Aragón


Aragon is an autonomous community in Spain, named after the medieval Kingdom of Aragon, which occupied the same area. The region is landlocked and borders in the north to France, so it includes regions from the Pyrenee mountains over rich pasture lands and orchards, through to the arid steppe plains of the central lowlands. Aragon is also home to many rivers, including the famous river Ebro, to which most Aragonese rivers are tributaries. Aragon is among the richest autonomous regions in Spain, with agriculture supported by a well-developed irrigation system and industrial sectors which are the backbone of the economy.

The region is mostly composed of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, which were folded during an orogeny in the Carboniferous. They are covered by Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, with limestones the most frequent rocks. But there are also sandstones, marl, sands and even lignite. The Pyrenees were finally created during the Alpine orogeny in the Tertiary. The massive erosion created young deposits of conglomerates and alluvial fans. The karstification of many limestone areas intensified. The last important geologic event was the repeated glaciation of the Pyrenees during the last 2 Million years. This caused the formation of multiple glacier related forms.