MOUNTAIN OF THE WORLD

Andes
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This article is about the mountain range in South America. For other uses, see  Andes (disambiguation).

Andes

Aerial photo of a portion of the Andes betweenArgentina and Chile

Highest point

Peak Aconcagua (Las Heras Department,Mendoza, Argentina)

Elevation 6,962 m (22,841 ft)

Coordinates 32°39′10″S 70°0′40″WCoordinates:  32°39′10″S 70°0′40″W

Dimensions
Length 7,000 km (4,300 mi)
Width 500 km (310 mi)
Naming
Native name Quechua: Anti(s/kuna)
Geography
 Composite satellite image of the southern Andes
Countries List[show]

The Andes is the longest continental mountain range in the world. It is a continual range of highlands along

the western coast of South America. This range is about 7,000 km (4,300 mi) long, about 200 km (120 mi)
to 700 km (430 mi) wide (widest between 18° south and 20° south latitude), and of an average height of
about 4,000 m (13,000 ft). The Andes extend from north to south through seven South American
countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.

Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated by intermediate depressions.
The Andes is the location of several high plateaux – some of which host major cities such
as Quito, Bogotá, Arequipa, Medellín, Sucre, Mérida, and La Paz. The Altiplano plateauis the world's
second-highest following the Tibetan plateau.

The Andes range is the world's highest mountain range outside of Asia. The highest peak,
Mount Aconcagua, rises to an elevation of about 6,962 m (22,841 ft) above sea level.
The peak of Chimborazo in the Ecuadorean Andes is farther from Earth's center than any other location on
Earth's surface, due to the equatorial bulge resulting from Earth's rotation. The world's
highest volcanoes are in the Andes, including Ojos del Salado on the Chile-Argentina border which rises to
6,893 m (22,615 ft). Over 50 other Andean volcanoes rise above 6,000 m (19,685 ft). The peak
of Alpamayo in the Andes of Peru, which rises to an elevation of 5,947 m (19,511 ft), is considered to be
"The Most Beautiful Mountain Of The World."

"Cono de Arita" in Salta (Argentina).

 Aerial view of Aconcagua.

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Name

 2 Geography

 3 Geology

o 3.1 Orogeny

o 3.2 Volcanism

o 3.3 Ore deposits and evaporites

 4 Climate and hydrology

 5 Flora

 6 Fauna

 7 Human activity

o 7.1 Transportation

o 7.2 Agriculture

o 7.3 Mining

 8 Peaks

o 8.1 Argentina

o 8.2 Border between Argentina and Chile

o 8.3 Bolivia

o 8.4 Border between Bolivia and Chile

o 8.5 Chile

o 8.6 Colombia

o 8.7 Ecuador

o 8.8 Peru

o 8.9 Venezuela

 9 See also
  10 Notes

 11 References

 12 External links

Name
Geology of the Andes[edit]

The etymology of the word Andes has been debated. The major consensus is that it derives from
the Quechua word anti, which means "high crest". Others believe that Andes comes from Anti Suyu, one of
the four regions of the Inca empire. It is more likely, however, that the wordAntisuyo derives from the use
of Anti to designate mountain chains. Derivation from the Spanish andén (in the sense of
cultivation terrace) has also been proposed, yet considered very unlikely.
Orogenies
Geography
Pampean orogeny [edit]
Famatinian orogeny
Gondwanide orogeny
The Andes can be divided into three sections:
Andean orogeny

Fold-thrust belts
1. The Southern Andes (south of Llullaillaco) in Argentina and Chile;
2. The Central Andes in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia
Central Andean | Patagonian
3. The Northern Andes (north of the Nudo de Pasto) in Venezuela and Colombia which consist of
Batholiths
three parallel ranges, the western, central, and eastern ranges. (The cordillera occidental, central,
Peruvian Coastal | North Patagonian |
South Patagonian and oriental.)

Subducted structures
In the northern part of the Andes, the isolated Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta range is often considered to
be part
Antarctic Plate | Carnegie of the Andes. The term cordilleracomes from the Spanish word "cuerda", meaning "rope". The
Ridge | Chile
Andes
Rise | Farallon Plate  range
(formerly) is about 200 km (124 mi) wide throughout its length, except in the Bolivian flexure where it is
 | Juan
aboutPlate | Nazca
Fernández Ridge | Nazca 640 kilometres (398 mi) wide. The Leeward Antilles islands Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, which lie
in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela, were thought to represent the submerged peaks of the
Ridge
extreme northern edge of the Andes range, but ongoing geological studies indicate that such a
Faults
simplification does not do justice to the complex tectonic boundary between the South American and
[1]
Caribbean plates.
Gastre | Liquiñe-Ofqui | Magallanes-

Geology[edit]
Fagnano

Andean Volcanic Belt

This section requires expansion. (July
2009)
Northern Zone| Peruvian flat-slab |Central

Zone | Pampean flat-slab |Southern

Zone | Patagonian Gap | Austral Zone

Paleogeographic terminology

Arequipa-Antofalla Terrane | Chilenia |

Chiloé Block | Cuyania | Iapetus Ocean |

Madre de Dios Terrane | Mejillonia |

Pampia

This box: 

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talk

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The Andes are a Mesozoic–Tertiary orogenic belt of mountains along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone
of volcanic activity that encompasses the Pacific rim of the Americas as well as the Asia-Pacific region. The
Andes are the result of plate tectonics processes, caused by the subduction of oceanic crust beneath
the South American plate. The main cause of the rise of the Andes is the compression of western rim of
the South American Plate due to the subduction of the Nazca Plate and the Antarctic Plate. To the east, the
Andes range is bounded by several sedimentary basins such as Orinoco, Amazon Basin, Madre de
Dios and Gran Chaco which separates the Andes from the ancient cratons in eastern South America. In the
south the Andes shares a long boundary with the former Patagonia Terrane. To the west, the Andes end at
the Pacific Ocean, although the Peru-Chile trench can be considered its ultimate western limit. From a
geographical approach the Andes are considered to have their western boundaries marked by the
appearance of coastal lowlands and a less rugged topography.

Orogeny[edit]
The western rim of the South American Plate has been the place of several pre-Andean orogenies since at
least the period of the late Proterozoic and earlyPaleozoic when
several terranes and microcontinents collided and amalgamated with the ancient cratons of eastern South
America, by then the South American part of Gondwana.

The formation of the modern Andes began with the events of the Triassic when Pangea began to break up
and several rifts developed. It continued through theJurassic Period. It was during the Cretaceous Period
that the Andes began to take its present form, by
the uplifting, faulting and folding of sedimentary andmetamorphic rocks of the ancient cratons to the east.
The rise of the Andes has not been constant and different regions have had different degrees of tectonic
stress, uplift, and erosion.

Tectonic forces above the subduction zone along the entire west coast of South America where the Nazca
Plate and a part of the Antarctic Plate are sliding beneath the South American Plate continue to produce an
ongoing orogenic event resulting in minor to major earthquakes and volcanic eruptions to this day. In the
extreme south a major transform fault separates Tierra del Fuego from the small Scotia Plate. Across the
1,000 km (620 mi) wide Drake Passage lie the mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula south of the Scotia
Plate which appear to be a continuation of the Andes chain. [citation needed]

Volcanism[edit]
Main article:  Andean Volcanic Belt
Rift valley near Quilotoa, Ecuador.

Astronaut photograph with the high plains of the Andes Mountains in the foreground, with a line of young volcanoes
facing the much lower Atacama Desert.

The Andes range has many active volcanoes, which are distributed in four volcanic zones separated by
areas of inactivity. The Andean volcanism is a result ofsubduction of the Nazca Plate and Antarctic Plate
underneath the South American Plate. The belt is subdivided into four main volcanic zones that are
separated from each other by volcanic gaps. The volcanoes of the belt are diverse in terms of activity style,
products and morphology. While some differences can be explained by which volcanic zone a volcano
belongs to, there are significant differences inside volcanic zones and even between neighbouring
volcanoes. Despite being a type location for calc-alkalic and subduction volcanism, the Andean Volcanic
Belt has a large range of volcano-tectonic settings, such as rift systems and extensional zones,
transpersonal faults, subduction of mid-ocean ridges and seamount chains apart from a large range of
crustal thicknesses andmagma ascent paths, and different amount of crustal assimilations.

Ore deposits and evaporites[edit]

The Andes mountains host large ore and salt deposits and some of its eastern fold and thrust belt acts as
traps for commercially exploitable amounts ofhydrocarbons. In the forelands of the Atacama desert some of
the largest porphyry copper mineralizations occurs making Chile and Peru the first and second largest
exporters of copper in the world. Porphyry copper in the western slopes of the Andes has been generated
by hydrothermal fluids (mostly water) during the cooling of plutons or volcanic systems. The porphyry
mineralization further benefited from the dry climate that let them largely out of the disturbing actions
ofmeteoric water. The dry climate in the central western Andes have also led to the creation of
extensive saltpeter deposits which were extensively mined until the invention of synthetic nitrates. Yet
another result of the dry climate are the salars of Atacama and Uyuni, the first one being the largest source
of lithiumtoday and the second the world’s largest reserve of the element. Early Mesozoic
and Neogene plutonism in Bolivia's Cordillera Central created the Bolivian tin belt as well as the famous,
now depleted, deposits of Cerro Rico de Potosí.

Climate and hydrology[edit]

See also:  Tropical Andes, Dry Andes,  and  Wet Andes

Central Andes

Bolivian Andes

The climate in the Andes varies greatly depending on latitude, altitude, and proximity to the sea.
Temperature, atmospheric pressure and humidity decrease in higher elevations. The southern section is
rainy and cool, the central Andes are dry. The northern Andes are typically rainy and warm, with an
average temperature of 18 °C (64 °F) in Colombia. The climate is known to change drastically in rather
short distances. Rainforests exist just miles away from the snow covered peak Cotopaxi. The mountains
have a large effect on the temperatures of nearby areas. The snow line depends on the location. It is at
between 4,500 and 4,800 m (14,800–15,800 ft) in the tropical Ecuadorian, Colombian, Venezuelan, and
northern Peruvian Andes, rising to 4,800–5,200 m (15,800–17,060 ft) in the drier mountains of southern
Peru south to northern Chile south to about 30°S, then descending to 4,500 m (14,760 ft) on Aconcagua at
32°S, 2,000 m (6,600 ft) at 40°S, 500 m (1,640 ft) at 50°S, and only 300 m (980 ft) in Tierra del Fuego at
55°S; from 50°S, several of the larger glaciers descend to sea level. [2]

The Andes of Chile and Argentina can be divided in two climatic and glaciological zones; the Dry
Andes and the Wet Andes. Since the Dry Andes extends from the latitudes of Atacama Desert to the area
of Maule River, precipitation is more sporadic and there are strong temperature oscillations. The line of
equilibrium may shift drastically over short periods of time, leaving a whole glacier in the ablation area or in
the accumulation area.

In the high Andes of central Chile and Mendoza Province rock glaciers are larger and more common than
glaciers; this is due to the high exposure tosolar radiation.[3]

Though precipitation increases with the height, there are semiarid conditions in the nearly 7000 m towering
highest mountains of the Andes. This dry steppe climate is considered to be typically of the subtropic
position at 32-34° S. Therefore in the valley bottoms do not grow woods but only dwarf scrub. The largest
glaciers, as e.g. the Plomo glacier and the Horcones glaciers do not even reach 10 km in length and have
an only insignificant ice thickness. At glacial times, however, c. 20 000 years ago, the glaciers were over
ten times longer. On the east side of this section of the Mendozina Andes they flowed down to 2060 m and
on the west side to c. 1220 m asl.[4][5] The massifs of Cerro Aconcagua (6962 m), Cerro Tupungato (6550
m) and Nevado Juncal (6110 m) are deca-kilometres away from each other and were connected by a joint
ice stream network. Its dendritic glacier arms, i.e. components of valley glaciers, were up to 112.5 km long,
over 1020, i.e. 1250 m thick and overspanned a vertical distance of 5150 altitude metres. The climatic
glacier snowline (ELA) was lowered from currently 4600 m to 3200 m at glacial times. [4][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

Flora[edit]

The Andean region cuts across several natural and floristc regions due to its extension
from Caribbean Venezuela to cold, windy and wet Cape Hornpassing through the hyperarid Atacama
Desert. Rainforests used to encircle much of the northern Andes but are now greatly diminished, especially
in the Chocó and inter-Andean valleys of Colombia. As a direct opposite of the humid Andean slopes are
the relatively dry Andean slopes in most of western Peru, Chile and Argentina. Along with
several Interandean Valles, they are typically dominated by deciduous woodland, shrub
and xericvegetation, reaching the extreme in the slopes near the virtually lifeless Atacama Desert.

About 30,000 species of vascular plants live in the Andes with roughly half being endemic to the region,
surpassing the diversity of any other hotspot.[14]The small tree Cinchona pubescens, a source
of quinine which is used to treat malaria, is found widely in the Andes as far south as Bolivia. Other
important crops that originated from the Andes are tobacco and potatoes. The high-
altitude Polylepis forests and woodlands are found in the Andean areas of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru,
Bolivia and Chile. These trees, by locals referred to as Queñua, Yagual and other names, can be found at
altitudes of 4,500 m (14,760 ft) above sea level. It remains unclear if the patchy distribution of these forests
and woodlands is natural, or the result of clearing which began during the Incan period. Regardless,
in modern times the clearance has accelerated, and the trees are now considered to be highly endangered,
with some believing that as little as 10% of the original woodland remains. [15]

Fauna[edit]
A male Andean Cock-of-the-rock, a species found in humid Andean forests ofPeru, as it is the national bird of that
country.

Herds of alpacas on the mountainAusangate hillside.

Main article:  Fauna of the Andes

The Andes is rich in fauna: With almost 3,500 species, of which roughly 2/3 are endemic to the region, the
Andes is the most important region in the world for amphibians.[14] The diversity of animals in the Andes is
high, with almost 600 species of mammals (13% endemic), more than 1,700 species of birds (about 1/3
endemic), more than 600 species of reptile (about 45% endemic), and almost 400 species of fish (about 1/3
endemic).[14]

The Vicuña and Guanaco can be found living in the Altiplano, while the closely

related domesticated Llama and Alpaca are widely kept by locals aspack animals and for
their meat and wool. The nocturnal chinchillas, two threatened members of the rodent order, inhabit the
Andes' alpine regions. TheAndean Condor, the largest bird of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, occurs
throughout much of the Andes but generally in very low densities. Other animals found in the relatively
open habitats of the high Andes include the huemul, cougar, foxes in the genus Pseudalopex, and, for
birds, certain species of tinamous (notably members of the genus Nothoprocta), Andean Goose, Giant
Coot, flamingos (mainly associated with hypersaline lakes),Lesser Rhea, Andean Flicker, Diademed
Sandpiper-plover, miners, sierra-finches and diuca-finches.

Lake Titicaca hosts several endemics, among them the highly endangered Titicaca Flightless
Grebe and Titicaca Water Frog. A few species ofhummingbirds, notably some hillstars, can be seen at
altitudes above 4,000 m (13,100 ft), but far higher diversities can be found at lower altitudes, especially in
the humid Andean forests ("cloud forests") growing on slopes in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and far
northwestern Argentina. These forest-types, which includes the Yungas and parts of the Chocó, are very
rich in flora and fauna, although few large mammals exists, exceptions being the threatened Mountain
Tapir, Spectacled Bear and Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey.

Birds of humid Andean forests include mountain-toucans, quetzals and the Andean Cock-of-the-rock,

while mixed species flocks dominated by tanagersand Furnariids commonly are seen - in contrast to
several vocal but typically cryptic species of wrens, tapaculos and antpittas.

A number of species such as the Royal Cinclodes and White-browed Tit-spinetail are associated

with Polylepis, and consequently also threatened.

Human activity[edit]

See also:  Cultural periods of Peru,  Inca Empire,  Viceroyalty of Peru, and Andean states

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this

article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged
and removed. (January 2011)

The Andes mountains form a north-south axis of cultural influences. A long series of cultural development
culminated in the expansion of the Inca civilization and Inca Empire in the central Andes during the 15th
century. The Incas formed this civilization through imperialistic militarism as well as careful and meticulous
governmental management.[16] The government sponsored the construction of aqueducts and roads in
addition to preexisting installations. Some of these constructions are still in existence today.

Devastated by European diseases to which they had no immunity, and civil wars, in 1532 the Incas were
defeated by an alliance composed of tens of thousands allies from nations they had subjugated
(e.g. Huancas, Chachapoyas, Cañaris) and a small army of 180 Spaniards led by Francisco Pizarro. One
of the few Inca sites the Spanish never found in their conquest was Machu Picchu, which lay hidden on a
peak on the eastern edge of the Andes where they descend to the Amazon. The main surviving languages
of the Andean peoples are those of the Quechua andAymara language families. Woodbine
Parish and Joseph Barclay Pentland surveyed a large part of the Bolivian Andes from 1826 to 1827.

In modern times, the largest Andean cities are Bogotá, Colombia, with a population of about eight
million, Santiago de Chile, and Medellin, Colombia.

Transportation[edit]
Several major cities are either in the Andes or in the foothills, among which are Bogotá, Medellín and Cali,
Colombia; Quito, Ecuador; Mérida, Venezuela; La Paz, Bolivia; Santiago, Chile, andCusco, Peru. These
and most other cities and large towns are connected with asphalt-paved roads, while smaller towns are
often connected by dirt roads, which may require a four-wheel-drivevehicle.[17]

The rough terrain has historically put the costs of building highways and railroads that cross the Andes out
of reach of most neighboring countries, even with modern civil engineering practices. For example, the
main crossover of the Andes between Argentina and Chile is still accomplished through the Paso
Internacional Los Libertadores. Only recently the ends of some highways that came rather close to one
another from the east and the west have been connected.[18] Much of the transportation of passengers is
done via aircraft.

However, there is one railroad that connects Chile with Argentina via the Andes, and there are others that
make the same connection via southern Bolivia. See railroad maps of that region.

There is one or more highway in Bolivia that cross the Andes. Some of these were built during a period of
war between Bolivia and Paraguay, in order to transport Bolivian troops and their supplies to the war front
in the lowlands of southeastern Bolivia and western Paraguay.

For decades, Chile claimed ownership of land on the eastern side of the Andes. However, these claims
were given up in about 1870 during the War of the Pacific between Chile, the allied Bolivia and Peru, in a
diplomatic deal to keep Argentina out of the war. The Chilean Army and Chilean Navy defeated the
combined forces of Bolivia and Peru, and Chile took over Bolivia's only province on the Pacific Coast, some
land from Peru that was returned to Peru decades later. Bolivia has been a completely landlocked country
ever since. It mostly uses seaports in eastern Argentina andUruguay for international trade because its
diplomatic relations with Chile have been suspended since 1978.

Because of the tortuous terrain in places, villages and towns in the mountains — to which travel
via motorized vehicles are of little use — are still located in the high Andes of Argentina, Bolivia, Peru,
and Ecuador. Locally, the relatives of the camel, the llama, and the alpaca continue to carry out important
uses as pack animals, but this use has generally diminished in modern times.Donkeys, mules, and horses
are also useful.

Agriculture[edit]

Photograph of young Peruvian farmers sowing maize and beans.

See also:  Vertical archipelago

The ancient peoples of the Andes such as the Incas have practiced irrigation techniques for over 6,000
years. Because of the mountain slopes, terracinghas been a common practice. Terracing, however, was
only extensively employed after Incan imperial expansions to fuel their expanding realm. Thepotato holds a
very important role as an internally consumed staple crop. Maize was also an important crop for these
people, and was used for the production of chicha, important to Andean native people.
Currently, tobacco, cotton and coffee are the main export crops. Coca, despite eradication programmes in
some countries, remains an important crop for legal local use in a mildly stimulating herbal tea, and, both
controversially and illegally, for the production of cocaine.

Mining[edit]
The Andes rose to fame for its mineral wealth during the Spanish conquest of South America. Although
Andean Amerindian peoples crafted ceremonial jewelry of gold and other metals the mineralizations of the
Andes were first mined in large scale after the Spanish arrival. Potosí in present-day Boliviaand Cerro de
Pasco in Peru were one of the principal mines of the Spanish Empire in the New World. Río de la
Plata and Argentina derive their names from the silver of Potosí.

