The Hoya of Guadix ( es, Hoya de Guadix) is a natural

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...

in the northern part of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Granada,

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It covers some , and is formed by the basins of the rivers Fardes and

Guadix Guadix (; Local pronunciation: aˈðih is a city and municipality in southern Spain, in the province of Granada. The city lies at an altitude of 913 metres, on the centre of the Hoya of Guadix, a high plain at the northern foothills of the Sierr ...

. It is surrounded by the heights of the Sierra Nevada to the south, the

Sierra de Baza Sierra de Baza is a mountain range near the city of Baza in the Granada province in Spain. It is named after the town of Baza and its highest point is the 2,269 m high Calar de Santa Bárbara. It is located between the Sierra Nevada and the Si ...

to the east, the Sierra Mágina to the north and the Sierra Harana to the west. It is separated by the Cerro Jabalcón from the Hoya of Baza which, like the Hoya of Guadix, is one of the series of valleys forming the

Surco Intrabético The Intrabaetic Basin ( es, Surco Intrabético or ''Depresión Intrabética'') is a discontinuous series of valleys in the Baetic System of Andalusia, Spain. Description The Intrabaetic Basin is a series of intermontane basins that separate the ...

. ''Hoya'' in this context refers to a low-lying plain or basin.

Geology

The filling of this depression occurred simultaneously with its uplift. At its base there are bioclastic calcarenites from the Upper Miocene. These materials are typical marine deposits in areas close to the coast. Marine marl was deposited on top of these rocks. On top of them there are essentially detrital materials from continental fluvial environments (clays, silts, sands, conglomerates and rocks typical of

lacustrine A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

sedimentation in arid environments such as gypsum. The deposition of these materials indicates an uplift of the region that started with a marine sedimentation environment and ended in a continental environment. The fluvial channels gradually carried sediments from the surrounding mountain ranges that progressively clogged the basin and gave rise to a relatively flat or gently sloping bed. There is an abundance of geological material from the

Burdigalian The Burdigalian is, in the geologic timescale, an age or stage in the early Miocene. It spans the time between 20.43 ± 0.05 Ma and 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). Preceded by the Aquitanian, the Burdigalian was the first and longest w ...

portion of the early

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

, some 20 million years ago. Materials of marine origin were deposited for some 7 million years, after which the basin became totally isolated from the sea. From that time, further deposits are exclusively continental, carried by flowing rivers. The current configuration of the ''Hoya'' began to take form some 500,000 years ago in a strong paleogeographic restructuring. Small rivers formed in the reliefs that surrounded the basin began a process of

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...

that gave the landscape its now-characteristic

gullies A gully is a landform created by running water, mass movement, or commonly a combination of both eroding sharply into soil or other relatively erodible material, typically on a hillside or in river floodplains or terraces. Gullies resemble lar ...

and badlands. In the present day, the waters of the rivers Fardes and Guadix have made the Hoya de Guadix a fertile zone for irrigated farming, including

fruit orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of lar ...

s (especially

melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a " pepo". Th ...

s), poplar trees grown for their wood, cereals, legumes and

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

Climate

The climate of the basin is

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' ( ...

, with mountain ranges sheltering it from the influence of the sea. Precipitation falls mostly in the winter.

Settlements

The largest city in the basin is

, which gives it its name. Other settlements of relevance include Fonelas,

Benalúa Benalúa is a city located in the Granada (province), province of Granada, Spain. According to the 2006 census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain), INE), the city has a population of 3311 inhabitants. References

Municipalities ...

Purullena Purullena is a municipality located in the province of Granada, Spain. According to the 2004 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term ...

and Alcudia de Guadix.

Notes

{{reflist Plains of Spain Landforms of Andalusia Geography of the Province of Granada