Wiki Loves Monuments: Photograph a monument, help Wikipedia and win!

Learn more
Ridge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
This article is about the geography and geology concept. For other uses, see Ridge
(disambiguation).
"Ridgeline" redirects here. For other uses, see Ridgeline (disambiguation).

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on
the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2019)
This article is in list format, but may read better as prose. (April 2019)
This article's lead section contains information that is not included elsewhere in
the article. (April 2019)

A mountain ridge in Japan

A stratigraphic ridge within the Appalachian Mountains.

The edges of tuyas can form ridges.

Pirin Mountain main ridge - view from Koncheto knife-edge ridge towards the
pyramidal peaks Vihren and Kutelo
A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of
mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance. The
sides of the ridge slope away from narrow top on either side. The lines along the
crest formed by the highest points, with the terrain dropping down on either sides,
are called the ridgelines. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well,
depending on size.

Contents
1 Types
2 See also
3 References
4 External Links
Types
There are several main types of ridges:

Dendritic ridge: In typical dissected plateau terrain, the stream drainage valleys
will leave intervening ridges. These are by far the most common ridges. These
ridges usually represent slightly more erosion resistant rock, but not always �
they often remain because there were more joints where the valleys formed or other
chance occurrences. This type of ridge is generally somewhat random in orientation,
often changing direction frequently, often with knobs at intervals on the ridge
top.
Stratigraphic ridge: In places such as the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, long,
even, straight ridges are formed because they are the uneroded remaining edges of
the more resistant dipping strata that were folded laterally. Similar ridges have
formed in places such as the Black Hills, where the ridges form concentric circles
around the igneous core. Sometimes these ridges are called "hogback ridges".
Oceanic spreading ridge: In tectonic spreading zones around the world, such as at
the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the volcanic activity forms new land between tectonic
boundaries creating volcanic ridges at the spreading zone. Isostatic settling and
erosion gradually reduces the elevations moving away from the zone.
Crater ridges: Large meteorite strikes typically form large impact craters bordered
by circular ridges.
Volcanic crater/caldera ridges: Large volcanoes often leave behind a central
crater/caldera bordered by circular ridges.
Fault ridges: Faults often form escarpments. Sometimes the tops of the escarpments
form not plateaus but slope back so that the edges of the escarpments form ridges.
Dune ridges: In areas of large-scale dune activity, certain types of dunes result
in sand ridges.
Moraines and eskers: Glacial activity may leave ridges in the form of moraines and
eskers. An ar�te is a thin ridge of rock that is formed by glacial erosion.
Volcanic subglacial ridges: Many subglacial volcanoes create ridge-like formations
when lava erupts through a thick glacier or ice sheet.
Shutter ridges: A shutter ridge is a ridge which has moved along a fault line,
blocking or diverting drainage. Typically, a shutter ridge creates a valley
corresponding to the alignment of the fault that produces it.
Pressure ridges: Also known as a tumuli, usually develops in lava flows especially
when slow-moving lava beneath a solidified crust wells upward.The brittle crust
usually buckles to accommodate the inflating core of the flow, thus creating a
central crack along the length of the tumulus.[1] An Ice pressure ridge develops in
an ice cover as a result of a stress regime established within the plane of the
ice.
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ridges.
Tectonic uplift � The portion of the total geologic uplift of the mean earth
surface that is not attributable to an isostatic response to unloading
Mountain range � A geographic area containing several geologically related
mountains
Mountain chain
Hill chain
References
"How Volcanoes Work - lava flow features". www.geology.sdsu.edu. Retrieved 2019-
01-13.
External Links
Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift, Volume 69 Universitetsforlaget, 1989, page 40
https://books.google.com/books?id=dXK7AAAAIAAJ
Physical Geography: Introduction To Earth, page 164
Categories: RidgesMontane ecologyErosion landformsSlope landformsMountainsOronyms
Navigation menu
Not logged inTalkContributionsCreate accountLog inArticleTalkReadEditView
historySearch
Search Wikipedia
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
In other projects
Wikimedia Commons
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
???????
?????
Deutsch
Fran�ais
??????
Portugu�s
???????
Tagalog
??
34 more
Edit links
This page was last edited on 14 August 2019, at 13:31 (UTC).
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;
additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and
Privacy Policy. Wikipedia� is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation,
Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policyAbout WikipediaDisclaimersContact WikipediaDevelopersCookie
statementMobile viewWikimedia Foundation Powered by MediaWiki