Currently, mining in the Andes of Chile and Peru places these countries as the first and third major
producers of copper in the world. Peru also contains the largest goldmine in the world: theYanacocha. The
Bolivian Andes produce principally tin although historically silver mining had a huge impact on
the economy of 17th century Europe.

There is a long history of mining in the Andes, from the Spanish silver mines in Potosí in the 16th century to
the vast current porphyry copper deposits of Chuquicamata and Escondida in Chile and Toquepala in Peru.
Other metals including iron, gold and tin in addition to non-metallic resources are important.

Chilean huasos, 19th century

The mountain Huayna Picchuoverlooks the ruins of Machu Picchu

 
 

Quechua woman and child in theSacred Valley in Peru

Peaks[edit]

Main article:  List of mountains in the Andes

This list contains some of the major peaks in the Andes mountain range. The highest peak is Aconcagua of
Argentina (see below).

Argentina[edit]

Tronador, Argentina/Chile

See also:  List of mountains in Argentina

 Aconcagua, 6,962 m (22,841 ft)

 Cerro Bonete, 6,759 m (22,175 ft)

 Galán, 5,912 m (19,396 ft)

 Mercedario, 6,720 m (22,047 ft)

 Pissis, 6,795 m (22,293 ft)

Border between Argentina and Chile[edit]

 Cerro Bayo, 5,401 m (17,720 ft)

 Cerro Fitz Roy, 3,375 m (11,073 ft) or 3,405 m, Patagonia, also known as Cerro Chaltén

 Cerro Escorial, 5,447 m (17,871 ft)

 Cordón del Azufre, 5,463 m (17,923 ft)

 Falso Azufre, 5,890 m (19,324 ft)

 Incahuasi, 6,620 m (21,719 ft)

 Lastarria, 5,697 m (18,691 ft)

 Llullaillaco, 6,739 m (22,110 ft)

 Maipo, 5,264 m (17,270 ft)

 Marmolejo, 6,110 m (20,046 ft)

 Ojos del Salado, 6,893 m (22,615 ft)

 Olca, 5,407 m (17,740 ft)

 Sierra Nevada de Lagunas Bravas, 6,127 m (20,102 ft)

 Socompa, 6,051 m (19,852 ft)

 Nevado Tres Cruces, 6,749 m (22,142 ft) (south summit) (III Region)

 Tronador, 3,491 m (11,453 ft)

 Tupungato, 6,570 m (21,555 ft)

 Nacimiento, 6,492 m (21,299 ft)

Llullaillaco, Argentina/Chile

Camino de Alta Montaña, Argentina/Chile

Bolivia[edit]

 Janq'u Uma, 6,427 m (21,086 ft)

 Cabaraya, 5,860 m (19,226 ft)

 Chacaltaya, 5,421 m (17,785 ft)

 Wayna Potosí, 6,088 m (19,974 ft)

 Illampu, 6,368 m (20,892 ft)

 Illimani, 6,438 m (21,122 ft)

 Laram Q'awa, 5,520 m (18,110 ft)

 Macizo de Pacuni, 5,400 m (17,720 ft)

 Nevado Anallajsi, 5,750 m (18,865 ft)

 Nevado Sajama, 6,542 m (21,463 ft)

 Patilla Pata, 5,300 m (17,390 ft)

 Tata Sabaya, 5,430 m (17,815 ft)

Sajama

Wayna Potosí

Border between Bolivia and Chile[edit]

 Acotango, 6,052 m (19,856 ft)

 Michincha, 5,305 m (17,405 ft)

 Iru Phutunqu, 5,163 m (16,939 ft)

 Licancabur, 5,920 m (19,423 ft)

 Olca, 5,407 m (17,740 ft)

 Parinacota, 6,348 m (20,827 ft)

 Paruma, 5,420 m (17,782 ft)

 Pomerape, 6,282 m (20,610 ft)

Licancabur, Bolivia/Chile

Parinacota

Chile[edit]
Main article:  List of mountains in Chile

 Monte San Valentin, 4,058 m (13,314 ft)

 Cerro Paine Grande, 2,884 m (9,462 ft)

 Cerro Macá, c.2,300 m (7,546 ft)

 Monte Darwin, c.2,500 m (8,202 ft)

 Volcan Hudson, c.1,900 m (6,234 ft)

 Cerro Castillo Dynevor, c.1,100 m (3,609 ft)

 Mount Tarn, c.825 m (2,707 ft)

 Polleras, 5,993 m (19,662 ft)

 

Santiago de Chile on the western slopes of a snowcapped Andes

View of Cuernos del Paine in Torres del Paine National Park

Colombia[edit]

 Nevado del Huila, 5,365 m (17,602 ft)

 Nevado del Ruiz, 5,321 m (17,457 ft)

 Nevado del Tolima, 5,205 m (17,077 ft)

 Pico Pan de Azucar, 5,200 m (17,060 ft)

 Ritacuba Negra, 5,320 m (17,454 ft)

 Nevado del Cumbal, 4,764 m (15,630 ft)

 Cerro Negro de Mayasquer, 4,445 m (14,583 ft)

 Ritacuba Blanco, 5,410 m (17,749 ft)

 Nevado del Quindío, 5,215 m (17,110 ft)

 Purace, 4,655 m (15,272 ft)

 Santa Isabel, 4,955 m (16,257 ft)

 Doña Juana, 4,150 m (13,615 ft)

 Galeras, 4,276 m (14,029 ft)

 Azufral. 4,070 m (13,353 ft)

 

Ritacuba blanco the highest peak of Cordillera Oriental, Colombia.

Nevado del Ruiz, Colombia

Ecuador[edit]

 Antisana, 5,752 m (18,871 ft)

 Cayambe, 5,790 m (18,996 ft)

 Chimborazo, 6,268 m (20,564 ft)

 Corazón, 4,790 m (15,715 ft)

 Cotopaxi, 5,897 m (19,347 ft)

 El Altar, 5,320 m (17,454 ft)

 Illiniza, 5,248 m (17,218 ft)

 Pichincha, 4,784 m (15,696 ft)

 Quilotoa, 3,914 m (12,841 ft)

 Reventador, 3,562 m (11,686 ft)

 Sangay, 5,230 m (17,159 ft)

 Tungurahua, 5,023 m (16,480 ft)

 Titicacha, 5,035 m (16,519 ft)



Chimborazo near Riobamba,Ecuador.

Tungurahua Ecuador.

Cayambe, Ecuador.

Volcán El Altar - Riobamba - Ecuador

 
 

Cotopaxi

Andes near Otavalo

Pichincha Volcano, an active stratovolcano in the Ecuadorian Andes photographed from theHistoric Center of

Quito.

Imbabura Volcano, an inactive stratovolcano

Peru[edit]
 Alpamayo, 5,947 m (19,511 ft)

 Artesonraju, 6,025 m (19,767 ft)

 Carnicero, 5,960 m (19,554 ft)

 Chumpi, 6,106 m (20,033 ft)

 El Misti, 5,822 m (19,101 ft)

 El Toro, 5,830 m (19,127 ft)

 Huandoy, 6,395 m (20,981 ft)

 Huascarán, 6,768 m (22,205 ft)

 Jirishanca, 6,094 m (19,993 ft)

 Pumasillu, 5,991 m (19,656 ft)

 Rasaq, 6,040 m (19,816 ft)

 Runtuy, 5,870 m (19,259 ft)

 Sarapu, 6,127 m (20,102 ft)

 Seria Norte, 5,860 m (19,226 ft)

 Siula Grande, 6,344 m (20,814 ft)

 Waytapallana, 5,557 m (18,232 ft)

 Yerupaja, 6,635 m (21,768 ft)

 Yerupaja Chico, 6,089 m (19,977 ft)

Alpamayo, Peru

Chachani and El Misti, Peru

  

Huandoy, Peru

Yerupaja

Venezuela[edit]

 Pico Bolívar, 5,007 m (16,427 ft)

 Pico Humboldt, 4,940 m (16,207 ft)

 Pico Bonpland, 4,880 m (16,010 ft)

 Pico La Concha, 4,870 m (15,978 ft)

 Pico Piedras Blancas, 4,740 m (15,551 ft)

 Pico El Águila, 4,180 m (13,714 ft)

 Pico El Toro 4,729 m (15,515 ft)

 Pico El León 4,740 m (15,551 ft)

 Pico Mucuñuque 4,609 m (15,121 ft)



Pico Bolívar, Venezuela

Pico Humboldt, Venezuela

Pico La Concha, Venezuela

Pico El Águila, Venezuela

 
 

Pico El Toro, Venezuela

Pico León, Venezuela

Pico Mucuñuque, Venezuela

See also[edit]

 Andean Geology - a scientific journal

 Andesite line

 Apu (god)

 Cordillera Mountains in the Philippines

 Mountain Passes of the Andes

 List of longest mountain chains in the world
Notes[edit]

1. Jump up^ mmmmm. "Upper mantle structure beneath the Caribbean-South American plate

boundary from surface wave tomography". JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH 114:

B01312.Bibcode:2009JGRB..11401312M. doi:10.1029/2007JB005507. Archived from the original on

2010-06-05. Retrieved 2010-11-21.

2. Jump up^ "Climate of the Andes". Archived from the original on 14 December 2007. Retrieved

2007-12-09.

3. Jump up^ Jan-Christoph Otto, Joachim Götz, Markus Keuschnig, Ingo Hartmeyer, Dario

Trombotto, and Lothar Schrott (2010). Geomorphological and geophysical investigation of a complex

rock glacier system - Morenas Coloradas valley (Cordon del Plata, Mendoza, Argentina)

4. ^ Jump up to:a b Kuhle, M. (2011): The High-Glacial (Last Glacial Maximum) Glacier Cover of the

Aconcagua Group and Adjacent Massifs in the Mendoza Andes (South America) with a Closer Look at

Further Empiri </gallery> Quaternary Science, Vol. 15 (Quaternary Glaciation - Extent and Chronology,

A Closer Look, Eds: Ehlers, J.; Gibbard, P.L.; Hughes, P.D.), 735-738. (Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam).

5. Jump up^ Brüggen, J. (1929): Zur Glazialgeologie der chilenischen Anden. Geol. Rundsch.

20, 1–35, Berlin.

6. Jump up^ Kuhle, M. (1984): Spuren hocheiszeitlicher Gletscherbedeckung in der Aconcagua-

Gruppe (32-33° S). In: Zentralblatt für Geologie und Paläontologie Teil 1 11/12, Verhandlungsblatt des

Südamerika-Symposiums 1984 in Bamberg: 1635-1646.

7. Jump up^ Kuhle, M. (1986): Die Vergletscherung Tibets und die Entstehung von Eiszeiten. In:

Spektrum der Wissenschaft 9/86: 42-54.

8. Jump up^ Kuhle, M. (1987): Subtropical Mountain- and Highland-Glaciation as Ice Age

Triggers and the Waning of the Glacial Periods in the Pleistocene. In: GeoJournal 14 (4); Kluwer,

Dordrecht/ Boston/ London: 393-421.

9. Jump up^ Kuhle, M. (1988): Subtropical Mountain- and Highland-Glaciation as Ice Age

Triggers and the Waning of the Glacial Periods in the Pleistocene. In: Chinese Translation Bulletin of

Glaciology and Geocryology 5 (4): 1-17 (in Chinese language).

10. Jump up^ Kuhle, M. (1989): Ice-Marginal Ramps: An Indicator of Semiarid Piedmont

Glaciations. In: GeoJournal 18; Kluwer, Dordrecht/ Boston/ London: 223-238.

11. Jump up^ Kuhle, M. (1990): Ice Marginal Ramps and Alluvial Fans in Semi-Arid Mountains:

Convergence and Difference. In: Rachocki, A.H., Church, M. (eds.): Alluvial fans - A field approach.

John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chester-New York-Brisbane-Toronto-Singapore: 55-68.

12. Jump up^ Kuhle, M. (1990): The Probability of Proof in Geomorphology - an Example of the

Application of Information Theory to a New Kind of Glacigenic Morphological Type, the Ice-marginal

Ramp (Bortensander). In: GeoJournal 21 (3); Kluwer, Dordrecht/ Boston/ London: 195-222.
 13. Jump up^ Kuhle, M. (2004): The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) glacier cover of the Aconcagua

group and adjacent massifs in the Mendoza Andes (South America). In: Ehlers, J., Gibbard, P.L. (Eds.),

Quaternary Glaciation— Extent and Chronology. Part III: South America, Asia, Africa, Australia,

Antarctica. Development in Quaternary Science, vol. 2c. Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, pp. 75–81.

14. ^ Jump up to:a b c Tropical Andes - biodiversityhotspots.org

15. Jump up^ "Plants of the Andes". Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved

2007-12-09.

16. Jump up^ D'Altroy, Terence N. The Incas. Blackwell Publishing, 2003

17. Jump up^ Andes travel map

18. Jump up^ "Jujuy apuesta a captar las cargas de Brasil en tránsito hacia Chile by Emiliano

Galli". La Nación newspaper. Retrieved 2011-07-22.

References[edit]

 Oncken, O. et al. (2006). The Andes. Active Subduction Orogeny. Springer: Berlin. DOI:

10.1007/978-3-540-48684-8

 Biggar, J. (2005). The Andes: A Guide For Climbers. 3rd. edition. Andes: Kirkcudbrightshire. ISBN
0-9536087-2-7

 de Roy, T. (2005). The Andes: As the Condor Flies. Firefly books: Richmond Hill. ISBN 1-55407-
070-8

 Fjeldså, J. & N. Krabbe (1990). The Birds of the High Andes. Zoological Museum, University of
Copenhagen: Copenhagen. ISBN 87-88757-16-1

 Fjeldså, J. & M. Kessler (1996). Conserving the biological diversity of Polylepis woodlands of the
highlands on Peru and Bolivia, a contribution to sustainable natural resource management in the
Andes. NORDECO: Copenhagen. ISBN 9788798616801
Rocky Mountains
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For individual mountains named Rocky Mountain, see  Rocky Mountain (disambiguation).

See also:  Mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains

Rocky Mountains

the Rockies (en), les Rocheuses (fr),

Montañas Rocosas, Rocallosas (es)

Moraine Lake, and the Valley of the Ten Peaks,Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Highest point

Peak Mount Elbert (U.S.A.)

Elevation 14,440 ft (4,400 m)

Coordinates
39°07′03.90″N106°26′43.29″W

Dimensions

Length 3,000 mi (4,800 km)

Geography
 Countries Canada and United States

States/Provinces List[show]

Range coordinates 43°44′N 110°48′WCoordinates:  43°44′N 110°48′W

Parent range North American Cordillera

Geology

Period Precambrian and Cretaceous

Type of rock Igneous, Sedimentary andMetamorphic

The Rocky Mountains, commonly known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range in western North

America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 3,000 miles (4,830 km) from the northernmost part
of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States. Within
the North American Cordillera, the Rockies are somewhat distinct from the Pacific Coast Ranges and
theCascade Range and Sierra Nevada which all lie farther to the west.

The Rocky Mountains were initially formed from 80 million to 55 million years ago during the Laramide
orogeny, in which a number of plates began to slide underneath the North American plate. The angle
of subduction was shallow, resulting in a broad belt of mountains running down western North America.
Since then, further tectonic activity and erosion by glaciers have sculpted the Rockies into dramatic peaks
and valleys. At the end of the last ice age, humans started to inhabit the mountain range. After Europeans,
such as Sir Alexander Mackenzie and Americans, such as the Lewis and Clark expedition, started to
explore the range, minerals and furs drove the initial economic exploitation of the mountains, although the
range itself never became densely populated.

Currently, much of the mountain range is protected by public parks and forest lands, and is a popular
tourist destination, especially for hiking,camping, mountaineering, fishing, hunting, mountain biking, skiing,
and snowboarding.

Contents

  [hide] 
 1 Geography

 2 Geology

 3 Ecology and climate

 4 History

o 4.1 Indigenous People

o 4.2 European exploration

o 4.3 Settlement

 5 Economy

o 5.1 Industry and development

o 5.2 Tourism

 6 See also

 7 References

 8 Further reading

 9 External links

Geography[edit]

See also:  Geography of the United States Rocky Mountain System

The Rocky Mountains are commonly defined as stretching from the Liard River in British Columbia south to
the Rio Grande in New Mexico. Other mountain ranges continue beyond those two rivers, including
the Selwyn Range in Yukon, the Brooks Range in Alaska, and the Sierra Madre in Mexico, but those are
not part of the Rockies, though they are part of the American cordillera. The United States definition of the
Rockies, however, includes the Cabinet and Salish Mountains of Idaho and Montana, whereas their
counterparts north of the Kootenai River, the Columbia Mountains, are considered a separate system in
Canada, lying to the west of the huge Rocky Mountain Trench, which runs the length of British Columbia
from its beginnings in the middle Flathead River valley in western Montana to the south bank of the Liard
River.[1]The Rockies vary in width from 70 to 300 miles (110 to 480 kilometers). Also west of the Rocky
Mountain Trench, farther north and facing theMuskwa Range across the trench, are the Stikine
Ranges and Omineca Mountains of the Interior Mountains system of British Columbia. A small area east
of Prince George, British Columbia on the eastern side of the Trench, the McGregor Plateau, resembles
the Rockies but is considered part of the Interior Plateau.
The eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains near Denver, Colorado

The eastern edge of the Rockies rises dramatically above the Interior Plains of central North America,
including the Front Range of Colorado, the Wind River Range and Big Horn Mountains ofWyoming,
the Absaroka-Beartooth ranges and Rocky Mountain Front of Montana, Dunnick's Peak (Colorado) and
the Clark Range of Alberta. In Canada geographers define three main groups of ranges: the Continental
Ranges, Hart Ranges and Muskwa Ranges (the latter two flank the Peace River, the only river to pierce the
Rockies, and are collectively referred to as the Northern Rockies). The Muskwa and Hart Ranges together
comprise what is known as the Northern Rockies (the Mackenzie Mountains north of the Liard River are
sometimes referred to as being part of the Rockies but this is an unofficial designation).

The Tetons are a rugged subrange in Wyoming

The western edge of the Rockies includes ranges such as the Wasatch near Salt Lake City and
the Bitterroots along the Idaho-Montana border. TheGreat Basin and Columbia River Plateau separate
these sub-ranges from distinct ranges further to the west, most prominent among which are the Sierra
Nevada, Cascade Range and Coast Mountains. The Rockies do not extend into the Yukon or Alaska, or
into central British Columbia, where the Rocky Mountain System (but not the Rocky Mountains) includes
the Columbia Mountains, the southward extension of which is considered part of the Rockies in the United
States. The Rocky Mountain System within the United States is a United States physiographic region; the
Rocky Mountain System is known in Canada as the Eastern System.

The Rocky Mountains are notable for containing the highest peaks in central North America. The range's
highest peak is Mount Elbert located in Colorado at 14,440 feet (4,401 m) above sea level. Mount
Robson in British Columbia, at 12,972 feet (3,954 m), is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies.
Mount Robson in British Columbia, Canada.

The Continental Divide is located in the Rocky Mountains and designates the line at which waters flow
either to theAtlantic or Pacific Oceans. Triple Divide Peak (8,020 feet (2,440 m)) in Glacier National Park is
so named because water that falls on the mountain reaches not only the Atlantic and Pacific, but Hudson
Bay as well. Farther north in Alberta, the Athabasca and other rivers feed the basin of the Mackenzie River,
which has its outlet on the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean. See Rivers of the Rocky Mountains for a list of
rivers.

Human population is not very dense in the Rocky Mountains, with an average of four people per square
kilometer (10 per square mile) and few cities with over 50,000 people. However, the human population
grew rapidly in the Rocky Mountain states between 1950 and 1990. The 40-year statewide increases in
population range from 35% in Montana to about 150% in Utah and Colorado. The populations of several
mountain towns and communities have doubled in the last 40 years. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, increased
260%, from 1,244 to 4,472 residents, in 40 years.[2]

Geology[edit]

See also:  Geology of the Rocky Mountains

The rocks in the Rocky Mountains were formed before the mountains were raised by tectonic forces. The
oldest rock is Precambrian metamorphic rock that forms the core of the North American continent. There is
also Precambrian sedimentary argillite, dating back to 1.7 billion years ago. During the Paleozoic, western
North America lay underneath a shallow sea, which deposited many kilometers of limestone and dolomite.
[3]

In the southern Rocky Mountains, near present-day Colorado, these ancestral rocks were disturbed by
mountain building approximately 300Ma, during thePennsylvanian. This mountain building produced the
Ancestral Rocky Mountains. They consisted largely of Precambrian metamorphic rock forced upward
through layers of the limestone laid down in the shallow sea.[4] The mountains eroded throughout the late
Paleozoic and early Mesozoic, leaving extensive deposits of sedimentary rock.

