Editing Zambales Mountains

{{Short description|Mountain range in Luzon}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox mountain
<!-- *** Heading *** -->
| name= Zambales Mountains
| native_name= 
| other_name= 
<!-- *** Names **** --> 
| etymology= 
<!-- *** Image *** -->
| photo= SanNarciso,Zambalesjf0676 13.JPG
| photo_caption= The mountain range seen from [[San Narciso, Zambales]]
| photo_size=
<!-- *** Country *** -->
| country= Philippines
| subdivision1_type= Provinces
| subdivision1= {{hlist|Zambales|Pangasinan|Bataan|Tarlac|Pampanga}}
| subdivision2_type= Region
| subdivision2= [[Central Luzon]] & [[Ilocos Region]]
<!-- *** Family *** -->
<!-- *** Locations *** -->
| highest= Mount Tapulao (aka High Peak)
| highest_location= Zambales 
| elevation_m= 2037
| range_coordinates= {{coord|15|41|N|120|05|E|type:mountain_region:PH|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates= {{coord|15|28|51|N|120|7|16|E|type:mountain_region:PH|format=dms|display=inline}}
| length_km= 180 
| length_orientation= N-S
| width_km= 
| width_orientation= 
| area_km2= 
<!-- *** Features *** -->
| geology= 
| orogeny=
<!-- *** Maps *** -->
| map_image= Zambales Mountains topographic map en.svg
| map_caption= Zambales Mountains topographic map
}}

The '''Zambales Mountains''' is a [[mountain range]] in western [[Luzon]]. The mountains spread along a north-south axis, separating Luzon's central [[plain]] from the [[South China Sea]]. The range extends into five [[Provinces of the Philippines|provinces]]: [[Zambales]], [[Pangasinan]], [[Tarlac]], [[Pampanga]], and [[Bataan]]. One of its most prominent sections is known as the '''Cabusilan''' Mountain Range composed of [[Mount Pinatubo]], [[Mount Negron]] and [[Mount Cuadrado]], which are believed to be remnants of the ancestral Pinatubo peak. The highest elevation in the Zambales Mountains is [[Mount Tapulao]], also known as High Peak, in Zambales province which rises to {{convert|2037|m}}.

==Extent==
The Zambales Mountains has an area of {{convert|300|km2}}<ref name="CAPP">{{cite web |title=Zambales Mountains |url=http://www.newcapp.org/zambales-mountains.php |publisher=New Conservation Areas in the Philippines Project |access-date=10 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120602174814/http://www.newcapp.org/zambales-mountains.php |archive-date=2 June 2012}}</ref> extending North to South from the mountains of western [[Pangasinan]] province, the whole length of Zambales, to tip of the [[Bataan Peninsula]] in the south enclosing [[Manila Bay]].<ref name="Journal">Smith, Warren D. (1913). [https://books.google.com/books?id=jXvzAAAAMAAJ "Journal of Geology, Vol. 21 – The Geology of Luzon, P.I."], pp. 39–40. University of Chicago, Department of Geology.</ref> The mountain range also encompasses the mountains in the municipalities of [[Bamban, Tarlac|Bamban]], [[Capas, Tarlac|Capas]], [[San Jose, Tarlac|San Jose]], [[San Clemente, Tarlac|San Clemente]], [[Mayantoc, Tarlac|Mayantoc]], [[Santa Ignacia, Tarlac|Santa Ignacia]], [[Camiling, Tarlac|Camiling]] in the province of [[Tarlac]]. In [[Pampanga]], it includes the mountains in [[Floridablanca, Pampanga|Floridablanca]], [[Porac]], [[Angeles City]] and [[Mabalacat]].

