Orography
Orography is the study of the formation and relief of mountains, and can more
broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography falls
within the broader discipline of geomorphology.
Orography has a major impact on global climate, for instance the orography of East
Africa substantially determines the strength of the Indian monsoon. In geoscientific
models, such as general circulation models, orography defines the lower boundary
of the model over land.
When a river's tributaries or settlements by the river are listed in 'orographic
sequence', they are in order from the highest (nearest the source of the river) to the
lowest or mainstem (nearest the mouth). This method of listing tributaries is similar
to the Strahler Stream Order, where the headwater tributaries are listed as
category = 1.
Orographic precipitation, also known as relief precipitation, is precipitation
generated by a forced upward movement of air upon encountering a physiographic
upland (see anabatic wind). This lifting can be caused by two mechanisms:
The upward deflection of large scale horizontal flow by the orography.
The anabatic or upward vertical propagation of moist air up an orographic slope
caused by daytime heating of the mountain barrier surface.
Upon ascent, the air that is being lifted will expand and cool. This adiabatic cooling
of a rising moist air parcel may lower its temperature to its dew point, thus allowing
for condensation of the water vapor contained within it, and hence the formation of
a cloud. If enough water vapor condenses into cloud droplets, these droplets may
become large enough to fall to the ground as precipitation. In parts of the world
subjected to relatively consistent winds (for example the trade winds), a wetter
climate prevails on the windward side of a mountain than on the leeward
(downwind) side as moisture is removed by orographic precipitation. Drier air
(see katabatic wind) is left on the descending, generally warming, leeward side
where a rain shadow is formed.
Terrain induced precipitation is a major factor for meteorologists as they forecast
the local weather. Orography can play a major role in the type, amount, intensity
and duration of precipitation events. Researchers have discovered that barrier
width, slope steepness and updraft speed are major contributors for the optimal
amount and intensity of orographic precipitation. Computer model simulations for
these factors showed that narrow barriers and steeper slopes produced stronger
updraft speeds which, in turn, enhanced orographic precipitation.
Orographic precipitation is well known on oceanic islands, such as the Hawaiian
Islands or New Zealand, where much of the rainfall received on an island is on the
windward side, and the leeward side tends to be quite dry, almost desert-like, by
comparison. This phenomenon results in substantial local gradients of average
rainfall, with coastal areas receiving on the order of 20 to 30 inches (510 to 760
mm) per year, and interior uplands receiving over 100 inches (2,500 mm) per year.
Leeward coastal areas are especially dry—less than 20 in (510 mm) per year
at Waikiki—and the tops of moderately high uplands are especially wet—about
475 in (12,100 mm) per year at Wai'ale'aleq on Kaua'i.
Another well known area for orographic precipitation is the Pennines in the north of
England where the west side of the Pennines receives more rain than the east
because the clouds (generally arriving from the west) are forced up and over the
hills and cause the rain to fall preferentially on the western slopes. This is
particularly noticeable between Manchester (West) and Leeds (East) where Leeds
receives less rain due to a rain shadow of 12 miles from the Pennines.
Orography of Nuevo Leon
The Huasteca region is made up of a series of parallel sierras and valleys, which
reach up onto the Coahuila state limits. Its orography consists of a variety of
mountains of quite different morphological characteristics and of heights above
2000 or even 3000 masl; impressive canyons of sheer vertical walls, carved by the
tremendous power of rivers apparently dormant; forested dales which run between
the slopes, hide unexplored caves, and serve as passageways between valleys.
The importance of this area of the Sierra Madre Oriental in Nuevo León is not to
be taken lightly: its complex orography and deep canyons provide excellent means
for an intense recharge of underground waterways, and its superficial water
currents are the main tributaries of the Santa Catarina River; on its mountains are
established different types of habitats, from semidesertic bush to temperate
forests, thus supporting a fairly wide array of animal and plant communities.
The Huasteca region can be divided in three main areas:
. Northwestern area: Cañones San Pablo, La Escalera, El Montoso, Peyotillos, El
Tule, Las Escaleras.