Terranes started to collide with the western edge of North America in the Mississippian (approximately 350
million years ago), causing the Antler orogeny.[5] For 270 million years, the effects of plate collisions were
focused very near the edge of the North American plate boundary, far to the west of the Rocky Mountain
region.[5] It was not until 80 Ma that these effects began to reach the Rockies. [6]

The current Rocky Mountains were raised in the Laramide orogeny from between 80 to 55 Ma.[6] For the
Canadian Rockies, the mountain building is analogous to a rug being pushed on a hardwood floor: [3] the rug
bunches up and forms wrinkles (mountains). In Canada, the terranes and subduction are the foot pushing
the rug, the ancestral rocks are the rug, and the Canadian Shield in the middle of the continent is the
hardwood floor.[3]

Further south, the growth of the Rocky Mountains in the United States was probably caused by an unusual
subduction, where the Farallon plate dove at a shallow angle below the North American plate. This low
angle moved the focus of melting and mountain building much farther inland than the normal 200 to 300
miles (300 to 500 km). It is postulated that the shallow angle of the subducting plate greatly increased the
friction and other interactions with the thick continental mass above it. Tremendous thrusts piled sheets of
crust on top of each other, building the extraordinarily broad, high Rocky Mountain range. [7]

Tilted slabs of sedimentary rock in Colorado

The current southern Rockies were forced upwards through the layers of Pennsylvanian
and Permian sedimentary remnants of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. Such sedimentary remnants were
often tilted at steep angles along the flanks of the modern range; they are now visible in many places
throughout the Rockies, and are prominently shown along the Dakota Hogback, an early Cretaceous
sandstone formation that runs along the eastern flank of the modern Rockies.

Immediately after the Laramide orogeny, the Rockies were like Tibet: a high plateau, probably 6,000
metres (20,000 ft) above sea level. In the last 60 million years, erosion stripped away the high rocks,
revealing the ancestral rocks beneath, and forming the current landscape of the Rockies. [3]
Glaciers, such as Jackson Glacier inGlacier National Park, Montana, as shown here, have dramatically shaped the Rocky Mountains.

Periods of glaciation occurred from the Pleistocene Epoch (1.8 million - 70,000 years ago) to
the HoloceneEpoch (fewer than 11,000 years ago). These ice ages left their mark on the Rockies, forming
extensiveglacial landforms, such as U-shaped valleys and cirques. Recent glacial episodes included
the Bull Lake Glaciation that began about 150,000 years ago and the Pinedale Glaciation that probably
remained at full glaciation until 15,000-20,000 years ago. [8]

All of the geological processes, above, have left a complex set of rocks exposed at the surface. For
example, volcanic rock from the Paleogene and Neogene periods (66 million - 2.6 million years ago) occurs
in the San Juan Mountains and in other areas. Millennia of severe erosion in the Wyoming
Basin transformed intermountain basins into a relatively flat terrain. The Tetons and other north-central
ranges contain folded and faulted rocks of Paleozoic and Mesozoic age draped above cores
of Proterozoic and Archean igneous and metamorphic rocks ranging in age from 1.2 billion (e.g., Tetons) to
more than 3.3 billion years (Beartooth Mountains). [2]

Ecology and climate[edit]

Main article:  Ecology of the Rocky Mountains

There are a wide range of environmental factors in the Rocky Mountains. The Rockies range in latitude
between the Liard River in British Columbia (at 59° N) and the Rio Grande in New Mexico (at 35° N).
Prairie occurs at or below 1,800 feet (550 m), while the highest peak in the range is Mount Elbert at 14,440
feet (4,400 m). Precipitation ranges from 10 inches (250 mm) per year in the southern valleys[9] to 60
inches (1,500 mm) per year locally in the northern peaks.[10] Average January temperatures can range from
20 °F (−7 °C) in Prince George, British Columbia, to 43 °F (6 °C) in Trinidad, Colorado.[11] Therefore, there
is not a single monolithic ecosystem for the entire Rocky Mountain Range.
Tundra in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado

Instead, ecologists divide the Rocky Mountain into a number of biotic zones. Each zone is defined by
whether it can support trees, and the presence of one or more indicator species. Two zones that do not
support trees are the Plains and the Alpine tundra. The Great Plains lie to the east of the Rockies, and is
characterized by prairie grasses (below roughly 1,800 feet (550 m)). Alpine tundra occurs in regions above
the treeline for the Rocky Mountains, which varies from 12,000 feet (3,700 m) in New Mexico to 2,500 feet
(760 m) at the northern end of the Rocky Mountains (near the Yukon). [11]

The USGS defines ten forested zones in the Rocky Mountains. Zones in more southern, warmer, or drier
areas are defined by the presence of pinyon pines/junipers, ponderosa pines, or oaks mixed with pines. In
more northern, colder, or wetter areas, zones are defined by Douglas-firs, Cascadianspecies (such
as western hemlock), lodgepole pines/quaking aspens, or firs mixed with spruce. Near treeline, zones can
consist of white pines (such as whitebark pine or bristlecone pine); or a mixture of white pine, fir, and
spruce that appear as shrub-like krummholz. Finally, rivers and canyons can create a unique forest zone in
more arid parts of the mountain range.[2]

Bighorn sheep (such as this lamb inAlberta) have declined dramatically since European-American settlement of the Rocky Mountains.

The Rocky Mountains are an important habitat for a great deal of well-known wildlife, such
as elk, moose,mule and white-tailed deer, pronghorns, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, badgers, black
bears, grizzly bears,coyotes, lynxes, and wolverines.[2] For example, North America's largest herds of
moose is in the Alberta-British Columbia foothills forests.
The status of most species in the Rocky Mountains is unknown, due to incomplete information. European-
American settlement of the mountains has adversely impacted native species. Examples of some species
that have declined include western toads, greenback cutthroat trouts, white sturgeons,white-tailed
ptarmigans, trumpeter swans, and bighorn sheep. In the United States portion of the mountain range, apex
predators such as grizzly bears and gray wolves had been extirpated from their original ranges, but have
partially recovered due to conservation measures and reintroduction. Other recovering species include
the bald eagle and the peregrine falcon.[2]

History[edit]

Indigenous People[edit]

Since the last great ice age, the Rocky Mountains were home first to indigenous peoples including
the Apache, Arapaho, Bannock, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Crow
Nation, Flathead, Shoshone,Sioux, Ute, Kutenai (Ktunaxa in Canada), Sekani, Dunne-za, and others.
Paleo-Indians hunted the now-extinct mammoth and ancient bison (an animal 20% larger than modern
bison) in the foothills and valleys of the mountains. Like the modern tribes that followed them, Paleo-
Indians probably migrated to the plains in fall and winter for bison and to the mountains in spring and
summer for fish, deer, elk, roots, and berries. In Colorado, along the crest of the Continental Divide, rock
walls that Native Americans built for driving game date back 5,400–5,800 years. A growing body of
scientific evidence indicates that indigenous people had significant effects on mammal populations by
hunting and on vegetation patterns through deliberate burning. [2]

European exploration[edit]

Recent human history of the Rocky Mountains is one of more rapid change. The Spanish
explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado—with a group of soldiers, missionaries, and African slaves—
marched into the Rocky Mountain region from the south in 1540.[12] The introduction of the horse, metal
tools, rifles, new diseases, and different cultures profoundly changed the Native American cultures. Native
American populations were extirpated from most of their historical ranges by disease, warfare, habitat loss
(eradication of the bison), and continued assaults on their culture. [2]

In 1739, French fur traders Pierre and Paul Mallet, while journeying through the Great Plains, discovered a
range of mountains at the headwaters of the Platte River, which local American Indiantribes called the
"Rockies", becoming the first Europeans to report on this uncharted mountain range. [13]
Sir Alexander MacKenzie in 1800

Sir Alexander MacKenzie (1764–March 11, 1820) became the first European to cross the Rocky Mountains
in 1793.[14] He found the upper reaches of the Fraser River and reached the Pacific coast of what is now
Canada on July 20 of that year, completing the first recorded transcontinental crossing of North America
north of Mexico.[15] He arrived at Bella Coola, British Columbia, where he first reached saltwater at South
Bentinck Arm, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806) was the first scientific reconnaissance of the Rocky
Mountains.[16] Specimens were collected for contemporary botanists, zoologists, and geologists. The
expedition was said to have paved the way to (and through) the Rocky Mountains for European-Americans
from the East, although Lewis and Clark met at least 11 European-American mountain men during their
travels.[2]

Mountain men, primarily French, Spanish, and British, roamed the Rocky Mountains from 1720 to 1800
seeking mineral deposits and furs. The fur-trading North West Company established Rocky Mountain
House as a trading post in what is now the Rocky Mountain Foothills of present-day Alberta in 1799, and
their business rivals the Hudson's Bay Company established Acton House nearby.[17] These posts served
as bases for most European activity in the Canadian Rockies in the early 19th century. Among the most
notable are the expeditions of David Thompson (explorer), who followed the Columbia River to the Pacific
Ocean.[18] On his 1811 expedition, he camped at the junction of the Columbia River and the Snake River
and erected a pole and notice claiming the area for theUnited Kingdom and stating the intention of the
North West Company to build a fort at the site. [19]

By the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, which established the 49th parallel north as the international
boundary west from Lake of the Woods to the "Stony Mountains";[20] the UK and the USA agreed to what
has since been described as "joint occupancy" of lands further west to the Pacific Ocean. Resolution of the
territorial and treaty issues, the Oregon dispute, was deferred until a later time.
In 1819, Spain ceded their rights north of the 42nd Parallel to the United States, though these rights did not
include possession and also included obligations to Britain and Russia concerning their claims in the same
region.

Settlement[edit]

After 1802, American fur traders and explorers ushered in the first widespread Caucasian presence in the
Rockies south of the 49th parallel. The more famous of these include Americans William Henry Ashley, Jim
Bridger, Kit Carson, John Colter, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Andrew Henry, and Jedediah Smith. On July 24,
1832, Benjamin Bonneville led the first wagon train across the Rocky Mountains by using South Pass in the
present State of Wyoming.[2] Similarly, in the wake of Mackenzie's 1793 expedition, fur trading posts were
established west of the Northern Rockies in a region of the northern Interior Plateau of British Columbia
which came to be known as New Caledonia, beginning with Fort McLeod (today's community of McLeod
Lake) and Fort Fraser, but ultimately focused on Stuart Lake Post (today's Fort St. James).

Negotiations between the United Kingdom and the United States over the next few decades failed to settle
upon a compromise boundary and the Oregon Dispute became important in geopolitical diplomacy
between the British Empire and the new American Republic. In 1841 James Sinclair, Chief Factor of the
Hudson's Bay Company, guided some 200 settlers from the Red River Colonywest to bolster settlement
around Fort Vancouver in an attempt to retain the Columbia District for Britain. The party crossed the
Rockies into the Columbia Valley, a region of the Rocky Mountain Trench near present-day Radium Hot
Springs, British Columbia, then traveled south. Despite such efforts, in 1846, Britain ceded all claim to
Columbia District lands south of the 49th parallel to the United States; as resolution to the Oregon
boundary dispute by the Oregon Treaty.[21]

Cherokee Trail near Fort Collins, Colorado, from a sketch taken 7 June 1859.

Thousands passed through the Rocky Mountains on the Oregon Trail beginning in the 1840s.
[22]
 The Mormons began to settle near the Great Salt Lakein 1847.[23] From 1859 to 1864, gold was
discovered in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia, sparking several gold rushes bringing
thousands of prospectors and miners to explore every mountain and canyon and to create the Rocky
Mountains' first major industry. The Idaho gold rush alone produced more gold than the California and
Alaska gold rushes combined and was important in the financing of the Union Army during theAmerican
Civil War. The transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869,[24] and Yellowstone National Park was
established as the world's first national park in 1872. [25] Meanwhile, a transcontinental railroad in Canada
was originally promised in 1871. Though political complications pushed its completion to 1885,
the Canadian Pacific Railway eventually followed the Kicking Horse and Rogers Passes to the Pacific
Ocean.[26] Canadian railway officials also convinced Parliament to set aside vast areas of the Canadian
Rockies as Jasper, Banff, Yoho, and Waterton Lakes National Parks, laying the foundation for a tourism
industry which thrives to this day. Glacier National Park (MT) was established with a similar relationship to
tourism promotions by the Great Northern Railway.[27] While settlers filled the valleys and mining towns,
conservation and preservation ethics began to take hold. U.S.President Harrison established several forest
reserves in the Rocky Mountains in 1891–92. In 1905, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt extended
theMedicine Bow Forest Reserve to include the area now managed as Rocky Mountain National Park.
Economic development began to center on mining,forestry, agriculture, and recreation, as well as on the
service industries that support them. Tents and camps became ranches and farms, forts and train stations
became towns, and some towns became cities.[2]

Economy[edit]

Industry and development[edit]

Economic resources of the Rocky Mountains are varied and abundant. Minerals found in the Rocky
Mountains include significant deposits of copper, gold, lead, molybdenum, silver, tungsten, andzinc. The
Wyoming Basin and several smaller areas contain significant reserves of coal, natural gas, oil shale,
and petroleum. For example, the Climax mine, located near Leadville, Colorado, was the largest producer
of molybdenum in the world. Molybdenum is used in heat-resistant steel in such things as cars and planes.
The Climax mine employed over 3,000 workers. The Coeur d'Alenemine of northern Idaho produces silver,
lead, and zinc. Canada's largest coal mines are near Fernie, British Columbia and Sparwood, British
Columbia; additional coal mines exist near Hinton, Alberta, and in the Northern
Rockies surrounding Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.[2]

Abandoned mines with their wakes of mine tailings and toxic wastes dot the Rocky Mountain landscape. In
one major example, eighty years of zinc mining profoundly polluted the river and bank near Eagle River in
north-central Colorado. High concentrations of the metal carried by spring runoff harmed algae, moss,
and trout populations. An economic analysis of mining effects at this site revealed declining property
values, degraded water quality, and the loss of recreational opportunities. The analysis also revealed that
cleanup of the river could yield $2.3 million in additional revenue from recreation. In 1983, the former owner
of the zinc mine was sued by the Colorado Attorney General for the $4.8 million cleanup costs; five years
later, ecological recovery was considerable.[28]
A drilling rig drills for natural gas just west of the Wind River Range in theWyoming Rockies

The Rocky Mountains contain several sedimentary basins that are rich in coalbed methane. Coalbed
methane is natural gas that arises from coal, either through bacterial action, or through exposure to high
temperature. Coalbed methane supplies 7 percent of the natural gas used in the United States. The largest
coalbed methane sources in the Rocky Mountains are in the San Juan Basin in New Mexico and Colorado
and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. These two basins are estimated to contain 38 trillion cubic feet of
gas. Coalbed methane can be recovered by dewatering the coal bed, and separating the gas from the
water; or injecting water to fracture the coal to release the gas (so-called hydraulic fracturing).[29]

Agriculture and forestry are major industries. Agriculture includes dryland and irrigated farming
and livestock grazing. Livestock are frequently moved between high-elevation summer pastures and low-
elevation winter pastures, a practice known as transhumance.[2]

Tourism[edit]

Castle Geyser in Yellowstone National Park

Going to the Sun Mountain in Glacier National Park

See also: List of U.S. Rocky Mountain ski resorts, List of Alberta ski resorts, List of B.C. ski resorts

Every year the scenic areas and recreational opportunities of the Rocky Mountains draw millions of tourists.
[2]
 The main language of the Rocky Mountains is English. But there are also linguistic pockets
ofSpanish and indigenous languages. French is another official language in Canada's national parks.

People from all over the world visit the sites to hike, camp, or engage in mountain sports. In the summer
season, examples of tourist attractions are:

In the United States:

 Pikes Peak

 Royal Gorge

 Rocky Mountain National Park

 Yellowstone National Park

 Grand Teton National Park

 Glacier National Park

 Sawtooth National Recreation Area

In Canada, the mountain range contains these national parks:

 Banff National Park

 Jasper National Park

 Kootenay National Park

 Waterton Lakes National Park

 Yoho National Park

Glacier National Park in Montana and Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta border each other and
collectively are known as Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. (See also International Peace Park.)

In the winter, skiing is the main attraction. A list of the major ski resorts can be found at List of U.S. Rocky
Mountain ski resorts.
The adjacent Columbia Mountains in British Columbia contain major resorts such as Panorama and Kicking
Horse, as well as Mount Revelstoke National Park and Glacier National Park.

There are numerous provincial parks in the British Columbia Rockies, the largest and most notable
being Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, Mount Robson Provincial Park, Northern Rocky Mountains
Provincial Park, Kwadacha Wilderness Provincial Park, Stone Mountain Provincial Park and Muncho Lake
Provincial Park.

See also[edit]

Geography portal

Geology portal

North America portal

Canada portal

United States portal

Mountains portal

 Book: Canada

 Book: United

States

Needles of larches in Alberta turn yellow in autumn.

 Outline of North America

 Geography of North America

 Geology of North America

 Mountain ranges of the world

 Lists of mountains

 Rocky Mountains

 Geology of the Rocky Mountains

  Mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains

 Rocky Mountains subalpine zone

 Canadian Rockies

 Ranges of the Canadian Rockies

 Geography of the United States Rocky Mountain System

 Northern Rocky Mountains

 Mountain ranges of Montana

 Mountain ranges of Wyoming

 Mountains and mountain ranges of Yellowstone National Park

 Mountains and mountain ranges of Glacier National Park (U.S.)

 Western Rocky Mountains

 Mountain ranges of Utah

 Southern Rocky Mountains

 Mountain ranges of Colorado

 Mountain peaks of Colorado

 Mountain passes of Colorado

 Little Rocky Mountains

 Mountain man

 The Rocky Mountain Rangers (Canadian militia unit)

References[edit]

1. Jump up^ Cannings, Richard (2007). The Rockies: A Natural History. Greystone/David Suzuki

Foundation. p. 5. ISBN 9781553652854.

2. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j k l m   This article incorporates public domain material from the United States

Geological Survey document: T.J. Stohlgren. "Rocky Mountains".

3. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Gadd, Ben (2008). "Geology of the Rocky Mountains and Columbias". Archived fromthe

original on 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2010-01-01.

4. Jump up^ Chronic, Halka (1980). Roadside Geology of Colorado. ISBN 0-87842-105-X.

5. ^ Jump up to:a b Blakely, Ron. "Geologic History of Western US".

6. ^ Jump up to:a b English, Joseph M.; Johnston, Stephen T. (2004). "The Laramide Orogeny: What Were the

Driving Forces?". International Geology Review 46 (9): 833 838. doi:10.2747/0020-6814.46.9.833.

7. Jump up^   This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological

Survey document: "Geologic Provinces of the United States: Rocky Mountains". Retrieved 2006-12-10.

8. Jump up^ Pierce, K. L. (1979). History and dynamics of glaciation in the northern Yellowstone National

Park area. Washington, D.C: U.S. Geological Survey. pp. 1 90. Professional Paper 729-F.

9. Jump up^ "Southern Rocky Mountains". Forest Encyclopedia Network. Archived from the original on

2012-07-07. Retrieved 2010-08-22.

10. Jump up^ "Southern Rocky Mountains". Forest Encyclopedia Network. Retrieved 2010-08-22.

11. ^ Jump up to:a b Sheridan, Scott. "US & Canada: Rocky Mountains (Chapter 14)". Geography of the United

States and Canada course notes. Kent State University. Archived from the original on 2006-09-01.