==Geology==
The Zambales Mountains include [[Jurassic]] to [[Miocene]] [[ophiolite]] massifs, overlain by more recent sedimentary formation, including the Cagaluan Formation and the Santa Cruz Formation.<ref>{{cite journal |bibcode=2015JAESc.104..215D |title=Post-emplacement history of the Zambales Ophiolite Complex: Insights from petrography, geochronology and geochemistry of Neogene clastic rocks |last1=Dimalanta |first1=C. B. |last2=Salapare |first2=R. C. |last3=Faustino-Eslava |first3=D. V. |last4=Ramos |first4=N. T. |last5=Queaño |first5=K. L. |last6=Yumul |first6=G. P. |last7=Yang |first7=T. F. |journal=Journal of Asian Earth Sciences |year=2015 |volume=104 |pages=215–227 |doi=10.1016/j.jseaes.2014.07.021 }}</ref>

==Volcanoes==
Although the mountains are volcanic in origin,<ref name="Journal"/> [[Mount Pinatubo]] is the only active volcano in the mountain range. Its [[1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo|eruption on June 15, 1991]] was the second most powerful volcanic eruption of the 20th century after the 1912 eruption of [[Novarupta]] in Alaska. The volcanic eruption, which was complicated by the arrival of [[Typhoon Yunya (1991)|Typhoon Yunya]], covered the region with thick [[volcanic ash]] and [[lahar]] including the U.S. military base at [[Clark Field]] near [[Angeles City]].<ref>{{cite journal |editor1-last=McClelland |editor1-first=Lindsay |title=Report on Pinatubo (Philippines) |journal=Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network |date=1991 |volume=16 |issue=5 |doi=10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN199105-273083 |url=https://volcano.si.edu/showreport.cfm?doi=10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN199105-273083 |access-date=4 November 2024 |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]]}}</ref>

Other volcanoes in Zambales Mountains are [[Mount Mariveles]], [[Mount Natib]] and [[Mount Samat]].

==Protected areas==
* [[Bataan National Park]]
* [[Manleluag Spring Protected Landscape]]
* [[Roosevelt Protected Landscape]]

==Peaks==
=== List of highest peaks ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Mount Tapulao]] {{convert|6,683|ft|abbr=on}}
* [[Mount Iba]] 5,430&nbsp;ft (1,655 m)
* [[Mount Negron]] {{convert|5,194|ft|abbr=on}}
* [[Mount Pinatubo]] {{convert|4,875|ft|abbr=on}}
* [[Mount Mariveles]] {{convert|4,554|ft|abbr=on}}
* [[Mount Cuadrado]] {{convert|4,344|ft|abbr=on}}
* [[Mount McDonald, Pampanga|Mount McDonald]] {{convert|4,334|ft|abbr=on}}
* [[Mount Natib]] {{convert|4,111|ft|abbr=on}}
* [[Mount Limay]] {{convert|2,984|ft|abbr=on}}
* [[Mount Dorst, Pampanga|Mount Dorst]] {{convert|2,785|ft|abbr=on}}
* [[Mount Samat]] {{convert|1,788|ft|abbr=on}}
* [[Mount Gates, Tarlac|Mount Gates]] {{convert|1,663|ft|abbr=on}}
{{div col end}}

==River system==
{{redirect-distinguish|Pasig–Potrero River|Pasig River}}
[[File:Pinatubo Call789 AWFI 20201119 361 081 B151413.png|thumb|Satellite image of the central portion of the range taken on November 19, 2020. Strikingly visible are the [[lahar]]-filled [[river valley]]s radiating from the cyan [[Lake Pinatubo|Mount Pinatubo crater lake]].]] 

'''List of rivers in Zambales Mountains by length'''.
* [[Tarlac River]] {{convert|95.2|km|abbr=on}}
* Camiling River {{convert|93|km|abbr=on}}
* Pasig–Potrero River {{cvt|75|km|abbr=on}}
* Bucao River {{convert|48.3|km|abbr=on}}
* Santo Tomas River {{convert|46.4|km|abbr=on}}
{{clear}}

