Mediterranean Climate

The Mediterranean climate is a type of Climat. It is characterized by quasi an absence of freezing in winter and summers hot and dry. It is the hottest climate of Europe.

Presentation

This climate meets on the Western frontages of the continents, between 30 and 45 degrees of latitude. The Précipitations are gathered over short periods, with one rather wet and soft winter. The summers are hot and arid…

Vegetations

The Mediterranean climate gathers mainly 3 types of vegetable formations:
  • the Scrubland, on the calcareous ground where the Kermes oak dominates or the Holm oak. It is about a low vegetation considered as a degradation of the original Mediterranean forest.
  • the Maquis, whose ground is acid and who gathers species like the cane-apple bush, the Lentisque or the Chêne cork.
  • the Pine forest S, made generally of pines of Alep or Umbrella pines.

Areas concerned with this climate

Europe

Africa

  • the Morocco, the north of the Algeria, the north of Tunisia like along its coasts and the area of the Cape in South Africa (Port Elizabeth).

Asia

North America

South America

Oceania

  • the south-west of the Australia in the area of Perth.

Climatic small islands

There exist several zones of microclimate to Mediterranean tendency far away from the zones of Mediterranean climate themselves. The criteria favorable to the existence of such zones are the exposure (orientation in the south in the northern hemisphere), protection with the wind and the characteristics of the ground (not retaining water, for example a ground Calcaire).

One finds into consequent in these climatic small islands some species of plants or animals which one usually finds in Mediterranean climate.

In Europe, one notes several zones of this type:

  • the Kaiserstuhl, in Germany, small volcanic solid mass between the Vosges and Black Forest
  • southern buttresses of the Mount Saint-Eynard, in the Massive of Chartreuse in France

Climatic diagrams

Random links:Gallery of the mammals | Diapositiva oscura | Tagolsheim | Holtzheim | Scolopacidae | Alluvium | Nanboku-chō time | Troll_(pêche_à_la_ligne)