The Serra de Moixeró is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range 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 arise ...

running across the north of Catalonia (

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 ...

), part of the

Pre-Pyrenees The Pre-Pyrenees are the foothills of the Pyrenees. Description As a mountainous system the Pre-Pyrenees are part of the Pyrenees. They run parallel to the main mountain range in a west to east direction. On the French side the Pyrenees's slo ...

. Along with the adjacent

Serra del Cadí The Serra del Cadí is a mountain range in the north of Catalonia, Spain, part of the Pre-Pyrenees. Its highest peak is the Vulturó, with an altitude of . It stretches from east to west between Alt Urgell and Berguedà. The Llobregat River has i ...

Pedraforca Pedraforca is a mountain in the Pre-Pyrenees, located in the comarca of Berguedà. The mountain's rare form, along with the fact that it is not visibly connected to any other adjacent mountains or ridges, has made it one of the most famous and emb ...

and parts of

Tosa d'Alp Tosa d'Alp or La Tosa is a mountain in Baixa Cerdanya in the Spanish Pyrenees. The Coll de Pal is a mountain pass that separates its eastern part from the Puigllançada. This mountain forms a quadripoint where the Alp, Urús, Das and Bagà ...

and

Puigllançada Puigllançada is a mountain of Catalonia, Spain. Located in the Pyrenees, it has an elevation of 2,409 metres above sea level.. See also *Mountains of Catalonia This is a list of mountains in Catalonia, Spain. See also *Montserrat ...

, it forms part of the

Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park The Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park ( ca, Parc Natural del Cadí-Moixeró) is a natural park to the north of Catalonia, Spain, near the border with Andorra. The park was established in 1983 and encompasses of mountainous terrain in the comarques of ...

, established in 1983. The Serra de Moixeró is often confused as a part of the Serra del Cadí, despite the fact that these two ranges are separated by the Tancalaporta pass. The confusion is widespread enough that Cadí Tunnel, which connects

Cerdanya Cerdanya () or often La Cerdanya ( la, Ceretani or ''Ceritania''; french: Cerdagne; es, Cerdaña), is a natural comarca and historical region of the eastern Pyrenees divided between France and Spain. Historically it was one of the counti ...

with the rest of Catalonia beneath the Serra de Moixeró, was erroneously named for the adjacent range.

Geography

Since Moixeró is considered older than the Cadí range (it formed during the

Variscan orogeny The Variscan or Hercynian orogeny was a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica (Laurussia) and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea. Nomenclature The name ''Variscan'', comes f ...

of the

Paleozoic era The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ''z ...

), it is considered the start of the "axial" Pyrenees, beginning at the Pass of Pendís (1,760 m). From there, it continues to Tosa d'Alp and Puigllançada, to beyond the Pas of Toses. Along with the adjacent ranges, it divides the

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

s of the

Llobregat The Llobregat () is the second longest river in Catalonia, Spain, after the Ter. It flows into the Mediterranean south of the city of Barcelona. Its name could have originated in an ancient Latin word meaning 'dark', 'sorrowful' or 'muddy', or ...

and Segre rivers. The range's most significant peaks are the Turó de Pratagre (2,012 m), Moixeró (2,078 m), the plateau of Moixeró (2,063 m), the Penyes Altes de Moixeró (2,276 m), the Serrat de la Miquela (2,161 m), Soquetes (2,181 m), and the pass of Jou (2,000 m), near the foothills of

. The northern slopes of the ridge descend gradually to the plain of

, with numerous streams descending the slopes. The southern slopes of the Serra de Moixeró are located in

Berguedà Berguedà () is an inland comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain, lying partly in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, and partly in the Catalan Central Depression. Geography The northern half of Berguedà, known as Alt Berguedà (“Upper Berguedà” ...

, and are drained by the Gréixer stream, a tributary of the Bastareny. This river cuts perpendicularly to the range, which has created a series of descending plateaus parallel to the east–west direction of the ridge. Uniquely, around the Gréixer, the principal stone is variegated effusive

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals ( phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The miner ...

; in most of the rest of the range, Devonian limestone are found at peaks while carboniferous

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...

is more plentiful at lower elevations and to the east.

Climate and vegetation

At lower elevations, the most common

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or ''skin flora''. ...

on Moixeró includes

red pine ''Pinus resinosa'', known as red pine (also Norway pine in Minnesota), is a pine native to North America. Description Red pine is a coniferous evergreen tree characterized by tall, straight growth. It usually ranges from in height and in tru ...

and

fir Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The genus is most closely related ...

, with small scattered stands of

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

. After 1,800 metres black pine becomes more common, and after 2,000 metres, the ridges are mostly covered with mountain meadows or simply whitish rocks, depending on the local climate.

References

External links

*
Cadí–Moixeró Natural Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serra del Cadi Moixero