-577: The state border between Hidalgo and Querétaro as it moves toward San Luis Potosí , before turning eastward to carve a deep canyon through the Sierra Madre Oriental . Once emerging onto the Gulf Coastal Plain, it runs northeastwards, joined from the south by the Tempoal River before joining the Tamuin in Veracruz . The Santa Maria and Rio Verde also originate on the Mexican Plateau, north of
272-651: The states of Aguascalientes , Jalisco , Zacatecas , Guanajuato , Querétaro , and Michoacán . Several of Mexico's most prominent cities, including Guadalajara, are located in the valleys of the southern plateau. Much of the southern plateau is drained by the Río Grande de Santiago and its tributaries, including the Río Lerma , which drain west into the Pacific Ocean . Tributaries of the Río Pánuco drain
289-467: The western coast of the Gulf of Mexico, Spanish explorer Alonso Álvarez de Pineda established a settlement on the river, which he named Las Palmas , though it was abandoned after he was killed in battle with indigenous peoples living nearby. The Pánuco basin has a subtropical climate. The climate east of the Sierra ranges from semi-arid in the north and subhumid in the south, with average annual rainfall ranging from 800 mm in drier north up to 3000 mm in
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