12. Jump up^ "Events in the West (1528-1536)". 2001. Retrieved 15 April 2012.

13. Jump up^ "The West: Events from 1650 to 1800", PBS

14. Jump up^ "Mackenzie: 1789, 1792-1797". Retrieved 15 April 2012.

15. Jump up^ "First Crossing of North America National Historic Site of Canada". Retrieved 15 April 2012.

16. Jump up^ "Lewis and Clark Expedition: Scientific Encounters". Retrieved 15 April 2012.

17. Jump up^ "Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site of Canada". 28 Feb 2012. Retrieved 15 April

2012.

18. Jump up^ "Guide to the David Thompson Papers 1806-1845". 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2012.

19. Jump up^ Oldham, kit (23 Jan 2003). "David Thompson plants the British flag at the confluence of the

Columbia and Snake rivers on July 9, 1811.". Retrieved 15 April 2012.

20. Jump up^ "Treaties in Force". 1 November 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2012.

21. Jump up^ "Historical Context and American Policy". Retrieved 15 April 2012.

22. Jump up^ "Oregon Trail Interpretive Center". Retrieved 15 April 2012.

23. Jump up^ "The Mormon Trail". Retrieved 15 April 2012.

24. Jump up^ "The Transcontinental Railroad". 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.

25. Jump up^ "Yellowstone National Park". 4 April 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.

26. Jump up^ "Canadian Pacific Railway". Archived from the original on 2012-07-07. Retrieved 15 April 2012.

27. Jump up^ "Glaciers and Glacier National Park". 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2012.

28. Jump up^ Brandt, E. (1993). "How much is a gray wolf worth?". National Wildlife 31: 412.

29. Jump up^ "Coal-Bed Gas Resources of the Rocky Mountain Region". USGS. USGS fact sheet 158-02.
Great Dividing Range
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Great Dividing Range

Eastern Highlands

Highest point

Peak Mount Kosciuszko

Elevation 2,228 m (7,310 ft)

Coordinates
36°27′00″S 148°16′0″E

Dimensions

Length 3,500 km (2,200 mi) North–South

Geography

Country Australia[1]

States New South Wales, Queenslandand Victoria

Range coordinates 25°S 147°ECoordinates:  25°S 147°E

Geology

Period Carboniferous

The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and
the third longest land-based range in the world.[2] The range stretches more than 3,500 kilometres
(2,175 mi) from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the
eastern coastline through New South Wales, then into Victoria and turning west, before finally fading into
 the central plain at the Grampians in western Victoria. The width of the range varies from about 160 km
(100 mi) to over 300 km (190 mi).[3]

The sharp rise between the coastal lowlands and the eastern uplands has affected Australia's climate,
mainly due to orographic precipitation, and these areas of highest relief have revealed an impressive gorge
country.[4]

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Terminology

 2 History

 3 Notable components

o 3.1 Water catchments

 4 Features

o 4.1 Railways

o 4.2 Road transport

o 4.3 Protected areas

 5 See also

 6 References

 7 External links

Terminology[edit]

The Great Divide dominates the eastern Australia landmass

Great Dividing Range sign on the Kings Highway between Braidwood andBungendore, New South Wales

The Dividing Range does not consist of a single mountain range. It consists of a complex of mountain
ranges, plateaus, upland areas and escarpments with an ancient and complex geological history. The
physiographic division name for the landmass is called the East AustralianCordillera. In some places the
terrain is relatively flat, consisting of very low hills.[5] Typically the highlands range from 300 m to 1,600 m in
height.[5]

The mountains and plateaus, which consist of limestones, sandstone, quartzite, schists and dolomite, have

been created by faulting and folding processes. [6]

The crest of the range is defined by the watershed or boundary between the drainage basins of rivers
which drain directly eastward into the Pacific Ocean, or southward into Bass Strait, and those rivers which
drain into the Murray-Darling River system towards the west and south.[5] In the north, the rivers on the
west side of the range drain towards the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The higher and more rugged parts of the "range" do not necessarily form part of the crest of the range, but
may be branches and offshoots from it. The term "Great Dividing Range" may refer specifically to the
watershed crest of the range, or to the entire upland complex including all of the hills and mountains
between the east coast of Australia and the central plains and lowlands. At some places it can be up to
400 km wide.[5] Notable ranges and other features which form part of the range complex have their own
distinctive names.

History[edit]
The Great Dividing Range was formed during the Carboniferous period—some 300 million years ago—
when Australia collided with what is now parts of South America and New Zealand. The range has
experienced significant erosion since. (See Geology of Australia.)

Prior to white settlement the ranges were home to Australian Aboriginal tribes. Evidence remains in some
places of their occupation by decorated caves, campsites and trails used to travel between the coastal and
inland regions.

After European settlement in 1788, the ranges were an obstacle to exploration and settlement by the British
settlers. Although not high, parts of the highlands were very rugged. Crossing the Blue Mountains was
particularly challenging due to the mistaken idea that the creeks should be followed rather than the ridges,
and almost impenetrable, labyrinth, sandstone mountains.[7]

In 1813, a usable route was finally discovered directly westward from Sydney across the Blue Mountains
to Bathurst by an expedition jointly led byGregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles
Wentworth.[8] They found a passage by following the top of a ridge.[7] Towns in the Blue Mountains were
later named after each of these men. This was the start of the development of the agricultural districts of
inland New South Wales. A road was built to Blaxland by convicts within six months. Easier routes to inland
New South Wales were discovered towards Goulburn to the southwest, and westwards from Newcastle.

Subsequent explorations were made across and around the ranges by Allan Cunningham, John
Oxley, Hamilton Hume, Paul Edmund Strzelecki,Ludwig Leichhardt and Thomas Mitchell. These explorers
were mainly concerned with finding good agricultural land.

By the late 1830s the most fertile rangelands adjacent to the mountains ranges had been explored and
some settled. These included the Gippsland and Riverina regions in the south, up to the Liverpool
Plains and the Darling Downs in the north.

Various road and railway routes were subsequently established through many parts of the ranges, although
many areas remain remote to this day. For example, in eastern Victoria there is only one major road
crossing the highlands from north to south.

Notable components[edit]

The Snowy Mountains alpine region

Omeo Plains from Mount Blowhard

Parts of the highlands consisting of relatively flat and, by Australian standards, well-watered land were
developed for agricultural and pastoral uses. Such areas include the Atherton Tableland and Darling
Downs in Queensland, and the Northern Tablelands, Southern Highlands and Southern Tablelands inNew
South Wales. Other parts of the highlands are too rugged for agriculture and have been used for forestry.
[citation needed]
 Many parts of the highlands which were not developed are now included in National Parks.

All of mainland Australia's alpine areas, including its highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 metres
(7,310 ft) AHD), are part of this range, called the Main Range.[5] The highest areas in southern New South
Wales and eastern Victoria are known as the Australian Alps.

The central core of the Great Dividing Range is dotted with hundreds of peaks and is surrounded by many
smaller mountain ranges or spurs, canyons,valleys and plains of regional significance. Some of the major
plains include the High Plains of South-Eastern Australia, the Southern Highlands theCentral
highlands and Bogong High Plains of Victoria. Other tablelands considered part of the Great dividing range
are the Atherton Tableland, Canberra wine region and the Southern Tablelands.

The Dandenong Ranges, Barrington Tops, Bunya Mountains, Blue Mountains, Liverpool

Range, McPherson Ranges and the Moonbi Range are some of the smaller spurs and ranges that make up
the greater dividing range. Other notable ranges and tablelands which form part of the Great Dividing
Range include the Liverpool Range, Mount Royal Range and the Monaro District. Whilst some of the peaks
of the highlands reach respectable heights of a little over 2,000 metres, the age of the range and its erosion
mean that most of the mountains are not very steep, and virtually all peaks can be reached without
mountaineering equipment.

In some areas, such as the Snowy Mountains, Victorian Alps, the Scenic Rim and the eastern escarpments
of the New England region, the highlands form a significant barrier. The eastern escarpment is the site of
many spectacular waterfalls which were formed by rivers plunging off the tablelands. In other areas the
slopes are gentle and in places the range is barely perceptible. [3]

Well known passes on the range include Coxs Gap, Cunninghams Gap, Dead Horse Gap, Nowlands Gap,
and Spicers Gap.

Major cities located on the upland areas of the range include Canberra, Toowoomba and the outer suburbs
of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Cairns in north Queensland. Many towns and cities are located on the
range, and also in lowland areas and foothills adjacent to the highlands. There is a strong natural history
and cultural attachment to the Dividing Range region in towns and on many, sometimes remote
landholdings. Some of the towns/cities located on the range include:

 Canberra  Bathurst - NSW  Toowoomba - QLD

 Goulburn - NSW  Orange - NSW  Stanthorpe - QLD

 Cooma - NSW  Armidale - NSW  Warwick - QLD

 Jindabyne - NSW  Scone - NSW  Kingaroy - QLD

 Katoomba - NSW  Walcha - NSW  Biloela - QLD

 Oberon - NSW  Guyra - NSW  Emerald - QLD

 Bowral - NSW  Tenterfield - NSW  Moranbah - QLD

Water catchments[edit]

Some of the most spectacular waterfalls in Australia, such as Dangar Falls at Dorrigo, New South Wales are located along the Great

Dividing Range.

The lower reaches are used for forestry, an activity that causes friction with conservationists. The ranges is
also the source of virtually all of eastern Australia's water supply, both through runoff caught in dams, and
throughout much of Queensland, through the Great Artesian Basin.

Valleys along the chain of mountains have yielded a water source for important reservoirs and water supply
projects such as the Upper Nepean Scheme,Snowy Mountains Scheme and Warragamba Dam.
The Bradfield Scheme has been mooted as a way to transport water from the tropics in coastal
Queensland south to dryer regions.

The Great Dividing Range creates the drainage basins of the Australian south-east coast drainage
division and the Australian north-east coast drainage division, whose water flows to the east coast and into
the Pacific Ocean, Tasman Sea, and Bass Strait with the westerly Murray-Darling Basin which flow inland,
away from the coast into the interior plains.

Some of the rivers which flow west of the ranges includes the Condamine River, Flinders River, Herbert
River, Lachlan River, Macdonald River, Macintyre River and Namoi River.[1] Rivers that flow north into the
Murray-Darling Basin from Victoria include the Goulburn, Mitta
Mitta, Kiewa, Ovens, King,Loddon and Campaspe rivers. Rivers that flow east into the Pacific Ocean
include the Brisbane River, Burdekin River, Clarence River, Hastings River,Hawkesbury River, Hunter
River, Macleay River, Mary River, Richmond River, Shoalhaven River and the Snowy River. Those that
flow south to the ocean in Victoria include the Snowy, Cann, Tambo, Mitchell, Latrobe, Thomson, Yarra,
Werribee, Hopkins and Glenelg rivers. [3]

Features[edit]

At some high hill passes the range provides cool sites appropriate for vineyards.[9]

Railways[edit]

A number of scenic railways, such as this one at Katoomba, climb various shorter routes along the range

The engineers of early rail passages across the Great Dividing Range needed to find low sections of the
range to cross, as well as suitable, low gradient paths up the mountains on either side. Rail passages
include:

 Ipswich–Toowoomba (1867)

 Newcastle–Tamworth (c 1870), summit at Ardglen Tunnel (2073' HASL)

 Sydney–Lithgow (1869), crossing the range via the Blue Mountains (summit near Bell 3507'

HASL) [10]

 Sydney–Goulburn (1869), though the divide is actually a few kilometres further west near the
crossing with Parkesbourne Road near Cullerin. The next 300 km descending to Wagga Wagga was
originally fast, but regrading pm the 1920s introduced many curves.

 Melbourne–Seymour, crossing the range near Heathcote Junction (1872)

 Melbourne–Bendigo, crossing the range near Woodend (1862) (1093' HASL)

 Melbourne–Ararat (1875) via Ballarat

 Sandy Hollow - Gulgong (started 1930s, completed 1980s) - lowest crossing in NSW.

Road transport[edit]

Many of Australia's highways such as the Alpine Way, Great Alpine Road, Hume Highway, Great Western

Highway, Capricorn Highway, Cunningham Highway, New England Highway, Oxley Highway, Warrego
Highway, Waterfall Way, Thunderbolts Way, the Calder Highway, the Western Highway, and the Murray
Valley Highway traverse parts of the range.

Protected areas[edit]

Much of the range lies within a succession of national parks and other reserves, most of the national parks
are listed below, there are almost double the amount of state forests; [11][12]

 Alpine National Park – VIC  Dharug National Park – NSW 

 Bald Rock National Park – NSW  Gibraltar Range National Park – NSW 

 Barrington Tops National Park – NSW  Girraween National Park – QLD/NSW 

 Baw Baw National Park – VIC  Grampians National Park – VIC 

 Blue Mountains National Park – NSW  Guy Fawkes River National Park – NSW 

 Border Ranges National Park – NSW  Heathcote-Graytown National Park 

 Brindabella National Park – NSW  Kanangra-Boyd National Park – NSW 

 Brisbane Ranges National Park – VIC  Kosciuszko National Park – NSW 

 Budawang National Park – NSW  Lake Eildon National Park – VIC 

 Bunya Mountains National Park – QLD  Lamington National Park – QLD 

 Burrowa-Pine Mountain National Park – VIC  Morton National Park – NSW 

 Cathedral Rock National Park – NSW  Mount Buffalo National Park – VIC 

 Conondale National Park – QLD  Mummel Gulf National Park – NSW 

 Cunnawarra National Park – NSW  Namadgi National Park – ACT

 Dandenong Ranges National Park – VIC  Nattai National Park – NSW

 Deua National Park – NSW  New England National Park – NSW

The Great Dividing Range, as seen from near Mount Hotham, Victoria

The view from the peak of Mount Feathertop, facing north-east, showing the Fainters and other mountains

See also[edit]
Australia portal

 List of mountain ranges

References[edit]

1. ^ Jump up to:a b Australia.gov. "Australian Rocks and Mountains". Retrieved 18 September 2012.

2. Jump up^ The Great Dividing Range is the third longest mountain range of mountain ranges above sea

level. Technically, the mid-ocean ridge is the longest of the world's mountain ranges.

3. ^ Jump up to:a b c Shaw, John H., "Collins Australian Encyclopedia", William Collins Pty Ltd., Sydney,

1984,ISBN 0-00-217315-8

4. Jump up^ Löffler, Ernst; A.J. Rose, Anneliese Löffler & Denis Warner (1983). Australia:Portrait of a

Continent. Richmond, Victoria: Hutchinson Group. ISBN 0-09-130460-1.

5. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Johnson, David (2009). The Geology of Australia. Cambridge University Press.

p. 202.ISBN 0-521-76741-5.

6. Jump up^ Haggett, Peter (2001). Encyclopedia of World Geography. Marshall Cavendish.

p. 3211.ISBN 0-7614-7289-4. Retrieved 23 December 2012.

7. ^ Jump up to:a b "Crossing the Great Dividing Range—surveying an ancient land". About Australia. Australian

Government. 10 December 2008. Retrieved 19 December 2011.

8. Jump up^ "Gregory Blaxland". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 30 May 2013.

9. Jump up^ Clarke, Oz (2002). New Wine Atlas: Wines and Wine Regions of the World. Houghton Mifflin

Harcourt. p. 300. ISBN 0-15-100913-9. Retrieved 18 December 2011.

10. Jump up^ http://www.nswrail.net/trivia/altitude.php

11. Jump up^ Melway, Edition 35 2008, Touring Maps

12. Jump up^ Brisway, Edition 1, 2005

Transantarctic Mountains
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Transantarctic Mountains

The Transantarctic Mountains in northern Victoria Land near Cape Roberts

Highest point

Peak Mount Kirkpatrick

Elevation 4,528 m (14,856 ft)

Coordinates
84°20′S 166°25′E

Dimensions

Length 3,500 km (2,200 mi)

Geography

Continent Antarctica

Range coordinates 85°S 175°WCoordinates:  85°S 175°W

Geology
 Period Cenozoic

The Transantarctic Mountains (abbreviated TAM) comprise a mountain range in Antarctica which extend,

with some interruptions, across the continent from Cape Adare in northern Victoria Land to Coats Land.
These mountains divide East Antarctica and West Antarctica. They include a number of separately named
mountain groups, which are often again subdivided into smaller ranges.

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Geography

 2 Biology

 3 History

 4 Geology

 5 See also

o 5.1 Victoria Land

o 5.2 Central TAM

o 5.3 Queen Maud Mountains

o 5.4 "Southern" TAM

 6 References

 7 External links

Geography[edit]

The mountain range stretches between the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea the entire length of Antarctica,
hence the name. With a total length of about 3,500 km, the Transantarctic Mountains are one of the
longest mountain ranges on Earth. The 100–300 km wide range forms the boundary between East
Antarctica and West Antarctica. The East Antarctic Ice Sheet bounds the TAM along their entire length on
theEastern Hemisphere side, while the Western Hemisphere side of the range is bounded by the Ross
Sea (C.Michael Hogan. 2011) in Victoria Land from Cape Adare to McMurdo Sound, the Ross Ice
Shelf from McMurdo Sound to near the Scott Glacier, and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet beyond.

The summits and dry valleys of the TAM are some of the few places in Antarctica not covered by ice, the
highest of which rise more than 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) above sea level. The Dry Valleys lie near
McMurdo Sound and represent a special Antarctic phenomenon: landscapes that are snow and ice free
due to the extremely limited precipitation and ablation of ice in the valleys. The highest mountain of the
TAM is 4,528 m high Mount Kirkpatrick in the Queen Alexandra Range. Isolated peaks surrounded by ice
are referred to as nunataks.

Biology[edit]

Main article:  Antarctic ecozone

Penguins, seals, and sea birds live along the Ross Sea coastline in Victoria Land, while life in the interior of
the Transantarctics is limited tobacteria,[1] lichens, algae, and fungi.

History[edit]

The Transantarctic Mountains were first seen by Captain James Ross in 1841 from the Ross Sea. The
range is a natural barrier that must be crossed to reach the South Pole from the Ross Ice Shelf. In 1908,
while not making the pole, Ernest Shackleton's party was the first to cross the mountains, using
the Beardmore Glacier. Robert Scott returned to the Beardmore in 1911, whileRoald Amundsen crossed
the range via the Axel Heiberg Glacier.

Much of the range remained unexplored until the late 1940s and 1950s, when missions such as Operation
Highjump and the International Geophysical Year made extensive use of aerial photography and
concentrated on a thorough investigation of the entire continent. The name "Transantarctic Mountains"
were recommended in 1962 by the US-ACAN committee, a US authority for geographic names. This purely
descriptive label (in contrast to many other geographic names of the seventh continent) is internationally
accepted at present.

The Leverett Glacier in the Queen Maud Mountains is the planned route through the TAM for the overland
supply road between McMurdo Station and Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.

Geology[edit]

Aerial view of the Beardmore Glacier in 1957

Mount Herschel (3,335 m) in theAdmiralty Mountains subrange, as seen fromCape Hallett

Main articles: Tectonic evolution of the Transantarctic Mountains  and  Geology of Antarctica

The Transantarctic Mountains are considerably older than other mountain ranges of the continent that are
mainly volcanic in origin. The range wasuplifted during the opening of the West Antarctic Rift to the east,
beginning about 65 million years ago in the early Cenozoic.

The mountains consist of sedimentary layers lying upon a basement of granites and gneisses. The

sedimentary layers include the Beacon Supergroupsandstones, siltstones, and coal deposited beginning in
the Silurian period and continuing into the Jurassic. In many places the Beacon Supergroup has been
intruded by dikes and sills of Jurassic age Ferrar Dolerite. Many of the fossils found in Antarctica are from
locations within these sedimentary formations.

Ice from the East Antarctic ice sheet flows through the Transantarctic Mountains via a series of outlet
glaciers into the Ross Sea, Ross Ice Shelf, andWest Antarctic Ice Sheet. These glaciers generally flow
perpendicular to the orientation of the range and define subranges and peak groups. It is thought that many
of these outlet glaciers follow the traces of large-scale geologic faults.

