The Iberian Massif (also Hesperian, Hesperic, Hercynian Massif or Meseta block) is the pre-

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretace ...

core of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

. Roughly covering the western half of the Peninsula, it includes all its Precambrian and

Paleozoic 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 ' ...

materials and it is limited by the

Cantabrian Sea The Cantabrian Sea; french: Mer Cantabrique, gl, Mar Cantábrico, ast, Mar Cantábricu, eu, Kantauri. is the term used mostly in Spain to describe the coastal sea of the Atlantic Ocean that borders the northern coast of Spain and the southwe ...

to the North, the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

to the West, the Guadalquivir sedimentary basin to the South. The western part features Paleozoic materials, while the east part features basins covered by Tertiary deposits. The outline of the massif is formed by geological units such as the , the Cantabrian zone, the , the catazonal complexes (probably Precambrian age) in north-western Spain and northern Portugal, the Pedroches batholith, the , the South-Portuguese Zone, the Narcea series and the West Asturian–Leonese zone.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * {{Cite journal, last1=Van der Meer Mohr, first1=C. G., last2=Kuijper, first2=R. P., last3=van Calsteren, first3=P. W. C., last4=den Tex, first4=E., year=1981, title=The Hesperian Massif: From Iapetus aulacogen to ensialic orogen a model for its development, journal=Geologische Rundschau, volume=70, issue=2, pages=459–472, doi=10.1007/bf01822126, s2cid=129599350 Geology of the Iberian Peninsula