==Deforestation==
The Zambales mountains have undergone immense [[deforestation]] due to excessive logging and [[swidden farming]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brechin |first1=Steven R. |last2=Wilshusen |first2=Peter R. |last3=Fortwangler |first3=Crystal L. |last4=West |first4=Patrick C. |title=Contested Nature: Promoting International Biodiversity with Social Justice in the Twenty-first Century |date=1 February 2012 |publisher=[[State University of New York Press]] |isbn=978-0-7914-8654-2 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=TSJzKHc77H4C&pg=PA231 231] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TSJzKHc77H4C |access-date=4 November 2024 |language=en}}</ref> The [[1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo|1991 eruption]] of Mount Pinatubo also devastated large areas of the range, mostly ancestral lands of the indigenous [[Aeta]]s in Zambales.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McDermott |first1=Melanie J. |title=Review of After Duwagan: Deforestation, Succession and Adaptation in Upland Luzon, Philippines |journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies |date=1991 |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=432–435 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20071368 |access-date=4 November 2024 |issn=0022-4634}}</ref> [[Reforestation]] efforts have had success in some barren parts of the range, notably in [[San Felipe, Zambales]] at the initiative of the Aeta people supported by MAD Travel and some government agencies.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Albano |first1=Lou |title=How the Aeta communities of San Felipe, Zambales came together to reforest their ancestral land |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/content/914673/how-the-aeta-communities-of-san-felipe-zambales-came-together-to-reforest-their-ancestral-land/story/ |access-date=4 November 2024 |work=[[GMA News Online]] |date=25 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726010505/https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/content/914673/how-the-aeta-communities-of-san-felipe-zambales-came-together-to-reforest-their-ancestral-land/story/ |archive-date=26 July 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

==Biodiversity==

===Mammals===

The '''Zamabales forest mouse''' ([[Apomys zambalensis]]) is a species of small rodent endemic to Zambales Mountains in the Philippines.

The '''Tapulao forest mouse''' ([[Apomys brownorum]]) is a species of small rodent endemic to Mount Tapulao in the Philippines.

The '''Pinatubo forest mouse''' ([[Apomys sacobianus]]) is a species of small rodent endemic to Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines.<ref name="0006-324X-126-4-395"/>

The '''Tapulao tweezer-beaked rat''' ([[Rhynchomys tapulao]]) is a species of small rodent endemic to Mount Tapulao in the Philippines.<ref name = "Balete2007">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1644/06-MAMM-A-090R.1 | last1 = Balete | first1 = D. S. | last2 = Rickart | first2 = E. A. | last3 = Rosell-Ambal | first3 = R.G.B. | last4 = Jansa | first4 = S. | last5 = Heaney | first5 = L. R. | title = Descriptions of Two New Species of ''Rhynchomys'' Thomas (Rodentia: Muridae: Murinae) from Luzon Island, Philippines | journal = Journal of Mammalogy | volume = 88 | issue = 2 | pages = 287–301 | year = 2007 | jstor = 4498659| doi-access =  }}</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed" widths="175px">
File:Zambales mountains.jpg|The Zambales Mountains is known for having pine trees, ''[[Pinus merkusii]]''.<ref name="Balete-etal-2009">{{cite journal |last1=Balete |first1=Danilo S. |last2=Heaney |first2=Lawrence R. |last3=Josefa Veluz |first3=Maria |last4=Rickart |first4=Eric A. |title=Diversity patterns of small mammals in the Zambales Mts., Luzon, Philippines |journal=Mammalian Biology |date=November 2009 |volume=74 |issue=6 |doi=10.1016/j.mambio.2008.05.006 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S161650470800044X |access-date=4 November 2024 |at=Study area}}</ref>
File:Mt. Tapulao 3.jpg|View from [[Mt. Tapulao]] overlooking the [[South China Sea]] in the distance
File:Camiling River watershed.jpg|Mountainous barren landscape around the Camiling River watershed, Tarlac province
File:Jagged ridge upper Lawis River (2).jpg|Upper Lawis River watershed, showing a jagged [[ridge]]
File:Civet zambales mountains.jpg|A trapped [[civet]] in the Zambales Mountains that was later released
</gallery>
{{clear}}

==See also==
* [[Geography of the Philippines]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}

[[Category:Mountain ranges of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Landforms of Zambales]]
[[Category:Zambales Mountains|*]]