See also[edit]

David Glacier with the Drygalski Ice Tongue in the far distance

Byrd Glacier from Landsat

The Thiel Mountains

In geographic order from the Ross Sea towards the Weddell Sea:

Victoria Land[edit]

 Lillie Glacier

 Concord Mountains

 Cape Adare

 Admiralty Mountains

 Cape Hallett

 Tucker Glacier

 Victory Mountains

 Mariner Glacier

 Aviator Glacier

 Terra Nova Bay

 Priestley Glacier

 Prince Albert Mountains

 David Glacier and Drygalski Ice Tongue

 Mackay Glacier

 McMurdo Dry Valleys

 Ferrar Glacier

 McMurdo Sound
Central TAM[edit]

 Mulock Glacier

 Byrd Glacier
 Nimrod Glacier

 Queen Alexandra Range

 Beardmore Glacier
Queen Maud Mountains[edit]

 Shackleton Glacier

 Liv Glacier

 Amundsen Glacier

 Scott Glacier

 Bush Mountains

 Commonwealth Range

 Dominion Range

 Herbert Range

 Prince Olav Mountains

 Hughes Range

 Supporters Range
"Southern" TAM[edit]

 Reedy Glacier

 Horlick Mountains

 Thiel Mountains

 Pensacola Mountains

 Support Force Glacier

 Foundation Ice Stream

 Shackleton Range

 Theron Mountains

 Bailey Ice Stream

References[edit]

1. Jump up^ Sokol, Eric; Craig W. Herbold, Charles K. Lee, S. Craig Cary, and J. E. Barrett (Nov

2013). "Local and regional influences over soil microbial metacommunities in the Transantarctic

Mountains".Ecosphere 4: art136. Retrieved 8 January 2014.

 C.Michael Hogan. 2011. Ross Sea. Eds. P.Saundry & C.J.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth.
National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC
Ural Mountains
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the land formation. For other uses, see  Ural (disambiguation).

The Ural Mountains

Highest point

Peak Mount Narodnaya

Elevation 1,895 m (6,217 ft)

Dimensions

Length 2,500 km (1,600 mi)

Width 150 km (93 mi)

Geography

Countries Russia and Kazakhstan

Geology

Period Carboniferous

The Ural Mountains (Russian: Ура́льские го́ры, tr. Uralskiye gory, IPA: [ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈgorɨ]; Bashkir: Урал

тауҙары), or simply the Urals, are amountain range that runs approximately from north to south
through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan.
[1]
 Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia. Vaygach
Island and the islands of Novaya Zemlya form a further continuation of the chain to the north into the Arctic.

The mountains lie within the Ural geographical region and significantly overlap with the Ural Federal
District and Ural economic region. They are rich in various deposits, including metal ores, coal, precious
and semi-precious stones. Since the 18th century the mountains have been a major mineral base
of Russia.
 Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Etymology

 2 History

 3 Geography and topography

 4 Geology

 5 Rivers and lakes

 6 Climate

 7 Flora

 8 Fauna

 9 Ecology

 10 Cultural significance

 11 See also

 12 References

 13 External links

Etymology[edit]

As attested by Sigismund von Herberstein, in the 16th century Russians called the range by a variety of
names derived from the Russian words for rock (stone) and belt. The modern Russian name for the Urals
(Урал, Ural), first appearing in the 16th–17th century when the Russian conquest of Siberia was in its
heroic phase, was initially applied to its southern parts and gained currency as the name of the entire range
during the 18th century. It might be a borrowing from either Turkic (Bashkir, where the same name is used
for the range), or Ob-Ugric.[2] From the 13th century, in Bashkortostan there has been a legend about a
hero named Ural. He sacrificed his life for the sake of his people and they poured a stone pile over his
grave, which later turned into the Ural Mountains. [3][4][5]

History[edit]
As Middle-eastern merchants traded with the Bashkirs and other people living on the western slopes of the
Urals as far North as Great Perm, since at least the 10th century medieval mideastern geographers had
been aware of the existence of the mountain range in its entirety, stretching as far as to the Arctic Ocean in
the north. The first Russian mention of the mountains to the east of the East European Plain is provided by
the Primary Chronicle, when it describes theNovgorodian expedition to the upper reaches of the Pechora in
1096. During the next few centuries Novgorodians engaged in fur trading with the local population and
collected tribute from Yugra and Great Perm, slowly expanding southwards. The
rivers Chusovaya and Belaya were first mentioned in the chronicles of 1396 and 1468, respectively. In
1430 the town of Solikamsk (Kama Salt) was founded on the Kama at the foothills of the Urals, where salt
was produced in open pans.Ivan III of Moscow captured Perm, Pechora and Yugra from the declining
Novgorod Republic in 1472. With the excursions of 1483 and 1499–1500 across the Urals Moscow
managed to subjugate Yugra completely.
a fragment of von Herberstein's map

Nevertheless, around that time early 16th century Polish geographer Maciej of Miechów in his
influential Tractatus de duabus Sarmatiis (1517) argued that there were no mountains in Eastern Europe at
all, challenging the point of view of some authors of Classical antiquity, popular during the Renaissance.
Only after Sigismund von Herberstein in his Notes on Muscovite Affairs (1549) had reported, following
Russian sources, that there are mountains behind the Pechora and identified them with the Ripheans and
Hyperboreans of ancient authors, did the existence of the Urals, or at least of its northern part, become
firmly established in the Western geography. The Middle and Southern Urals were still largely unavailable
and unknown to the Russian or Western European geographers.

Verkhoturye in 1910

In the 1550s, after the Tsardom of Russia had defeated the Khanate of Kazan and proceeded to gradually
annex the lands of the Bashkirs, the Russians finally reached the southern part of the mountain chain. In
1574 they founded Ufa. The upper reaches of the Kama and Chusovaya in the Middle Urals, still
unexplored, as well as parts of Transuralia still held by the hostile Siberian Khanate, were granted to
the Stroganovs by several decrees of the tsar in 1558–1574. The Stroganovs' land provided the staging
ground for Yermak's incursion into Siberia. Yermak crossed the Urals from the Chusovaya to
the Tagil around 1581. In 1597 Babinov's road was built across the Urals from Solikamsk to the valley of
the Tura, where the town of Verkhoturye (Upper Tura) was founded in 1598. Customs was established in
Verkhoturye shortly thereafter and the road was made the only legal connection between European Russia
and Siberia for a long time. In 1648 the town of Kungur was founded at the western foothills of the Middle
Urals. During the 17th century the first deposits of iron and copper ores, mica,gemstones and other
minerals were discovered in the Urals.

Iron and copper smelting works emerged. They multiplied particularly quickly during the reign of Peter I of
Russia. In 1720–1722 he commissioned Vasily Tatishchev to oversee and develop the mining and smelting
works in the Urals. Tatishchev proposed a new copper smelting factory in Yegoshikha, which would
eventually become the core of the city of Perm and a new iron smelting factory on the Iset, which would
become the largest in the world at the time of construction and give birth to the city of Yekaterinburg. Both
factories were actually founded by Tatishchev's successor, Georg Wilhelm de Gennin, in 1723. Tatishchev
returned to the Urals on the order of Empress Anna to succeed de Gennin in 1734–1737. Transportation of
the output of the smelting works to the markets of European Russia necessitated the construction of
the Siberian Route from Yekaterinburg across the Urals to Kungur and Yegoshikha (Perm) and further to
Moscow, which was completed in 1763 and rendered Babinov's road obsolete. In 1745 gold was
discovered in the Urals atBeryozovskoye and later at other deposits. It has been mined since 1747.

The first railway across the Urals had been built by 1878 and linked Perm to Yekaterinburg
via Chusovoy, Kushva and Nizhny Tagil. In 1890 a railway linked Ufa and Chelyabinsk via Zlatoust. In 1896
this section became a part of the Trans-Siberian Railway. In 1909 yet another railway connecting Perm and
Yekaterinburg passed through Kungur by the way of the Siberian Route. It has eventually replaced the Ufa
– Chelyabinsk section as the main trunk of the Trans-Siberian railway.

The highest peak of the Urals, Mount Narodnaya, was discovered in 1927.

During the Soviet industrialization in the 1930s the city of Magnitogorsk was founded in the southeastern
Urals as a center of iron smelting andsteelmaking. During the German invasion of the Soviet Union in
1941–1942, the mountains became a key element in Nazi planning for the territories which they expected
to conquer in the USSR. Faced with the threat of having a significant part of the Soviet territories occupied
by the enemy, the government evacuated many of the industrial enterprises of European Russia and
Ukraine to the eastern foothills of the Urals, considered a safe place out of reach of the German bombers
and troops. Three giant tank factories were established at the Uralmash in Sverdlovsk (as Yekaterinburg
used to be known), Uralvagonzavod in Nizhny Tagil, and Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant in Chelyabinsk. After
the war, in 1947–1948, Chum – Labytnangi railway, built with the forced labor of Gulag inmates, crossed
the Polar Urals.

The first ample geographic survey of the Ural Mountains was completed in the early 18th century by the
Russian historian and geographer Vasily Tatishchev under the orders of Peter I. Earlier, in the 17th
century, rich ore deposits were discovered in the mountains and their systematic extraction began in the
early 18th century, eventually turning the region into the largest mineral base of Russia. [1][3]

One of the first scientific descriptions of the mountains was published in 1770–71. Over the next century,
the region was studied by scientists from a number of countries, including Russia (geologist Alexander
Karpinsky, botanist Porfiry Krylov and zoologist Leonid Sabaneyev), England (geologist SirRoderick
Murchison), France (paleontologist Edouard de Verneuil), and Germany (naturalist Alexander von
Humboldt, geologist Alexander Keyserling).[1][6] In 1845, Murchison, who had according to Encyclopædia
Britannica "compiled the first geologic map of the Urals in 1841",[1] published The Geology of Russia in
Europe and the Ural Mountains with de Verneuil and Keyserling.[6][7]

Mayak, 150 km southeast of Yekaterinburg, was a center of the Soviet nuclear industry [1][8][9][10] and site of
the Kyshtym disaster.[9][11]

Geography and topography[edit]

The Ural Mountains extend about 2,500 km (1,600 mi) from the Kara Sea to the Kazakh Steppe along the
northern border of Kazakhstan. Vaygach Island and the island of Novaya Zemlya form a further
continuation of the chain on the north. Geographically this range marks the northern part of the border
between the continents of Europe and Asia. Its highest peak is Mount Narodnaya, approximately 1,895 m
(6,217 ft) in elevation.[1]

By topography and other natural features, Ural is divided, from north to south, into the Polar (or Arctic),
Nether-Polar (or Sub-Arctic), Northern, Central and Southern parts. The Polar Ural extends for about 385
kilometers (239 mi) from the Mount Konstantinov Kamen in the north to the Khulga River in the south; it has
an area of about 25,000 km2 (9,700 sq mi) and a strongly dissected relief. The maximum height is 1,499 m
(4,918 ft) at the Payer Mountain and the average height is 1,000 to 1,100 m (3,300 to 3,600 ft). The
mountains of the Polar Ural have exposed rock with sharp ridges though flattened or rounded tops are also
found.[1][3]

The Nether-Polar Ural is wider, up to 150 km (93 mi) and higher than the Polar Ural. It includes the highest
peaks of the range: Mount Narodnaya (1,895 m (6,217 ft)), Mount Karpinsky (1,878 m (6,161 ft))
and Manaraga (1,662 m (5,453 ft)). It extends for more than 225 km (140 mi) south to the Shchugor River.
Its many ridges have sawtooth shape and are dissected by river valleys. Both Polar and Nether-Polar Urals
are typically Alpine; they bear traces of Pleistocene glaciation, along with permafrost and extensive modern
glaciation, that includes 143 extant glaciers.[1][3]

The Northern Ural consists of a series of parallel ridges with the height up to 1,000–1,200 m (3,300–
3,900 ft) and longitudinal depressions. They are elongated from north to south and stretch for about 560 km
(350 mi) from the Usa River. Most of the tops are flattened, but those of the highest mountains, such as
Telposiz, 1,617 m (5,305 ft) and Konzhakovsky Stone, 1,569 m (5,148 ft) have dissected topography.
Intensive weathering has produced vast areas of eroded stones on the mountain slopes and summits of the
northern areas.[1][3]

The Central Ural is the lowest part of Urals, with the highest mountain at 994 m (3,261 ft) (Basegi) and
smooth mountain tops; it extends south from the Ufa River.[3]
The relief of Southern Ural is more complex, with numerous valleys and parallel ridges directed south-west
and meridionally. Its maximum height is the 1,640 m (5,380 ft) (Mount Yamantau) and the widths reaches
250 km (160 mi). Other notable peaks lie along the Iremel mountain ridge (Bolshoy Iremel and Maly
Iremel). The Southern Ural extends some 550 km (340 mi) up to the sharp westward bend of the Ural River
and terminates in the wide Mughalzhar Hills.[1]

Mountain formation near Rocks in a river, Nether-Polar Entry to Ignateva Cave, South
Mountain Big Iremel
Saranpaul, Nether-Polar Urals Urals Urals

Geology[edit]

A mine in the Ural Mountains, 1910.

The Urals are among the world's oldest extant mountain ranges. For its age of 250 to 300 million years, the
elevation of the mountains is unusually high. They were formed during the Uralian orogeny due to
the collision of the eastern edge of the supercontinent Laurussia with the young and rheologicallyweak
continent of Kazakhstania, which now underlies much of Kazakhstan and West Siberia west of the Irtysh,
and intervening island arcs. The collision lasted nearly 90 million years in the late Carboniferous –
early Triassic.[12][13][14][15] Unlike the other major orogens of
the Paleozoic(Appalachians, Caledonides, Variscides), the Urals have not undergone post-orogenic
extensional collapse and are unusually well preserved for their age, being underlaid by a pronounced
crustal root.[16][17] East and south of the Urals much of the orogen is buried beneath
later Mesozoic and Cenozoicsediments.[12] The adjacent Pay-Khoy to the north is not a part of the Uralian
orogen and formed later.

Many deformed and metamorphosed rocks, mostly of Paleozoic period, surface within the Urals. The
sedimentary and volcanic layers are folded and broken, and form meridional bands. The sediments to the
west of the Ural Mountains are formed by limestone, dolomite and sandstone left from ancient shallow
seas. The eastern side is dominated by basalts similar to the rocks of the bottom of the modern oceans. [3]

The western slope of the Ural Mountains has predominantly karst topography, especially in the basin of
the Sylva River, which is a tributary of the Chusovaya River. It is composed of severely eroded sedimentary
rocks (sandstones and limestones) that are about 350 million years old. There are many caves, karst sinks
and underground streams. The karst topography is much less developed on the eastern slopes. They are
relatively flat, with some hills and rocky outcrops and contain alternating volcanic and sedimentary layers
dated to the middle Paleozoic period.[3] Most high mountains consist of weather-resistant rocks such
asquartzite, schist and gabbro that are between 570 and 395 million years old. The river valleys are laid
with limestone.[1]

Ural Mountains contain about 48 species of economically valuable ores and minerals. Eastern regions are
rich in chalcopyrite, nickel oxide, gold, platinum, chromite and magnetite ores, as well as in coal
(Chelyabinsk Oblast), bauxite, talc, fireclay and abrasives. Western Ural contains deposits of coal, oil,
natural gas (Ishimbay and Krasnokamsk areas) and potassium salts. Both slopes are rich in bituminous
coal and lignite, and the largest deposit of bituminous coal is in the north (Pechora field). The specialty of
Urals is precious and semi-precious stones, such
as emerald,amethyst, aquamarine, jasper, rhodonite, malachite and diamond. Some of the deposits, such
as the magnetite ores at Magnitogorsk, are already nearly depleted. [1][3]

Minerals from the Ural Mountains

Andradite Beryl Platinum Quartz

Rivers and lakes[edit]

Chusovaya River

Many rivers originate in the Ural Mountains. The Western slope south of the border between the Komi
Republic and Perm Krai and Eastern slope south of approximately 54°30'N drain into the Caspian Sea via
the Kama and Ural river basins. The tributaries of the Kama include the Vishera, Chusovaya, and Belaya
and originate both in the eastern and western slopes. The rest of the Urals drains into the Arctic Ocean,
mainly via the Pechora basin in the west, which includes the Ilych, Shchugor, and Usa, and via
the Ob basin in the east, which includes the Tobol, Tavda, Iset, Tura and Severnaya Sosva. The rivers
freeze for more than half a year. Generally, the western rivers have higher flow volume than the eastern
ones, especially in the Northern and Nether-Polar regions. Rivers are slower in the Southern Ural. This is
because of low precipitation and relatively warm climate resulting in less snow and more evaporation. [1][3]

The mountains are home to a number of deep lakes.[18] The eastern slope of the Southern and Central
Urals, which hosts among its largest lakes the Uvildy, Itkul, Turgoyak, and Tavatuy, is home to most of
these.[3] Less numerous, the lakes found on the western slope are also smaller. Lake Bolshoye Shchuchye,
the deepest lake in the Polar Urals, is 136 meters (446 ft) deep. Other lakes, too, are found in this region, in
its glacial valleys. Spas and sanatoriums have been built to take advantage of the medicinal muds found in
some of the lakes in the mountains.[1][3]

Climate[edit]

The climate of Urals is continental. The mountain ridges elongated from north to south, effectively absorb
sunlight thereby increasing the temperature. The areas west to the Ural Mountains are 1–2 °C (1.8–3.6 °F)
warmer in winter than the eastern regions because the former are warmed by the Atlantic winds whereas
the eastern slopes are chilled by the Siberian air masses. The average January temperatures increase in
the western areas from −20 °C (−4 °F) in the Polar to −15 °C (5 °F) in the Southern Urals and the
corresponding temperatures in July are 10 °C (50 °F) and 20 °C (68 °F). The western areas also receive
more rainfall than the eastern ones by 150–300 mm (5.9–11.8 in) per year. This is because the mountains
trap the clouds brought from the Atlantic Ocean. The highest precipitation, approximately 1,000 mm (39 in),
is in the Northern Urals with up to 1,000 cm (390 in) snow. The eastern areas receive from 500–600 mm
(20–24 in) in the north to 300–400 mm (12–16 in) in the south. Maximum precipitation occurs in the
summer and the winter is dry because of the Siberian High.[1][3]

Flora[edit]

Cloudberry

The landscapes of Urals change both in the latitudinal and vertical directions and are dominated by forests
and steppes. The southern area of the Mughalzhar Hills is a semidesert. Steppes lie mostly in the southern
and especially south-eastern Urals. Meadow steppes have developed in the lower parts of mountain slopes
and are covered with zigzag and mountain clovers, Serratula  gmelinii, dropwort, meadow-
grass and Bromus inermis, reaching the height of 60–80 cm. Many lands are cultivated. Moving to the
south, the meadow steppes become more sparse, dry and low. The steep gravelly slopes of mountains and
hills of eastern slopes of the Southern Ural are mostly covered with rocky steppes. Valleys of the rivers
contain willow, poplarand caragana shrubs.[3]

Forest landscapes of Urals are diverse, especially the southern part. The western areas are dominated by
dark coniferous taiga forests which change to mixed and deciduous forests on the south. The eastern
mountain slopes have light coniferous taiga forests. The Northern Ural is dominated by conifers,
namely Siberian fir, Siberian pine, Scots pine, Siberian spruce, Norway spruce and Siberian larch, as well
as by Silver and downy birches. Forests are much more sparse in Polar Ural. Whereas in other Ural
Mountains areas they grow up to the heights of 1 km, the tree line is at 250–400 m in the Polar Urals. The
polar forests are low and are mixed with swamps, lichens, bogs and shrubs. Abundant are dwarf birch,
mosses and berries (blueberry,cloudberry, black crowberry, etc.). Southern Ural is most diverse in the
forest composition; here together with coniferous forests also abundant are brodleaf tree species such
as English oak, Norway maple and elm.[3] The Virgin Komi Forests in the northern Urals are recognized as
a World Heritage site.

