Sierra Madre

/see er"euh mah"dray/; for 2 also Sp. /syerdd"rddah mah"dhrdde/

1. a mountain range extending from S Wyoming into N Colorado.

2. two parallel mountain chains in Mexico, bordering the central plateau on the E and W, and extending SE into N Guatemala.

3. a town in S California. 10,837.

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Principal mountain system, Mexico.

It includes the ranges of the Sierra Madre Occidental (to the west), the Sierra Madre Oriental (to the east), and the Sierra Madre del Sur (to the south)

all running roughly northwest-southeast. The Sierra Madre Occidental extends for about 700 mi (1,120 km), parallel with the Gulf of California and the Pacific Ocean; summits reach elevations above 6,000 ft (1,800 m), with some exceeding 10,000 ft (3,000 m). The Sierra Madre Oriental originates in the barren hills of the Rio Grande to the north and extends roughly parallel with the Gulf of Mexico for about 700 mi (1,120 km); it has an average elevation of about 7,000 ft (2,150 m) and reaches its highest point at Mount Peña Nevada (12,008 ft [3,660 m]). The sparsely inhabited Sierra Madre del Sur stretches through the southern Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, reaching elevations of about 6,500 ft (2,000 m), with a few peaks above 10,000 ft (3,000 m).

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▪ mountain range, North America

Introduction

 principal mountain system of Mexico. It includes the three ranges of the Sierra Madre Occidental (to the west), the Sierra Madre Oriental (to the east), and the Sierra Madre del Sur (to the south). These ranges enclose the great central Mexican Plateau, which itself is a part of the system—although the northern portion of the plateau also is considered to be part of the Basin and Range Province of the United States—and is broken by blocks of mountain ranges and large populated ephemeral drainage basins (bolsones). The greater part of Mexico comprises this comprehensive Sierra Madre.

Physical features

Geology

 The Mexican Plateau is composed largely of folded strata of the Mesozoic Era (i.e., between 245 and 66.4 million years old). Formations predominate from the second half of the Mesozoic among exposed rocks, but older sediments are widespread. The region's elevation, folding, and faulting were contemporaneous with the uplift of the Rocky Mountains. Early in the Tertiary Period (which began 66.4 million years ago and ended 1.6 million years ago), great outpourings of lava terminated a long interval of weathering and erosion. Subsequently, the large plateau block was uplifted, the displacement being greater to the south than to the north. Its margins have been dissected into the deeply gouged angular landscape of the Sierra Madre Occidental and the more rounded but rugged terrain of the Sierra Madre Oriental.

      Although the western fringe of the plateau, the Sierra Madre Occidental, was long assumed to be a structurally simple feature consisting of nearly horizontal lavas manteling Mesozoic sediments and old crystalline rocks, a complex structural history has become apparent. The underlying strata were deformed by folding and faulting during several periods, and there are many intrusions of varying size. Strata mostly from the latter part of the Paleozoic Era (540 to 245 million years ago) overlie materials from the early part of the era in the Sierra Madre Occidental and to the west. Large amounts of lava and ash were deposited on earlier surfaces in the Tertiary Period.

      The Sierra Madre Oriental, composed largely of folded sedimentary rocks of Cretaceous age (66.4 to 144 million years old), owes its present relief to uplift, faulting, and erosion since the mid-Tertiary. Igneous intrusion forms are numerous.

      Marking the southern edge of the Mexican Plateau and spanning Mexico from coast to coast is a zone where volcanism developed during two episodes. The first episode occurred during the early and middle parts of the Tertiary, when immense quantities of lava were poured over the land. The second volcanic episode, which began in the Pliocene Epoch (5.3 to 1.6 million years ago) and has continued to the present, is associated with the development of such spectacular peaks as Citlaltépetl, or Orizaba (18,406 feet [5,610 metres]), Popocatépetl (17,930 feet), Iztaccíhuatl (17,159 feet), Toluca, or Zinantecatl (15,354 feet), and the Nevado de Colima (13,911 feet). In 1759 and 1943, respectively, the smaller volcanoes of El Jorullo and Paricutín burst into existence. Additional peaks, cinder cones, and other evidence of volcanism occur throughout the region.

      To the west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico the great scarp of the Southern Highlands rises several thousand feet. This deeply dissected mountain mass reveals east-to-west folds in its base rocks of metamorphosed Cretaceous sediments and intrusives. The narrower western section of the highlands is known as the Sierra Madre del Sur. It is breached by the Balsas River.

