The Mexican Plateau, also known as the Mexican Altiplano, is a large plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico. It extends from the United States border in the north to the Cordillera Neovolcánica in the south, and is bounded by the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Oriental to the west and east, respectively. A low east-west range divides the plateau into northern and southern sections. These two sections, called the Mesa del Norte and Mesa Central, are now generally regarded by geographers as sections of one plateau. The Mexican Plateau is mostly covered by deserts and xeric shrublands, with pine-oak forests covering the surrounding mountain ranges and forming sky islands on some of the interior ranges.

The Mesa del Norte or northern plateau averages 1,100 meters in elevation and extends south from the Río Bravo del Norte (Rio Grande) through the states Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí. Various narrow, isolated ridges cross the plateaus of the northern plateau. Numerous depressions dot the region, the largest of which is the Bolsón de Mapimí. The Río Bravo del Norte and its tributary, the Rio Conchos, drain portions of the northern plateau, and the Panuco River and its tributaries drain the southeastern corner. Both rivers drain to the Gulf of Mexico. Much of the northern plateau comprises internal drainage basins that do not drain to the sea. The Chihuahuan Desert extends across the northern portion of the northern plateau, while the Meseta Central matorral covers the central portion, and the Central Mexican matorral extends from the southern portion of the northern plateau across the southern plateau.

The Mesa Central or southern plateau is higher than its northern counterpart, averaging 2,000 meters in elevation. The southern plateau contains numerous valleys originally formed by ancient lakes. It extends across the states of Aguascalientes, Jalisco, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Queretaro, México, and Hidalgo. Several of Mexico's most prominent cities, including Mexico City and Guadalajara, are located in the valleys of the southern plateau. Much of the southern plateau is drained by the Rio Grande de Santiago and its tributaries, including the Rio Lerma, which drain east into the Pacific Ocean. Tributaries of the Panuco River drain the eastern portion of the southern plateau. The Central Mexican matorral covers much of the southern plateau, with the subtropical Bajío dry forests occupying the lower portions of the Lerma-Rio Grande de Santiago basin.

References

• Ricketts, Taylor H., Eric Dinerstein, David M. Olson, Colby J. Loucks, et al. (1999). Terrestrial Ecoregions of North America: a Conservation Assessment. Island Press, Washington DC.

External link

• Mexican Plateau, Mexico City Region. Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center. 18 Mar. 2005. Earth from Space - Image Information.