Fauna[edit]

Ural forests are inhabited by animals typical of Siberia, such as elk, brown bear, fox, wolf, wolverine, lynx,
squirrel and sable (north only). Because of the easy accessibility of the mountains there are no specifically
mountainous species. In the Middle Ural, one can meet a rare mixture of sable and pine marten named
kidus. In the Southern Ural, frequent are badger and black polecat. Reptiles and amphibians live mostly in
the Southern and Central Ural and are represented by the common viper, lizards and grass snakes. Bird
species are represented by capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse, Spotted Nutcracker and cuckoos. In
summers, South and Middle Urals are visited by songbirds, such as nightingale and redstart.[1][3]

Steppes of the Southern Urals are dominated by hares and rodents such as gophers, susliks and jerboa.
There are many birds of prey such as Lesser Kestrel and buzzards. The animals of the Polar Ural are few
and are characteristic of the tundra and include Arctic Fox, tundra partridge, lemming and reindeer. The
birds of those areas include rough-legged buzzard, Snowy Owl and Rock Ptarmigan.[1][3]

Wolverine Polecat

Ecology[edit]

The continuous and intensive economic development of the last centuries has affected the fauna, and
wildlife is much diminished around all industrial centers. During World War II, hundreds of factories were
evacuated from Western Russia before the German occupation, flooding the Urals with industry. The
conservation measures include establishing national wildlife parks. [1] There are nine strict nature reserves in
the Urals: the Ilmen, the oldest one, mineralogical reserve founded in 1920 in Chelyabinsk
Oblast, Pechora-Ilych in the Komi Republic, Bashkir and its former branchShulgan-Tash in
Bashkortostan, Visim in Sverdlovsk Oblast, South Urals in Bashkortostan, Basegi in Perm Krai, Vishera in
Perm Krai and Denezhkin Kamen in Sverdlovsk Oblast.

The area has also been severely damaged by the plutonium-producing facility Mayak opened in

Chelyabinsk-40 (later called Chelyabinsk-65, Ozyorsk), in the Southern Urals, after World War II.[1]Its plants
went into operation in 1948 and, for the first ten years, dumped unfiltered radioactive waste into the Techa
River and Lake Karachay.[1][8][9] In 1990, efforts were underway to contain the radiation in one of the lakes,
which was estimated at the time to expose visitors to 500 millirem per day.[9] As of 2006, 500 mrem in the
natural environment was the upper limit of exposure considered safe for a member of the general public in
an entire year (though workplace exposure over a year could exceed that by a factor of 10). [10] Over
23,000 km2 (8,900 sq mi) of land were contaminated in 1957 from a storage tank explosion, only one of
several serious accidents that further polluted the region. [1] The 1957 accident expelled 20 million curies of
radioactive material, 90% of which settled into the land immediately around the facility. [11] Although some
reactors of Mayak were shut down in 1987 and 1990,[9] the facility keeps producing plutonium.[19]

Cultural significance[edit]

The Urals have been viewed by Russians as a "treasure box" of mineral resources, which were the basis
for its extensive industrial development. In addition to iron and copper the Urals were a source of
gold, malachite, alexandrite, and other gems such as those used by the court jeweler Fabergé. As
Russians in other regions gather mushrooms or berries, Uralians gather mineral specimens and
gems. Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak (1852–1912) Pavel Bazhov (1879–1950), as well as Aleksey Ivanov and
Olga Slavnikova, post-Soviet writers, have written of the region. [20]

The region served as a "military stronghold" during Peter the Great's Great Northern War with Sweden,
during Stalin's rule when the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Complex was built and Russian industry relocated
to the Urals during the Nazi advance at the beginning of World War II, and as the center of the Soviet
nuclear industry during the Cold War. Extreme levels of air, water, and radiological contamination and
pollution by industrial wastes resulted. Population exodus resulted, and economic depression at the time of
the collapse of the Soviet Union, but in post-Soviet times additional mineral exploration, particularly in the
northern Urals, has been productive and the region has attracted industrial investment. [20]

See also[edit]

 Dyatlov Pass incident

 Idel-Ural State

 Pangaea
References[edit]

1. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Ural Mountains, Encyclopædia Britannica on-line

2. Jump up^ Фасмер, Макс. Этимологический словарь русского языка

3. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Ural (geographical)". Great Soviet Encyclopedia.

4. Jump up^ *Ludmila Koriakova and Andrei Epimakhov (2007). The Urals and Western Siberia in the

Bronze and Iron Ages. Cambridge University Press. p. 338. ISBN 0-521-82928-3.

5. Jump up^ Ural, toponym Chlyabinsk Encyclopedia (in Russian)

6. ^ Jump up to:a b Geological Society of London (1894). The Quarterly journal of the Geological Society of

London. The Society. p. 53. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

7. Jump up^ cf. Murchison, Roderick Impey; Edouard de Verneuil; Alexander Keyserling (1845). The

Geology of Russia in Europe and the Ural Mountains. John Murray. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

8. ^ Jump up to:a b Podvig, Pavel; Oleg Bukharin; Frank von Hippel (1 March 2004). Russian Strategic Nuclear

Forces. MIT Press. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-262-66181-2. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

 9. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Paine, Christopher (22 July 1989). "Military reactors go on show to American visitors". New

Scientist. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

10. ^ Jump up to:a b American Chemical Society (31 January 2006). Chemistry in the Community: ChemCom.

Macmillan. p. 499. ISBN 978-0-7167-8919-2. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

11. ^ Jump up to:a b Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc. (May 1991). Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc. p. 25. ISSN 0096-3402. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

12. ^ Jump up to:a b D. Brown & H. Echtler. The Urals. In: R. C. Selley, L. R. M. Cocks & I. R. Plimer

(eds.),Encyclopedia of Geology, Vol. 2. Elsevier, 2005. P 86-95.

13. Jump up^ L. R. M. Cocks & T. H. Torsvik. European geography in a global context from the Vendian to the

end of the Palaeozoic. In Gee, D. G. & Stephenson, R. A. (eds), European Lithosphere Dynamics. Geological

Society, London, Memoirs, 32, 83–95.

14. Jump up^ Victor N. Puchkov. The evolution of the Uralian orogen. Geological Society, London, Special

Publications, 2009; v. 327; p. 161-195.

15. Jump up^ D. Brown et al. Mountain building processes during continent–continent collision in the

Uralides. Earth-Science Reviews, Volume 89, Issues 3–4, August 2008, Pages 177–195.

16. Jump up^ Mary L. Leech. Arrested orogenic development: eclogitization, delamination, and tectonic

collapse. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 185 (2001) 149–159.

17. Jump up^ Jane H. Scarrow, Conxi Ayala & Geoffrey S. Kimbell. Insights into orogenesis: getting to the

root of a continent–ocean–continent collision, Southern Urals, Russia. Journal of the Geological Society, London,

Vol. 159, 2002, pp. 659–671.

18. Jump up^ Davis, W.M. (1898). "The Ural Mountains". In American Association for the Advancement of

Science. Science. Moses King. p. 563. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

19. Jump up^ Plutonium production will not be transferred from Mayak, 25 March 2010 (in Russian)

20. ^ Jump up to:a b Elena Givental (March 2013). "Three Hundred Years of Glory and Gloom : The Urals Region of

Russia in Art and Reality". SAGE Open 3 (2). doi:10.1177/2158244013486657. Retrieved April 18, 2013.

Atlas Mountains
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the volcanic cone, see  Mount Atlas.

Atlas Mountains
 Toubkal Mountain in Toubkal National Park in the High Atlas

Highest point

Peak Toubkal

Elevation 4,165 m (13,665 ft)

Coordinates 31°03′43″N 07°54′58″WCoordinates:  31°03′43″N 07°54′58″W

Geography

Location of the Atlas Mountains (red) across North Africa

Countries Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia

Geology

Period Precambrian

The Atlas Mountains (Berber: ⵉⴷⵓⵔⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵓⴰⵟⵍⴰⵙ - idurar n Waṭlas, Arabic: ‫جبال األطلس‬, Classical

Arabic: Daran; Dyrin) is a mountain range across the northwestern stretch of Africa extending about
2,500 km (1,600 mi) through Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation
of 4,165 metres (13,665 ft) in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate
the Mediterranean and Atlanticcoastlines from the Sahara Desert. The population of the Atlas Mountains is
mainly Berbers. The terms for 'mountain' in some Berber languages are adrar and adras, believed to be
cognate with the toponym.
 The mountains have been home to a number of plant and animal species unique in Africa, often more like
those of Europe; many of them areendangered and some have already gone extinct. Examples include
the Barbary Macaque, the Atlas Bear (Africa's only species of bear; now extinct), the Barbary Leopard,
the Barbary stag, Barbary Sheep, the Barbary Lion (extinct in the wild), the Atlas Mountain Badger,
the North African Elephant (extinct), the African Aurochs (extinct), Cuvier's Gazelle, the Northern Bald
Ibis, Dippers, the Atlas mountain viper, the Atlas Cedar, the European Black Pine, and the Algerian Oak.

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Geology

o 1.1 Natural resources

 2 Subranges of the Atlas Mountains

o 2.1 Middle Atlas range

o 2.2 High Atlas

o 2.3 Anti-Atlas ranges

o 2.4 Saharan Atlas range

o 2.5 Tell Atlas range

o 2.6 Aurès mountain range

 3 See also

 4 References and notes

Geology[edit]

Map showing the location of the Atlas Mountains across North Africa

The basement rock of most of Africa was formed in the Precambrian(approximately 4.54 - 0.57 billion years
ago) and is much older than the Atlas mountains lying in Africa. The Atlas formed during three subsequent
phases of Earth's history.
The first tectonic deformation phase involves only the Anti-Atlas, which was formed in the Paleozoic Era
(~300 million years ago) as the result of continental collisions. North America, Europe and Africa were
connected millions of years ago.

The tectonic boundary.

The Anti-Atlas mountains are believed to have originally been formed as part of Alleghenian orogeny.
These mountains were formed when Africa and America collided, and were once a chain rivaling
today's Himalayas. Today, the remains of this chain can be seen in the Fall line in the eastern United
States. Some remnants can also be found in the later formedAppalachians in North America.

A second phase took place during the Mesozoic Era (before ~66 My) and consisted of a widespread
extension of the Earth's crust that rifted and separated the continents mentioned above. This extension
was responsible for the formation of many thick intracontinental sedimentary basins including the present
Atlas. Most of the rocks forming the surface of the present High Atlas were deposited under the ocean at
that time.

Finally, in the Paleogene and Neogene Periods (~66 million to ~1.8 million years ago), the mountain chains
that today comprise the Atlas were uplifted as the land masses of Europe and Africa collided at the
southern end of the Iberian peninsula. Such convergent tectonic boundaries occur where two plates slide
towards each other forming a subduction zone (if one plate moves underneath the other) and/or
a continental collision (when the two plates contain continental crust). In the case of the Africa-Europe
collision, it is clear that tectonic convergence is partially responsible for the formation of the High Atlas, as
well as for the closure of the Strait of Gibraltar and the formation of the Alps and the Pyrenees. However,
there is a lack of evidence for the nature of the subduction in the Atlas region, or for the thickening of the
Earth's crust generally associated with continental collisions. In fact, one of the most striking features of the
Atlas to geologists is the relative small amount of crustal thickening and tectonic shortening despite the
important altitude of the mountain range. Recent studies suggest that deep processes rooted in the Earth's
mantle may have contributed to the uplift of the High and Middle Atlas. [1][2]

Natural resources[edit]

The Atlas are rich in natural resources. There are deposits of iron ore, lead
ore, copper, silver, mercury, rock salt, phosphate, marble, anthracite coal, and natural gas among other
resources.
Subranges of the Atlas Mountains[edit]

High Atlas.

The range can be divided into four general regions:

 Tell Atlas (Algeria, Tunisia).

 Saharan Atlas (Algeria).

 Aurès Mountains (Algeria, Tunisia).

 Middle Atlas, High Atlas, and Anti-Atlas (Morocco).

Middle Atlas range[edit]

Main article:  Middle Atlas

The Middle Atlas is a portion of the Atlas mountain range lying completely in Morocco. The Middle Atlas is
the westernmost of three Atlas Mountains chains that define a large, plateaued basin extending eastward
into Algeria. South of the Middle Atlas and separated by the Moulouya and Oum Er-Rbiarivers, the High
Atlas stretches for 700 kilometres (430 mi) with a succession of peaks among which ten reach above 4,000
metres (13,000 ft). North of the Middle Atlas and separated by the Sebou River, the Rif mountains are an
extension of the Baetic Cordillera (Baetic mountains, which include the Sierra Nevada) in the south of
Spain.

High Atlas[edit]
Main article:  High Atlas

The High Atlas in central Morocco rises in the west at the Atlantic coast and stretches in an eastern
direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border. At the Atlantic and to the southwest the range drops abruptly
and makes an impressive transition to the coast and the Anti-Atlas range. To the north, in the direction
of Marrakech, the range descends less abruptly.

On the heights of Ouarzazate the massif is cut through by the Draa valley which opens southward. Here,
water runs in some places, forming clear basins. It is mainly inhabited by Berber people, who live in small
villages and cultivate the high plains of Ourika Valley.

Panoramic picture of the artificial lake of Lalla Takerkoust near Barrage Cavagnac, with the hydroelectric dam (far right)

Near Barrage Cavagnac, there is a hydroelectric dam that has created the artificial lake Lalla Takerkoust.
The lake serves also as a source for fish for the local fishermen.

The largest villages and towns of the area are Ouarzazate, Tahanaoute, Amizmiz,Imlil, Tin Mal and Ijoukak.

Anti-Atlas ranges[edit]
Main article:  Anti-Atlas

The Anti-Atlas extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest of Morocco toward the northeast to the
heights of Ouarzazate and further east to the city of Tafilalt (altogether a distance of approximately 500
kilometres or 310 miles). In the south it borders the Sahara. The easternmost point of the anti-Atlas is the
Djebel Sarhro mountains and its eastern boundary is set by sections of the High Atlas range.

Saharan Atlas range[edit]

Main article:  Saharan Atlas

The Saharan Atlas of Algeria is the eastern portion of the Atlas mountain range. Though not as high as the
Grand Atlas, they are far more imposing than the Tell Atlas range that runs to the north of them and closer
to the coast. The highest peak in the range is the 2,236 m (7,336 ft) high Djebel Aissa. They mark the
northern edge of the Sahara Desert. The mountains see some rainfall and are better suited to agriculture
than the plateau region to the north. Today most of the population of the region are Berbers (Imazighen).

Tell Atlas range[edit]

Main article:  Tell Atlas
Panoramic view of typical Berber village (Morocco - High Atlas Mountains).

The Tell Atlas is a mountain chain over 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) in length, belonging to the Atlas mountain
ranges and stretching from Morocco, through Algeria to Tunisia. It parallels the Mediterranean coast.
Together with the Saharan Atlas to the south it forms the northernmost of two more or less parallel ranges
which gradually approach one another towards the east, merging in Eastern Algeria. At the western ends at
the Middle Atlas range in Morocco. The area immediately to the south of this range is high plateau, with
lakes in the wet season and salt flats in the dry.

Aurès mountain range[edit]

Main article:  Aurès Mountains

Aures Mountains

Aures localisation

The Aurès Mountains of Algeria and Tunisia are the farthest eastern portion of the Atlas mountain range.

See also[edit]

 Capsian culture

 North Africa
References and notes[edit]

1. Jump up^ UAB.es Potential field modelling of the Atlas lithosphere

 2. Jump up^ UAB.es Crustal structure under the central High Atlas Mountains (Morocco) from geological and gravity

data, P. Ayarza, et al., 2005, Tectonophysics, 400, 67-84

Appalachian Mountains
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Appalachians" redirects here. For other uses, see Appalachian.

Appalachian Mountains

Appalachians

View from the slopes of Back Allegheny Mountain, looking east, in the Appalachian
Mountains, North America. Visible are Allegheny Mountain (in theMonongahela National
Forest of West Virginia, middle distance) and Shenandoah Mountain (in theGeorge
Washington National Forest of Virginia, far distance).

Highest point

Peak Mount Mitchell

Elevation 6,684 ft (2,037 m)

Dimensions

Length 1,500 mi (2,400 km)

Geography
 Countries United States and Canada

State/Province
Newfoundland,[1][2] Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New

Brunswick, Maine,New

Hampshire, Vermont,Massachusetts, Connecticut, New

York, Pennsylvania, Maryland,Virginia, West

Virginia, Ohio,Kentucky, Tennessee, New Jersey,North Carolina, South

Carolina,Georgia,
and Alabama

Range
40°N 78°WCoordinates:  40°N 78°W
coordinates

Geology

Orogeny Taconic, Acadian, Alleghanian

Period Ordovician-Permian

The Appalachian Mountains ( /ˌæpəˈleɪʃɨn/ or /ˌæpəˈlætʃɨn/,[note 1] French: les Appalaches), often

i

called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians first
formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period and once reached elevations similar to
those of the Alps and the Rocky Mountains before they were eroded.[3][4] The Appalachian chain is a barrier
to east-west travel as it forms a series of alternating ridgelines and valleys oriented in opposition to any
road running east-west.

Definitions vary on the precise boundaries of the Appalachians. The United States Geological
Survey (USGS) defines the Appalachian Highlands physiographic division as consisting of thirteen
provinces: the Atlantic Coast Uplands, Eastern Newfoundland Atlantic, Maritime Acadian
Highlands, Maritime Plain, Notre Dame and Mégantic Mountains, Western Newfoundland
Mountains, Piedmont, Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge, Saint Lawrence Valley, Appalachian Plateaus, New
England province, and the Adirondack provinces.[5][6] A common variant definition does not include
the Adirondack Mountains, which geologically belong to the Grenville Orogeny and have a different
geological history from the rest of the Appalachians.[7][8][9]
 Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Overview

o 1.1 Origin of name

 2 Geography

o 2.1 Regions

o 2.2 Chief summits

o 2.3 Drainage

 3 Geology

o 3.1 Mineral resources

 4 Ecology

o 4.1 Flora

o 4.2 Fauna

 5 Influence on history

 6 See also

 7 Notes

 8 References

 9 Further reading

 10 External links

Overview[edit]

The range is mostly located in the United States but extends into southeastern Canada, forming a zone
from 100 to 300 mi (160 to 480 km) wide, running from the island of Newfoundland 1,500 mi (2,400 km)
southwestward to Central Alabama in the United States.[discuss] The range covers parts of the islands of Saint
Pierre and Miquelon, which comprise an overseas territory of France. The system is divided into a series of
ranges, with the individual mountains averaging around 3,000 ft (910 m). The highest of the group is Mount
Mitchell in North Carolina at 6,684 feet (2,037 m), which is the highest point in the United States east of
the Mississippi River.

The term Appalachian refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range. Most broadly,
it refers to the entire mountain range with its surrounding hills and the dissected plateau region. The term is
often used more restrictively to refer to regions in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains, usually
including areas in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and North
Carolina, as well as sometimes extending as far south as northern Georgia and western South Carolina, as
far north as Pennsylvania and southern Ohio.

The Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas and Oklahoma were originally part of the Appalachians as well, but

became disconnected through geologic history.
Origin of name[edit]

Detail of Diego Gutiérrez's 1562 map of the Western Hemisphere, showing the first known use of a variation of the place name

"Appalachia" ("Apalchen"). From the mapAmericae sive qvartae orbis partis nova et exactissima descriptio.

While exploring inland along the northern coast of Florida in 1528, the members of the Narváez expedition,
including Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, found a Native American village near present-day Tallahassee,
Florida whose name they transcribed as Apalchen or Apalachen [a.paˈla.tʃɛn]. The name was soon altered
by the Spanish to Apalachee and used as a name for the tribe and region spreading well inland to the
north. Pánfilo de Narváez's expedition first entered Apalachee territory on June 15, 1528, and applied the
name. Now spelled "Appalachian," it is the fourth-oldest surviving European place-name in the US. [10]

After the de Soto expedition in 1540, Spanish cartographers began to apply the name of the tribe to the
mountains themselves. The first cartographic appearance of Apalchen is on Diego Gutierrez's map of 1562;
the first use for the mountain range is the map of Jacques le Moyne de Morgues in 1565.[11]

The name was not commonly used for the whole mountain range until the late 19th century. A competing
and often more popular name was the "Allegheny Mountains," "Alleghenies," and even "Alleghania." In the
early 19th century, Washington Irving proposed renaming the United States either Appalachia or
Alleghania.[12]

In U.S. dialects in the southern regions of the Appalachians, the word is pronounced /ˌæpəˈlætʃɨnz/, with
the third syllable sounding like "latch." In northern parts of the mountain range, it is pronounced /ˌæpə
ˈleɪtʃɨnz/ or /ˌæpəˈleɪʃɨnz/; the third syllable is like "lay", and the fourth "chins" or "shins." [13]Elsewhere, a
commonly accepted pronunciation for the adjective Appalachian is /ˌæpəˈlætʃiən/, with the last two
syllables "-ian" pronounced as in the word "Romanian." [14]

Geography[edit]

Regions[edit]
USGS Appalachian zones in the United States.

