Montsec

Montsec
Serrat de la Corona ridges of the Montsec d'Ares; central sector of the Montsec Range
Highest point
Elevation	1,676 m (5,499 ft)
Coordinates	42°2′N 0°45′E / 42.033°N 0.750°E / 42.033; 0.750Coordinates: 42°2′N 0°45′E / 42.033°N 0.750°E / 42.033; 0.750
Geography
Montsec Location in the Pre-Pyrenees area
Location	Aragon & Catalonia
Parent range	Pre-Pyrenees
Geology
Mountain type	Limestone

The Montsec Range (Catalan: Serra del Montsec Catalan pronunciation: [ˈsɛrə ðəɫ munˈsɛk], locally: [ˈsɛra ðeɫ monˈsek]; Spanish: Sierra del Montsec) is a mountain system of the Pre-Pyrenees.

The Serra del Montsec consists of a series of calcareous mountain ranges running roughly from east to west. The range system is about 40 km long and 186.96 square kilometres in area. The Montsec is located in the Catalan province of Lleida and the Aragonese province of Huesca in Spain.

The name Montsec derives from the Latin Montus sectus, which makes reference to its characteristic rock formations. It marks the southern limit of the Pallars region and is divided into three main massifs by 3 of the most important rivers in Catalonia:

Two gorges (congostos), those of Terradets and Montrebei, or Bonremei, have been opened by the action of the rivers and tectonic movements. The highest peak, Santalís, is found in the central massif, standing at 1,678 metres, and dominates views over Àger and the plains of Lleida to the south and the Pyrenees to the north.

The southern face is virtually a great wall with a "step" about two-thirds of the way up, and the northern side, although by no means as steep, still stands at 1,000 metres above the Tremp basin below.

Montsec's formation goes back to when sediments of several thousand metres deep were deposited in the Cretaceous sea, raised and partly covered by the Eocene sea, and then raised again by Pyrenean folding. Fossils from the Mesozoic era are relatively easy to find, and at Vilanova de Meià the deposits there are one of the most important in the world.