The Sierra Atravesada or Sierra de Niltepec is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have ari ...

in the state of

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the Federative Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 570 municipaliti ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, in the region of the

Isthmus of Tehuantepec The Isthmus of Tehuantepec () is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Before the opening of the Panama Canal, it was a major overland transport route known simply as the T ...

Geography

The range forms, with the Sierra de Tres Picos range, the northwestern foothills of the

Sierra Madre de Chiapas The Sierra Madre de Chiapas is a major mountain range in Central America. It crosses El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras. The Sierra Madre de Chiapas is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges that consists of an almos ...

that straddle the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas. The range runs east−west. The Sierra Atravesada consist mostly of

metamorphic Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causi ...

and granite rocks, and forms the most important division of the

Peaks

The main peaks of the Sierra Atravesada are: * Cerro Azul — * Cerro Baul — {{convert, 2050, m, ft.

Watersheds

On its eastern slope waters flow into the Rio Uxpanapa system, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico, while the main collector of its western slope is the Rio Chimalapa, which flows into the Pacific Ocean. The Rio Negro, a tributary of the Grijalva, rises on the eastern slope of this mountain range. Other rivers of importance that have their origins in the Sierra Atravesada are the rivers Salado, Chivela, Chichigua and the Sarabia, all of which are tributaries of the

Coatzacoalcos Coatzacoalcos () is a major port city in the southern part of the Mexican state of Veracruz, mostly on the western side of the Coatzacoalcos River estuary, on the Bay of Campeche, on the southern Gulf of Mexico coast. The city serves as the municip ...

, one of the largest rivers in Mexico. Rain in this area is very abundant, being in the path of humid winds blowing south from the Gulf of Mexico. Rainfall varies between 2,800 and 4,000 mm/year, depending on the slope. The relatively high temperatures (with an annual average of 25 °C) and the high amount of sunshine make the entire region a good example of a tropical rainforest.

References

*Santiago Niltepec. Instituto nacional para el Federalismo y el Desarrollo Municipa

Landforms of Oaxaca Mountain ranges of Mexico Sierra Madre de Chiapas