Shaded relief map of the Cumberland Plateau and Ridge-and-Valley Appalachianson the Virginia-West Virginia border.

The whole system may be divided into three great sections:

 Northern - The northern section runs from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and

Labrador to the Hudson River. It includes the Long Range Mountains and Annieopsquotch
Mountains on the island of Newfoundland, Chic-Choc Mountains and Notre Dame Range in Quebec
and New Brunswick, scattered elevations and small ranges elsewhere in Nova Scotia and New
 Brunswick, the Longfellow Mountains in Maine, the White Mountains in New Hampshire, the Green
Mountains in Vermont, and The Berkshires in Massachusetts and Connecticut. The Metacomet Ridge
Mountains in Connecticut and south-central Massachusetts, although contained within the Appalachian
province, is a younger system and not geologically associated with the Appalachians.

 Central The central section goes from the Hudson Valley to the New River (Great Kanawha)
running through Virginia and West Virginia. It comprises (excluding various minor groups) the Valley
Ridges between the Allegheny Front of the Allegheny Plateau and the Great Appalachian Valley,
the New York - New Jersey Highlands, the Taconic Mountains in New York, and a large portion of
the Blue Ridge.

 Southern The southern section runs from the New River onwards. It consists of the prolongation of
the Blue Ridge, which is divided into the Western Blue Ridge (or Unaka) Front and the Eastern Blue
Ridge Front, the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, and the Cumberland Plateau.

The Adirondack Mountains in New York are sometimes considered part of the Appalachian chain but,
geologically speaking, are a southern extension of the Laurentian Mountains of Canada.[7][8][9]

In addition to the true folded mountains, known as the ridge and valley province, the area of dissected
plateau to the north and west of the mountains is usually grouped with the Appalachians. This includes
the Catskill Mountains of southeastern New York, the Poconos inPennsylvania, and the Allegheny
Plateau of southwestern New York, western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia. This
same plateau is known as the Cumberland Plateau in southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky,
western Virginia, eastern Tennessee, and northern Alabama.

The dissected plateau area, while not actually made up of geological mountains, is popularly called
"mountains," especially in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, and while the ridges are not high, the
terrain is extremely rugged. In Ohio and New York, some of the plateau has been glaciated, which has
rounded off the sharp ridges, and filled the valleys to some extent. The glaciated regions are usually
referred to as hill country rather than mountains.

The Appalachian region is generally considered the geographical divide between the eastern seaboard of
the United States and the Midwest region of the country. The Eastern Continental Divide follows the
Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania to Georgia.

The Appalachian Trail is a 2,175-mile (3,500 km) hiking trail that runs all the way from Mount Katahdin in
Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia, passing over or past a large part of the Appalachian system.
The International Appalachian Trail is an extension of this hiking trail into the Canadian portion of the
Appalachian range.

Chief summits[edit]

The Appalachian belt includes, with the ranges enumerated above, the plateaus sloping southward to the
Atlantic Ocean in New England, and south-eastward to the border of the coastal plain through the central
and southern Atlantic states; and on the north-west, the Allegheny and Cumberland plateaus declining
toward the Great Lakes and the interior plains. A remarkable feature of the belt is the longitudinal chain of
broad valleys, including TheGreat Appalachian Valley, which in the southerly sections divides the mountain
system into two unequal portions, but in the northernmost lies west of all the ranges possessing typical
Appalachian features, and separates them from the Adirondack group. The mountain system has no axis of
dominating altitudes, but in every portion the summits rise to rather uniform heights, and, especially in the
central section, the various ridges and intermontane valleys have the same trend as the system itself. None
of the summits reaches the region of perpetual snow.

Old fault exposed by roadcut nearHarrisburg, Pennsylvania, along Interstate 81. Such faults are common in the folded Appalachians.

Mountains of the Long Range in Newfoundland reach heights of nearly 3,000 ft (900 m). In the Chic-

Choc and Notre Dame mountain ranges in Quebec, the higher summits rise to about 4,000 ft (1,200 m)
elevation. Isolated peaks and small ranges in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick vary from 1,000 to 2,700 ft
(300 to 800 m). In Maine several peaks exceed 4,000 ft (1,200 m)., including Mount Katahdin 5,267 feet
(1,605 m). In New Hampshire, many summits rise above 5,000 ft (1,500 m), including Mount Washington in
the White Mountains 6,288 ft (1,917 m), Adams 5,771 ft (1,759 m), Jefferson5,712 ft
(1,741 m), Monroe 5,380 ft (1,640 m)), Madison 5,367 ft (1,636 m), Lafayette 5,249 feet (1,600 m),
and Lincoln 5,089 ft (1,551 m). In the Green Mountains the highest point, Mt. Mansfield, is 4,393 ft
(1,339 m) in elevation; others include Killington Peak at 4,226 ft (1,288 m)., Camel's Hump at 4,083 ft
(1,244 m)., Mt. Abraham at 4,006 ft (1,221 m)., and a number of other heights exceeding 3,000 ft (900 m).

In Pennsylvania, there are over sixty summits that rise over 2,500 ft (800 m); the summits of Mount
Davis and Blue Knob rise over 3,000 ft (900 m). In Maryland, Eagle Rock and Dans Mountain are
conspicuous points reaching 3,162 ft (964 m) and 2,882 ft (878 m) respectively. On the same side of the
Great Valley, south of the Potomac, are the Pinnacle 3,007 feet (917 m) and Pidgeon Roost 3,400 ft
(1,000 m). In West Virginia, more than 150 peaks rise above 4,000 ft (1,200 m)., including Spruce
Knob 4,863 ft (1,482 m), the highest point in the Allegheny Mountains. A number of other points in the state
rise above 4,800 ft (1,500 m). Snowshoe Mountain at Thorny Flat 4,848 ft (1,478 m) and Bald Knob 4,842 ft
(1,476 m) are among the more notable peaks in West Virginia.
Cliffs overlooking the New River nearGauley Bridge, West Virginia.

The Blue Ridge Mountains, rising in southern Pennsylvania and there known as South Mountain, attain
elevations of about 2,000 ft (600 m) in that state. South Mountain achieves its highest point just below
the Mason-Dixon line in Maryland at Quirauk Mountain 2,145 ft (654 m) and then diminishes in height
southward to the Potomac River. Once in Virginia the Blue Ridge again reaches 2,000 ft (600 m) and
higher. In the Virginia Blue Ridge, the following are some of the highest peaks north of the Roanoke River:
Stony Man 4,031 ft (1,229 m), Hawksbill Mountain 4,066 ft (1,239 m), Apple Orchard Mountain 4,225 ft
(1,288 m) and Peaks of Otter 4,001 and 3,875 ft (1,220 and 1,181 m). South of the Roanoke River, along
the Blue Ridge, are Virginia's highest peaks including Whitetop Mountain 5,520 ft (1,680 m) and Mount
Rogers 5,729 ft (1,746 m), the highest point in the Commonwealth.

Chief summits in the southern section of the Blue Ridge are located along two main crests — the Western
or Unaka Front along the Tennessee-North Carolina border and the Eastern Front in North Carolina — or
one of several "cross ridges" between the two main crests. Major subranges of the Eastern Front include
the Black Mountains, Great Craggy Mountains, and Great Balsam Mountains, and its chief summits
include Grandfather Mountain 5,964 ft (1,818 m) near the Tennessee-North Carolina border, Mount
Mitchell 6,684 ft (2,037 m) in the Blacks, and Black Balsam Knob 6,214 ft (1,894 m) andCold
Mountain 6,030 ft (1,840 m) in the Great Balsams. The Western Blue Ridge Front is subdivided into
the Unaka Range, the Bald Mountains, theGreat Smoky Mountains, and the Unicoi Mountains, and its
major peaks include Roan Mountain 6,285 ft (1,916 m) in the Unakas, Big Bald 5,516 ft (1,681 m) and Max
Patch 4,616 ft (1,407 m) in the Bald Mountains, Clingmans Dome 6,643 ft (2,025 m), Mount Le Conte 6,593
feet (2,010 m), and Mount Guyot 6,621 ft (2,018 m) in the Great Smokies, and Big Frog Mountain 4,224 ft
(1,287 m) near the Tennessee-Georgia-North Carolina border. Prominent summits in the cross ridges
include Waterrock Knob (6,292 ft (1,918 m)) in the Plott Balsams. Across northern Georgia, numerous
peaks exceed 4,000 ft (1,200 m), including Brasstown Bald, the state's highest, at 4,784 ft (1,458 m) and
4,696 ft (1,431 m) Rabun Bald.

Drainage[edit]

There are many geological issues concerning the rivers and streams of the Appalachians. In spite of the
existence of the Great Appalachian Valley, many of the main rivers are transverse to the mountain system
axis. The drainage divide of the Appalachians follows a tortuous course which crosses the mountainous
belt just north of the New River in Virginia. South of the New River, rivers head into the Blue Ridge, cross
the higher Unakas, receive important tributaries from the Great Valley, and traversing the Cumberland
Plateau in spreading gorges (water gaps), escape by way of the Cumberland River and the Tennessee
River rivers to the Ohio River and the Mississippi River, and thence to the Gulf of Mexico. In the central
section, north of the New River, the rivers, rising in or just beyond the Valley Ridges, flow through great
gorges to the Great Valley, and then across the Blue Ridge to tidal estuaries penetrating the coastal plain
via the Roanoke River, James River,Potomac River, and Susquehanna River.

In the northern section the height of land lies on the inland side of the mountainous belt, and thus the main
lines of drainage runs from north to south, exemplified by the Hudson River. However, the valley through
which the Hudson River flows was cut by the gigantic glaciers of the Ice Ages — the same glaciers that
deposited their terminal moraines in southern New York State and formed the east-west Long Island.

Geology[edit]

Main article:  Geology of the Appalachians

Paleogeographic reconstruction showing the Appalachian Basin area during theMiddle Devonian period.[15]

A look at rocks exposed in today's Appalachian mountains reveals elongated belts of folded and
thrust faulted marine sedimentary rocks, volcanic rocksand slivers of ancient ocean floor, which provides
strong evidence that these rocks were deformed during plate collision. The birth of the Appalachian ranges,
some 480 Ma, marks the first of several mountain-building plate collisions that culminated in the
construction of the supercontinent Pangaeawith the Appalachians near the center. Because North America
and Africa were connected, the Appalachians formed part of the same mountain chain as the Little
Atlas in Morocco. This mountain range, known as the Central Pangean Mountains, extended into Scotland,
from the North America/Europe collision (See Caledonian orogeny).

During the middle Ordovician Period (about 496-440 Ma), a change in plate motions set the stage for the
first Paleozoic mountain-building event (Taconic orogeny) in North America. The once-quiet Appalachian
passive margin changed to a very active plate boundary when a neighboring oceanic plate, theIapetus,
collided with and began sinking beneath the North American craton. With the birth of this
new subduction zone, the early Appalachians were born. Along the continental margin, volcanoes grew,
coincident with the initiation of subduction. Thrust faulting uplifted and warped older sedimentary rock laid
down on the passive margin. As mountains rose, erosion began to wear them down. Streams carried rock
debris down slope to be deposited in nearby lowlands. The Taconic Orogeny was just the first of a series of
mountain building plate collisions that contributed to the formation of the Appalachians, culminating in the
collision of North America and Africa (see Appalachian orogeny).[16]

By the end of the Mesozoic era, the Appalachian Mountains had been eroded to an almost flat plain. [16] It
was not until the region was uplifted during theCenozoic Era that the distinctive topography of the present
formed.[17] Uplift rejuvenated the streams, which rapidly responded by cutting downward into the ancient
bedrock. Some streams flowed along weak layers that define the folds and faults created many millions of
years earlier. Other streamsdowncut so rapidly that they cut right across the resistant folded rocks of the
mountain core, carving canyons across rock layers and geologic structures.

Mineral resources[edit]

The Appalachian Mountains contain major deposits of anthracite coal as well as bituminous coal. In the
folded mountains the coal is in metamorphosed form as anthracite, represented by the Coal
Region of northeastern Pennsylvania. The bituminous coal fields of western Pennsylvania, western
Maryland, southeastern Ohio, eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia, and West Virginia contain the
sedimentary form of coal.[18] The mountain top removal method of coal mining, in which entire mountain
tops are removed, is currently threatening vast areas and ecosystems of the Appalachian Mountain region.
[19]

The discovery in 1859 of commercial quantities of petroleum in the Appalachian mountains of western
Pennsylvania started the modern United States petroleum industry.[20] Recent discoveries of
commercial natural gas deposits in the Marcellus Shale formation and Utica Shale formations have once
again focused oil industry attention on the Appalachian Basin.

Some plateaus of the Appalachian Mountains contain metallic minerals such as iron and zinc.[21]

Ecology[edit]

Further information:  Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests,  Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests,

and Appalachian temperate rainforest

Flora[edit]
View from Mount Mitchell. At 6,684 ft (2,037 m), Mount Mitchell in North Carolina is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River.

The floras of the Appalachians are diverse and vary primarily in response to geology, latitude, elevation
and moisture availability. Geobotanically, they constitute a floristic province of the North American Atlantic
Region. The Appalachians consist primarily of deciduous broad-leaf trees and evergreen needle-leaf
conifers, but also contain the evergreen broad-leaf American Holly (Ilex opaca), and the deciduous needle-
leaf conifer, the Tamarack, or Eastern Larch (Larix laricina).

The dominant northern and high elevation conifer is the Red Spruce (Picea rubens), which grows from near
sea level to above 4,000 ft (1,200 m) above sea level (asl) in northern New England and southeastern
Canada. It also grows southward along the Appalachian crest to the highest elevations of the southern
Appalachians, as in North Carolina and Tennessee. In the central Appalachians it is usually confined above
3,000 ft (900 m) asl, except for a few cold valleys in which it reaches lower elevations. In the southern
Appalachians it is restricted to higher elevations. Another species is the Black Spruce (Picea mariana),
which extends farthest north of any conifer in North America, is found at high elevations in the northern
Appalachians, and in bogs as far south as Pennsylvania.

The Appalachians are also home to two species of fir, the boreal Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea), and the
southern high elevation endemic, Fraser Fir(Abies fraseri). Fraser Fir is confined to the highest parts of the
southern Appalachian Mountains, where along with Red Spruce it forms a fragile ecosystem known as
the Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest. Fraser Fir rarely occurs below 5,500 ft (1,700 m), and becomes
the dominant tree type at 6,200 ft (1,900 m).[22] By contrast, Balsam Fir is found from near sea level to the
tree line in the northern Appalachians, but ranges only as far south as Virginia and West Virginia in the
central Appalachians, where it is usually confined above 3,900 ft (1,200 m) asl, except in cold valleys.
Curiously, it is associated with oaks in Virginia. The Balsam Fir of Virginia and West Virginia is thought by
some to be a natural hybrid between the more northern variety and Fraser Fir. While Red Spruce is
common in both upland and bog habitats, Balsam Fir, as well as Black Spruce and Tamarack, are more
characteristic of the latter. However Balsam Fir also does well in soils with a pH as high as 6. [23]

Eastern or Canada Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is another important evergreen needle-leaf conifer that
grows along the Appalachian chain from north to south, but is confined to lower elevations than Red
Spruce and the firs. It generally occupies richer and less acidic soils than the spruce and firs and is
characteristic of deep, shaded and moist mountain valleys and coves. It is, unfortunately, subject to
the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges tsugae), an introduced insect, that is rapidly extirpating it as a forest
tree. Less abundant, and restricted to the southern Appalachians, is Carolina Hemlock (Tsuga caroliniana).
Like Canada Hemlock, this tree suffers severely from the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid.

Several species of pines characteristic of the Appalachians are Eastern White Pine (Pinus

strobus ), Virginia Pine (Pinus virginiana), Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida ), Table Mountain Pine (Pinus pungens)
and Shortleaf Pine (Pinus echinata). Red Pine (Pinus resinosa) is a boreal species that forms a few high
elevation outliers as far south as West Virginia. All of these species except White Pine tend to occupy
sandy, rocky, poor soil sites, which are mostly acidic in character. White Pine, a large species valued for its
timber, tends to do best in rich, moist soil, either acidic or alkaline in character. Pitch Pine is also at home in
acidic, boggy soil, and Table Mountain Pine may occasionally be found in this habitat as well. Shortleaf
Pine is generally found in warmer habitats and at lower elevations than the other species. All the species
listed do best in open or lightly shaded habitats, although White Pine also thrives in shady coves, valleys,
and on floodplains.

The view from Craggy Gardens on theBlue Ridge Parkway.

The Appalachians are characterized by a wealth of large, beautiful deciduous broadleaf (hardwood) trees.
Their occurrences are best summarized and described in E. Lucy Braun's 1950 classic, Deciduous Forests
of Eastern North America (Macmillan, New York). The most diverse and richest forests are the Mixed
Mesophytic or medium moisture types, which are largely confined to rich, moist montane soils of the
southern and central Appalachians, particularly in the Cumberland and Allegheny Mountains, but also
thrive in the southern Appalachian coves. Characteristic canopy species are White Basswood (Tilia
heterophylla), Yellow Buckeye (Aesculus octandra), Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum), American
Beech (Fagus grandifolia), Tuliptree(Liriodendron tulipifera), White Ash (Fraxinus americana ) and Yellow
Birch (Betula alleganiensis). Other common trees are Red Maple (Acer
rubrum),Shagbark and Bitternut Hickories (Carya ovata and C. cordiformis) and Black or Sweet
Birch (Betula lenta ). Small understory trees and shrubs includeFlowering Dogwood (Cornus
florida), Hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) and Spicebush (Lindera
benzoin). There are also hundreds of perennial and annual herbs, among them such herbal and medicinal
plants as American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), Goldenseal(Hydrastis
canadensis), Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) and Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa).
The foregoing trees, shrubs and herbs are also more widely distributed in less rich mesic forests that
generally occupy coves, stream valleys and flood plains throughout the southern and central Appalachians
at low and intermediate elevations. In the northern Appalachians and at higher elevations of the central and
southern Appalachians these diverse mesic forests give way to less diverse "Northern Hardwoods" with
canopies dominated only by American Beech, Sugar Maple, American Basswood (Tilia americana) and
Yellow Birch and with far fewer species of shrubs and herbs.

Dryer and rockier uplands and ridges are occupied by Oak-Chestnut type forests dominated by a variety of
oaks (Quercus spp.), hickories (Carya spp.) and, in the past, by the American Chestnut(Castanea dentata).
The American Chestnut was virtually eliminated as a canopy species by the introduced fungal Chestnut
Blight (Cryphonectaria parasitica), but lives on as sapling-sized sprouts that originate from roots, which are
not killed by the fungus. In present day forest canopies Chestnut has been largely replaced by oaks.

The oak forests of the southern and central Appalachians consist largely of Black, Northern
Red, White, Chestnut and Scarlet Oaks (Quercus velutina, Q. rubra, Q. alba, Q. prinus and Q. coccinea)
and hickories, such as the Pignut (Carya glabra) in particular. The richest forests, which grade into mesic
types, usually in coves and on gentle slopes, have dominantly White and Northern Red Oaks, while the
driest sites are dominated by Chestnut Oak, or sometimes by Scarlet or Northern Red Oaks. In the
northern Appalachians the oaks, except for White and Northern Red, drop out, while the latter extends
farthest north.

Great Laurel thicket in the Pisgah National Forest.

The oak forests generally lack the diverse small tree, shrub and herb layers of mesic forests. Shrubs are
generally ericaceous, and include the evergreenMountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia), various species
of blueberries (Vaccinium spp.), Black Huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata), a number of
deciduousrhododendrons (azaleas), and smaller heaths such as Teaberry ( Gaultheria procumbens)
and Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens ). The evergreen Great Rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) is
characteristic of moist stream valleys. These occurrences are in line with the prevailing acidic character of
most oak forest soils. In contrast, the much rarer Chinquapin Oak (Quercus muehlenbergii) demands
alkaline soils and generally grows where limestone rock is near the surface. Hence no ericaceous shrubs
are associated with it.
The Appalachian floras also include a diverse assemblage of bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), as well
as fungi. Some species are rare and/or endemic. As with vascular plants, these tend to be closely related
to the character of the soils and thermal environment in which they are found.