. Central area: Cañones La Huasteca, Ballesteros, San Judas, La Sandía, Salazar.
. Southeastern area: Cañón San Cristóbal
Cañón San Pablo
Monterrey is the "city of the mountains."
Mountains
The Sierra Madre Oriental crosses the state from northwest to southeast and
creates a temperate zone forest. Monterrey is surrounded by these mountains,
Cerro de Topo Chico and Cerro de la Silla, so it is sometimes called the "city of the
mountains."
Picos principales
Altitud (msnm)
Cerro El Morro
3,710
Cerro El Potosí
3,700
Picacho San Onofre
3,540
Sierra El Viejo
3,500
Sierra Potrero de
Ábrego
3,460
Sierra Los Toros
3,200
Cerro Grande de la
Ascensión
3,200
Cerro de la Silla
1,800
Inclination
The north and east part of the state is flat and forms part of the Plains of North
America. South of this plain to the Sierra Madre Oriental the field is more
tending and is part of the Northern Gulf Coastal Plain. The south of Nuevo León is
part of the Mexican plateau.
The highest header in the county is Dr. Arroyo, 720 m, and the lowest
is Los Aldamas at 90 meters. Monterrey is 540 meters.
The Most Important Mountains
According to the geological constitution, the state is dominated by sedimentary
formations of marine origin. Just northeast of the town of Galeana, in the Sierra
Madre and in some northern elevations have found small outcrops of metamorphic
rocks and some igneous intrusive. Its soil is of the Mesozoic era.
The state of Nuevo León is crossed from northeast to southeast along the Sierra
Madre Oriental. Their average heights are from 2,000 to 2,300 meters and its width
varies between 30 and 65 miles. The highest peaks are San Antonio Peña Nevada
in the city of General Zaragoza with about 3, 600 meters and El Potosi, located in
the town of Galeana with 3, 000 meters.
The Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range is 900 meters of altitude of 1.600
meters. In Iguana, Sabinas, Santa Clara with 1,500; Picachos and parrots, which
forms a single mountain range that runs from Mops up to Cerralvo, and The
Ramones from northeast to southeast, parallel to these, are the Milpillas and the
ones with more than 2,000 meters above sea level in the center is the Cerro de las
Mitras and La Silla, with 2,000 and 1.782 meters high.
Within the valley of Monterrey, separated from the hill of the Sierra Madre and
Mitras, lies the Hill of the diocese, north of this city there is a mountainous area
known as Loma Larga.
There are also some valleys that are connected by transverse canyons such as
Rinconada at the northeast, and Santa Catarina also called the Huasteca. Also the
Huajuco in the municipality of Santiago and another one in the south in the Santa
Rosa canyon called Altars, which communicates with Linares and Galeana linking
Aramberri and General Zaragoza.
The second physiographic area is the Northern Gulf Coastal Plain in the state that
occupies 9,602.69 square kilometers, covering the area of Monterrey,
Montemorelos ,Linares, Apodaca, Cadereyta, Jimenez, El Carmen, Cienega de
Flores, General Zuazua, Hualahuises, Marin, Fisheries, San Nilcolás de los Garza
and part of Allende, General Escobedo, General Terán, Juárez, Salinas Victoria
and The Ramones, are all integrated with a lot of mountains.
The most famous in Nuevo Leon, The Sierra Madre Oriental, covers the state of
Nuevo Leon, in its first part, the municipality of Galeana 527.490 square
kilometers.
The state comprises three major parts of the country's major natural regions:
The Sierra Madre Oriental, which dominates the western and southern panorama
of mountains which separate state - in northwest to southeast - the highlands of
southwestern NEOLONE the extensive plains known as the incline.
The Great Plains of North America beginning in Nuevo Leon and extends across
the central part of the United States of America to Canada.
The Northern Gulf Coastal Plain, which covers the lowlands of Nuevo Leon, and
that the morphology of large floodplain is the area of the state that best responds to
the name of "inclined plane".