Physiography

 The Sierra Madre Occidental extends approximately 700 miles (1,100 kilometres) from northwest to southeast and is about 100 to 300 miles in width. Summits mostly exceed altitudes of 6,000 feet, and some peaks rise above 10,000 feet. From the east the mountains present relatively slight but broken relief; from the west they appear as formidable escarpments whose benched flanks drop into deep canyons called barrancas. The great mountain ranges and canyons trend northwest to southeast, which is generally the trend of the folds in the Mesozoic and older basement strata. The local relief may exceed 5,000 feet, and the majestic dimensions of some of these barrancas—notably Barranca del Cobre (“Copper Canyon”)—compare with the Grand Canyon of the United States.

      Extending southeastward from the Big Bend of the Rio Grande (called Río Bravo del Norte in Mexico) is a series of low mountains that are composed of folded sedimentary strata. South of Monterrey these mountains become a striking range, the Sierra Madre Oriental. Summit elevations are about 7,000 feet, but some peaks rise above 10,000 feet (Cerro Peña Nevada). Steep-walled, narrow valleys, a number of which are north to south in alignment, lie in the sierra; and there are several gateways from the Gulf of Mexico lowlands to the plateau.

      The core of Sierra Madre del Sur is outlined by a narrow and discontinuous coastal plain to the southwest and by the structural depression of the Balsas River on the north. To the east of this depression is the Sierra Mixteca, which forms a highland bridge between the volcanic axis and the Southern Highlands. A labyrinth of narrow ridges and steep-flanked valleys forms the Southern Highlands. Much of this broken country crests at elevations of about 6,500 feet, and only a few peaks exceed 10,000 feet. Whereas the Mexican Plateau's volcanic mantle is relatively free of dissection, the Southern Highlands have been stripped of much of their volcanic cover. The older basement rocks are exposed in what are probably the most highly dissected landscapes of Mexico. There is very little flatland in the region. Abruptly terminating the region on the east is a magnificent scarp that overlooks the downfaulted block of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

Climate

      Elevation is more important in determining the thermal characteristics of Mexican climate than is latitude. The decrease in temperature that occurs with increasing elevation has made it possible to identify distinct vertical temperature zones: tierra caliente, or “hot land”, tierra templada, or “temperate land”, and tierra fria, or “cold land”. Unlike climatic areas farther from the Equator, there is little seasonal variation in temperature at any elevation in the tropics.

      The tierra templada, which includes elevations from 3,000 to 6,000 feet, has mean temperatures of 65° to 75° F (18° to 24° C). Much of highland Mexico is in this thermal zone. It is the most pleasant of the zones for human habitation. During winter, frost may occur. In the cooler tierra fria the mean annual temperatures are between 55° and 65° F (13° and 18° C). Above 10,000 to 11,000 feet the mean annual temperature is less than 50° F (10° C), and above 14,000 to 15,000 feet it is less than 32° F (0° C).

      Mountain masses, besides creating islands of cooler climate within the tropics, play a major role in the incidence of clouds and precipitation. The mountains form barriers over which air may be raised, cooled, and caused to condense. Within the mountains and in their lee there is a lower incidence of clouds and precipitation. Lee or descending air becomes warmer, and its capacity to retain moisture rises. Illustrating the effect of the mountains upon precipitation and cloudiness is the contrast between 80 inches (2,000 millimetres) of rain and 150 cloudy days per year for the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental and the 40 inches of rain and 90 cloudy days per year that characterize much of the Pacific slope west of the Sierra Madre del Sur. The drier areas are in the rain shadow of the mountains.

Plant and animal life

      The extent of the once-ubiquitous mountain forests has been greatly curtailed by centuries of human activity, owing not only to clearing of land for farming but also to the widespread use of wood in earlier times to make charcoal for metal smelting. Simultaneously, the distribution of animal life has been restricted. In the tierra fria, forests of conifers are found, followed in the tierra templada by mixed forests of oak and pine. At still lower elevations, and especially in the rain shadows, the Sierra Madre Occidental is characterized by a diverse, scrubby assemblage of xerophytic (drought-tolerant) plants. In contrast, the lower levels of the Sierra Madre Oriental display, especially in the southern part, a broad-leaved tropical luxuriance correlated with the reliable and adequate rainfall that they receive.

      Deer and coyotes are widespread in the Sierra Madre. Gray wolves are still found in remote parts of the northern Sierra Madre Occidental. The grizzly bear probably became extinct in the wild after 1960, but the population of black bears has remained fairly stable. Large cats (jaguar and puma) are becoming scarce; but cottontail rabbits abound, and collared peccaries are fairly plentiful, as are wild turkeys and smaller game birds.

The people and economy

      The remoteness, relative inaccessibility, and many habitable valleys of the Sierra Madre made it a refuge for a number of Indian peoples who succeeded in retaining much of their aboriginal culture for two or three centuries after their first contact with the Spaniards. Well known are the Huichol and the Cora in the southern states of Nayarit and Jalisco and the Tarahumara in the north (Chihuahua), as well as a number of other groups, especially in the Sierra Madre del Sur. The gradual acculturation of these peoples to the Mexican mestizo way of life was unavoidable, however, and in many areas the use of traditional languages, clothing patterns, and house types has been replaced; many young adults have abandoned the ways of their ancestral societies. Technological progress has furthered this process in the second half of the 20th century. Trucks and buses and even small airplanes capable of operating with short landing strips increasingly have been used to transport goods and people, replacing the traditional horses, mules, and burros.

      The rugged topography of the Sierra Madre Occidental has been a serious barrier to east-west communications. Because of the mountains, Spanish exploration, regional commercial evolution, and the present road and railway systems developed independently on the Mexican Plateau and in the Pacific Coastal Lowlands of Sinaloa and Sonora states. No railroad crossed the mountain barrier until 1962, although construction was begun many years earlier on lines between Durango and Mazatlán and between Chihuahua and Topolobampo. The latter was finally completed. Only a few paved roads through the region link interior cities with Pacific coastal resorts and towns. The sparse settlement in this mountainous area is confined to mining centres or to farming and pastoral hamlets. Forest industries are most highly developed in the states of Chihuahua and Durango, but it may be that the long-term worth of the forest cover as watershed protection exceeds its value as timber. The Sierra Madre Occidental is the source of waters that support the oases of the plateau and of the lowlands adjoining the Gulf of California. Oases that have been formed by water from the mountains include those along the Carmen, Conchos, Nazas, and Aguanaval rivers in the plateau. The westward-flowing Yaqui, Mayo, Fuerte, Sinaloa, and Culiacán rivers water important farming districts in the coastal lowlands.

      Among the substantial rivers that have watersheds that penetrate the Sierra Madre Oriental are the Moctezuma and Pánuco, the combined drainage system of which has captured a considerable area of the central plateau. The process of capture was aided by the opening of a drainage canal in 1607 (expanded in 1900) to tap the Basin of Mexico. Numerous harnessed and potential sources of hydroelectric development exist among the rivers that drain the eastern front of the mountains. Agricultural settlement is particularly dense in the state of Veracruz.

Study and exploration

      The exploration and study of the Sierra Madre occurred in three main stages. The first, which lasted until the mid-16th century, consisted of Spanish reconnaissance and the subjugation of native peoples. The second, lasting until the late 19th century, was based on the mining of silver deposits—first in the south (Guanajuato, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí) and then progressively farther north and west (Fresnillo, Durango, Hidalgo del Parral, and Álamos). Along with the miners went Roman Catholic priests, and some Indian settlements received Jesuit missions. The more successful mining settlements later became cities and even state capitals. The third stage, that of scholarly inquiry, began with scattered Spanish studies in the 17th century. Modern scientific study of the mountains was initiated with the work of the Norwegian explorer and ethnologist Carl Lumholtz, who in 1890–98 did extensive fieldwork throughout the Sierra Madre Occidental. Lumholtz was followed by other scholars from Europe, Mexico, and the United States in such fields as archaeology, anthropology, art, history, geography, sociology, geology, botany, and zoology. The Sierra Madre and adjacent areas proved to be a source not only of mineral wealth but also of matters of scholarly and cultural import.

George C. Engerrand Henry J. Bruman

Additional Reading

The geology of the Sierra Madre is described in Lee A. Woodward and Stuart A. Northrop (eds.), Tectonics and Mineral Resources of Southwestern North America (1976). Large-scale maps of Mexico, made with the help of satellite photography, are found in Mexico, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática, Atlas nacional del medio físico, rev. ed. (1988). Carl Lumholtz, Unknown Mexico: A Record of Five Years' Exploration of the Western Sierra Madre; In the Tierra Caliente of Tepic and Jalisco; And Among the Tarascos of Michoacan, 2 vol. (1902, reissued as Unknown Mexico: Explorations in the Sierra Madre and Other Regions, 1890–1898, 1987), offers an account of the author's pioneering geographic and anthropological research in the Sierra Madre Occidental. T. Philip Terry, Terry's Guide to Mexico, rev. ed., edited by James Norman (1972), is a classic descriptive guide. On animal life in the Sierra Madre, two books are especially useful: A. Starker Leopold, Wildlife of Mexico: The Game Birds and Mammals (1959, reprinted 1972), contains excellent illustrations and maps, including a good map of vegetation; while A. Starker Leopold, Ralph J. Gutiérrez, and Michael T. Bronson, North American Game Birds and Mammals (1981), a similar later work, covers a larger area but less intensively. The people of the mountains are discussed in Robert C. West and John P. Augelli, Middle America: Its Lands and Peoples, 3rd ed. (1989), a broad systematic geography covering Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies; and Robert Wauchope (ed.), Handbook of Middle American Indians, 16 vol. (1964–76), especially vol. 1, Natural Environment and Early Cultures, and vol. 7–8, Ethnology.Henry J. Bruman

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