Eastern deciduous forests are subject to a number of serious insect and disease outbreaks. Among the
most conspicuous is that of the introducedGypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar), which infests primarily oaks,
causing severe defoliation and tree mortality. But it also has the benefit of eliminating weak individuals, and
thus improving the genetic stock, as well as creating rich habitat of a type through accumulation of dead
wood. Because hardwoods sprout so readily, this moth is not as harmful as the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid.
Perhaps more serious is the introduced Beech Bark Disease Complex, which includes both a scale insect
(Cryptococcus fagisuga) and fungal components.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries the Appalachian forests were subject to severe and destructive
logging and land clearing, which resulted in the designation of the National Forests and Parks as well many
state protected areas. However, these and a variety of other destructive activities continue, albeit in
diminished forms; and thus far only a few ecologically based management practices have taken hold.

Fauna[edit]

Animals that characterize the Appalachian forests include five species of tree squirrels. The most
commonly seen is the low to moderate elevation Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). Occupying
similar habitat is the slightly larger Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger) and the much smaller Southern Flying
Squirrel (Glaucomys volans). More characteristic of cooler northern and high elevation habitat is the Red
Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), whereas the Appalachian Northern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys
sabrinus fuscus), which closely resembles the Southern Flying Squirrel, is confined to northern hardwood
and spruce-fir forests.

Southern flying squirrel.

As familiar as squirrels are the Eastern Cottontail rabbit (Silvilagus floridanus) and the White-tailed

Deer (Odocoileus virginianus). The latter in particular has greatly increased in abundance as a result of the
extirpation of the Eastern Wolf (Canis lupus lycaon) and the North American Cougar. This has led to the
overgrazing and browsing of many plants of the Appalachian forests, as well as destruction of agricultural
crops. Other deer include the Moose(Alces alces ), found only in the north, and the Elk (Cervus
canadensis), which, although once extirpated, is now making a comeback, through transplantation, in the
southern and central Appalachians. In Quebec, the Chic-Chocs host the only population
of Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) south of the St. Lawrence River. An additional species that is common in
the north but extends its range southward at high elevations to Virginia and West Virginia is the Varying
or Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus). However, these central Appalachian populations are scattered and
very small.

Another species of great interest is the Beaver (Castor canadensis), which is showing a great resurgence
in numbers after its near extirpation for its pelt. This resurgence is bringing about a drastic alteration in
habitat through the construction of dams and other structures throughout the mountains.

Other common forest animals are the Black Bear (Ursus americanus), Striped Skunk (Mephitis

mephitis), Raccoon (Procyon lotor), Woodchuck(Marmota monax), Bobcat (Felis rufus), Gray Fox (Urocyon
cinereoargenteus), Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) and in recent years, the Coyote (Canis latrans), another
species favored by the advent of Europeans and the extirpation of Eastern and Red Wolves.
European boars were introduced in the early 20th century.

Characteristic birds of the forest are Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris), Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa

umbellus), Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura), Common Raven (Corvus corax), Wood Duck (Aix
sponsa), Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus), Barred Owl (Strix varia), Screech Owl (Megascops
asio), Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), and Northern
Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), as well as a great variety of "songbirds" (Passeriformes), like the warblers in
particular.

Male Eastern Wild Turkey.

Of great importance are the many species of salamanders and, in particular, the lungless species

(Family Plethodontidae) that live in great abundance concealed by leaves and debris, on the forest floor.
Most frequently seen, however, is the Eastern or Red-spotted Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens), whose
terrestrial eft form is often encountered on the open, dry forest floor. It has been estimated that
salamanders represent the largest class of animal biomass in the Appalachian forests. Frogs and toads are
of lesser diversity and abundance, but the Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica) is, like the eft, commonly
encountered on the dry forest floor, while a number of species of small frogs, such as Spring
Peepers (Pseudacris crucifer), enliven the forest with their calls. Salamanders and other amphibians
contribute greatly to nutrient cycling through their consumption of small life forms on the forest floor and in
aquatic habitats.

Although reptiles are less abundant and diverse than amphibians, a number of snakes are conspicuous
members of the fauna. One of the largest is the non-venomous Black Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta
obsoleta), while the Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) is among the smallest but most
abundant. The American Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) and the Timber Rattler (Crotalus horridus)
are venomous pit vipers. There are few lizards, but the Broad-headed Skink (Eumeces laticeps), at up to
13 in (33 cm) in length, and an excellent climber and swimmer, is one of the largest and most spectacular
in appearance and action. The most common turtle is the Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina),
which is found in both upland and lowland forests in the central and southern Appalachians. Prominent
among aquatic species is the large Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina), which occurs
throughout the Appalachians.

Appalachian streams are notable for their highly diverse freshwater fish life. Among the most abundant and
diverse are those of the minnow family (Family Cyprinidae), while species of the
colorfulDarters (Percina spp.) are also abundant.[24]

A characteristic fish of shaded, cool Appalachian forest streams is the Wild Brook or Speckled
Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), which is much sought after as a game fish. However in past years such trout
waters have been much degraded by increasing temperatures due to timber cutting, pollution from various
sources and potentially, global warming.

Influence on history[edit]

For a century, the Appalachians were a barrier to the westward expansion of the British colonies. The
continuity of the mountain system, the bewildering multiplicity of its succeeding ridges, the tortuous courses
and roughness of its transverse passes, a heavy forest, and dense undergrowth all conspired to hold the
settlers on the seaward-sloping plateaus and coastal plains. Only by way of the Hudson and Mohawk
Valleys, Cumberland Gap, and round about the southern termination of the system were there easy routes
to the interior of the country, and these were long closed by powerful Native American tribes such as
the Iroquois, Creek, and Cherokee, among others. Expansion was also blocked by the alliances the British
Empire had forged with Native American tribes, the proximity of the Spanish colonies in the south and
French activity throughout the interior.

In eastern Pennsylvania the Great Appalachian Valley, or Great Valley, was accessible by reason of a
broad gateway between the end of South Mountain and the Highlands, and
many Germansand Moravians settled here between the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers forming
the Pennsylvania Dutch community, some of whom even now speak a unique American dialect of German
known as the "Pennsylvania German language" or "Pennsylvania Dutch." These were latecomers to the
New World were forced to the frontier to find cheap land. With their followers of both German, English
and Scots-Irish origin, they worked their way southward and soon occupied all of the Shenandoah Valley,
ceded by the Iroquois, and the upper reaches of the Great Valley tributaries of the Tennessee River, ceded
by the Cherokee.

By 1755, the obstacle to westward expansion had been thus reduced by half; outposts of the English
colonists had penetrated the Allegheny and Cumberland plateaus, threatening French monopoly in the
transmontane region, and a conflict became inevitable. Making common cause against the French to
determine the control of the Ohio valley, the unsuspected strength of the colonists was revealed, and the
successful ending of the French and Indian War extended England's territory to the Mississippi. To this
strength the geographic isolation enforced by the Appalachian mountains had been a prime contributor.
The confinement of the colonies between an ocean and a mountain wall led to the fullest occupation of the
coastal border of the continent, which was possible under existing conditions of agriculture, conducting to
a community of purpose, a political and commercial solidarity, which would not otherwise have been
developed. As early as 1700 it was possible to ride from Portland, Maine, to southern Virginia, sleeping
each night at some considerable village. In contrast to this complete industrial occupation, the French
territory was held by a small and very scattered population, its extent and openness adding materially to
the difficulties of a disputed tenure. Bearing the brunt of this contest as they did, the colonies were
undergoing preparation for the subsequent struggle with the home government. Unsupported by shipping,
the American armies fought toward the sea with the mountains at their back protecting them against British
leagued with the Native Americans. The few settlements beyond the Great Valley were free for self-
defense because debarred from general participation in the conflict by reason of their position.

Mount Carleton, the highest mountain in the New Brunswick section of the Appalachian Mountains.

Before the French and Indian War, the Appalachian Mountains lay on the indeterminate boundary between
Britain's colonies along the Atlantic and French areas centered in the Mississippi basin. After the French
and Indian War, the Proclamation of 1763 restricted settlement for Great Britain'sthirteen original
colonies in North America to east of the summit line of the mountains (except in the northern regions where
the Great Lakes formed the boundary). Although the line was adjusted several times to take frontier
settlements into account and was impossible to enforce as law, it was strongly resented by backcountry
settlers throughout the Appalachians. The Proclamation Line can be seen as one of the grievances which
led to the American Revolutionary War. Many frontier settlers held that the defeat of the French opened the
land west of the mountains to English settlement, only to find settlement barred by the British King's
proclamation. The backcountry settlers who fought in the Illinois campaign of George Rogers Clark were
motivated to secure their settlement of Kentucky.
With the formation of the United States, an important first phase of westward expansion in the late 18th
century and early 19th century consisted of the migration of European-descended settlers westward across
the mountains into the Ohio Valley through the Cumberland Gap and other mountain passes. The Erie
Canal, finished in 1825, formed the first route through the Appalachians that was capable of large amounts
of commerce.

See also[edit]

Geography of Canada portal

 Appalachia

 Appalachian League

 Appalachian Mountain Club

 Appalachian Trail
Notes[edit]

1. Jump up^ There are at least eight possible pronunciations depending on three factors:

1. Whether the stressed vowel is /eɪ/ or /æ/,

2. Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative /ʃ/ or an affricate /tʃ/, and

3. Whether the final vowel is the monophthong /ɨ/ or the diphthong /iə/.

References[edit]

1. Jump up^ "International Appalachian Trail- Newfoundland". Iatnl.ca. Retrieved 2010-11-06.

2. Jump up^ Cees R. van Staal, Mineral Deposits of Canada: Regional Metallogeny: Pre-Carboniferous

tectonic evolution and metallogeny of the Canadian Appalachians, Geological Survey of Canada website

3. Jump up^ "The Mountains That Froze the World". AAAS. Retrieved 2012-04-04.

4. Jump up^ "Geology of the Great Smoky Mountains". usgs. Retrieved 2012-04-04.

5. Jump up^ "Physiographic divisions of the conterminous U. S.". U.S. Geological Survey. Archived from the

original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-06.

6. Jump up^ "The Atlas of Canada — Physiographic Regions".Archived from the original on 12 December

2007. Retrieved 2007-12-07.

7. ^ Jump up to:a b "Geomorphology From Space — Appalachian Mountains". NASA. Archived from the original on

6 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-27.

8. ^ Jump up to:a b "Adirondack Mountains". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2007-12-27.

9. ^ Jump up to:a b Weidensaul, Scott (1994). Mountains of the Heart: A Natural History of the Appalachians.

Fulcrum Publishing. pp. ix. ISBN 1-55591-139-0.

10. Jump up^ After Florida, Cape Canaveral, and Dry Tortugas: Stewart, George (1945). Names on the Land:

A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States. New York: Random House. pp. 11–13, 17, 18.
11. Jump up^ Walls, David (1978), "On the Naming of Appalachia" InAn Appalachian Symposium, pp. 56-76.

12. Jump up^ Stewart, George R. (1967). Names on the Land. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

13. Jump up^ David Walls, "Appalachia." The Encyclopedia of Appalachia (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of

Tennessee Press, 2006), 1006-1007.

14. Jump up^ Define "Appalachian." Random House Dictionary, online at Dictionary.com. Retrieved 15 May

2011.

15. Jump up^ Blakey, Ron. "Paleogeography and Geologic Evolution of North America". Global Plate

Tectonics and Paleogeography. Northern Arizona University. Archivedfrom the original on 21 June 2008. Retrieved

2008-07-04.

16. ^ Jump up to:a b "Geologic Provinces of the United States: Appalachian Highlands Province". USGS. Retrieved

2010-07-19.

17. Jump up^ Poag, C. Wylie; Sevon, William D. (September 1989). "A record of Appalachian denudation in

postrift Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary deposits of the U.S. Middle Atlantic continental

margin". Geomorphology 2 (1-3): 119–157.doi:10.1016/0169-555X(89)90009-3.

18. Jump up^ Ruppert, Leslie F. "Executive Summary—Coal Resource Assessment of Selected Coal Beds

and Zones in the Northern and Central Appalachian Basin Coal Regions". USGS. Archived from the original on 15

July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-19.

19. Jump up^ Palmer, M. A.; E. S. Bernhardt, W. H. Schlesinger, K. N. Eshleman, E. Foufoula-Georgiou, M.

S. Hendryx, A. D. Lemly, G. E. Likens, O. L. Loucks, M. E. Power, P. S. White and P. R. Wilcock (8 January

2010). "Mountaintop Mining Consequences". Science 327 (5962): 148–

149.doi:10.1126/science.1180543. ISSN 1095-9203.

20. Jump up^ Ryder, R.T. "Appalachian Basin Province (067)". USGS. Retrieved 2010-07-19.

21. Jump up^ Mineral Resources of the Appalachian Region. USGS. 1968. Professional Paper 580.

22. Jump up^ Rose Houk, Great Smoky Mountains National Park: A Natural History Guide (Boston:

Houghton-Mifflin, 1993), pp. 50-62.

23. Jump up^ Fowells, H.A., 1965, Silvics of Forest Trees of the United States, Agricultural Handbook No.

271, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington D.C.

24. Jump up^ Page, Lawrence M. and Brooks M. Burr 1991, A Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes, North

America, North of Mexico,Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston

Himalayas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from Himalaya)

"Himalaya" redirects here. For other uses, see  Himalaya (disambiguation).

Himalayas

The north face of Mount Everest as seen from the path to the base camp in Tibet, China.

Highest point

Peak Mount Everest (Nepal andChina)

Elevation 8,848 m (29,029 ft)

Coordinates
27°59′17″N 86°55′31″E

Dimensions

Length 2,400 km (1,500 mi)

Geography
 The general location of the Himalayas mountain range.

Countries List[show]

Range coordinates
28°N 82°E

NASA Landsat-7 imagery of Himalayas

The Himalayas, or Himalaya, (/ˌhɪməˈleɪ.ə/ or /hɪˈmɑːləjə/; Sanskrit, hima (snow) + ālaya (dwelling),

literally, "abode of the snow"[1]) is amountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian
subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau.

The Himalayan range is home to the planet's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. The
Himalayas include over a hundred mountains exceeding 7,200 metres (23,600 ft) in elevation. By contrast,
the highest peak outside Asia – Aconcagua, in the Andes – is 6,961 metres (22,838 ft) tall.[2] The
Himalayas have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia. Many Himalayan peaks are sacred in
bothBuddhism and Hinduism.

Besides the Greater Himalayas of these high peaks there are parallel lower ranges. The first foothills,
reaching about a thousand meters along the northern edge of the plains, are called the Sivalik Hills or Sub-
Himalayan Range. Further north is a higher range reaching two to three thousand meters known as
the Lower Himalayan or Mahabharat Range.
 The Himalayas abut or cross six countries: Bhutan, India, Nepal, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan, with the
first three countries having sovereignty over most of the range. [3] The Himalayas are bordered on the
northwest by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges, on the north by the Tibetan Plateau, and on the south
by the Indo-Gangetic Plain.

Three of the world's major rivers, the Indus, the Ganges and the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, all rise near Mount
Kailash and cross and encircle the Himalayas. Their combined drainage basin is home to some 600 million
people.

Lifted by the collision of the Indian tectonic plate with the Eurasian Plate,[4] the Himalayan range runs, west-
northwest to east-southeast, in an arc 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi) long. Its western anchor, Nanga Parbat,
lies just south of the northernmost bend of Indus river, its eastern anchor, Namcha Barwa, just west of the
great bend of the Tsangpo river. The range varies in width from 400 kilometres (250 mi) in the west to 150
kilometres (93 mi) in the east.

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Ecology

 2 Geology

 3 Hydrology

o 3.1 Lakes

 4 Impact on climate

 5 Religion

 6 See also

 7 References

 8 Further reading

 9 External links

Ecology[edit]

Main article:  Ecology of the Himalaya

The flora and fauna of the Himalayas vary with climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils. The climate ranges from
tropical at the base of the mountains to permanent ice and snow at the highest elevations. The amount of
yearly rainfall increases from west to east along the southern front of the range. This diversity of altitude,
rainfall and soil conditions combined with the very high snow line supports a variety of distinct plant and
animal communities. For example the extremes of high altitude (low atmospheric pressure) combined with
extreme cold allowextremophile organisms to survive.[5]

The unique floral and faunal wealth of the Himalayas is undergoing structural and compositional changes
due to climate change. The increase in temperature may shift various species to higher elevations. The oak
forest is being invaded by pine forests in the Garhwal Himalayan region. There are reports of early
flowering and fruiting in some tree species, especially rhododendron, apple and Myrica esculenta. The
highest known tree species in the Himalayas is Juniperus tibetica located at 4,900 metres (16,080 ft) in
Southeastern Tibet.[6]

Geology[edit]

The 6,000 km plus journey of the India landmass (Indian Plate) before its collision with Asia (Eurasian Plate) about 40 to 50 million

years ago[4]

Main article:  Geology of the Himalaya

The Himalaya are among the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consist mostly of
uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock. According to the modern theory of plate tectonics, their
formation is a result of a continental collision or orogeny along the convergent boundary between the Indo-
Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. The Arakan Yoma highlands in Myanmar and the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal were also formed as a result of this collision.

During the Upper Cretaceous, about 70 million years ago, the north-moving Indo-Australian Plate was
moving at about 15 cm per year. About 50 million years ago, this fast moving Indo-Australian plate had
completely closed the Tethys Ocean, the existence of which has been determined by sedimentary
rocks settled on the ocean floor, and the volcanoes that fringed its edges. Since both plates were
composed of low density continental crust, they werethrust faulted and folded into mountain ranges rather
than subducting into the mantle along an oceanic trench.[4] An often-cited fact used to illustrate this process
is that the summit of Mount Everest is made of marine limestone from this ancient ocean.[7]

Today, the Indo-Australian plate continues to be driven horizontally below the Tibetan plateau, which forces
the plateau to continue to move upwards. The Indo-Australian plate is still moving at 67 mm per year, and
over the next 10 million years it will travel about 1,500 km into Asia. About 20 mm per year of the India-Asia
convergence is absorbed by thrusting along the Himalaya southern front. This leads to the Himalayas rising
by about 5 mm per year, making them geologically active. The movement of the Indian plate into the Asian
plate also makes this region seismically active, leading to earthquakes from time to time.

During the last ice age, there was a connected ice stream of glaciers between Kangchenjunga in the east
and Nanga Parbat in the west.[8] In the west, the glaciers joined with the ice stream network in
the Karakoram, and in the north, joined with the former Tibetan inland ice. To the south, outflow glaciers
came to an end below an elevation of 1,000–2,000 metres (3,300–6,600 ft).[8][9] While the current valley
glaciers of the Himalaya reach at most 20 to 32 kilometres (12 to 20 mi) in length, several of the main
valley glaciers were 60 to 112 kilometres (37 to 70 mi) long during the ice age.[8] The glacier snowline (the
altitude where accumulation and ablation of a glacier are balanced) was about 1,400–1,660 metres (4,590–
5,450 ft) lower than it is today. Thus, the climate was at least 7.0 to 8.3 °C (12.6 to 14.9 °F) colder than it is
today.[10]

Hydrology[edit]

Indus River

The Himalayan range at Yumesongdong in Sikkim, in the Yumthang River valley

The Himalayas have the third largest deposit of ice and snow in the world, after Antarctica and the Arctic.
[11]
 The Himalayan range encompasses about 15,000 glaciers, which store about 12,000 km3 (3000 cubic
miles) of fresh water.[12] Its glaciers include the Gangotri and Yamunotri (Uttarakhand) andKhumbu glaciers
(Mount Everest region), and Zemu (Sikkim).

Owing to the mountains' latitude near the Tropic of Cancer, the permanent snow line is among the highest
in the world at typically around 5,500 metres (18,000 ft).[13] In contrast, equatorial mountains in New
Guinea, the Rwenzoris and Colombia have a snow line some 900 metres (2,950 ft) lower.[14] The higher
regions of the Himalayas are snowbound throughout the year, in spite of their proximity to the tropics, and
they form the sources of several largeperennial rivers, most of which combine into two large river systems:

 The western rivers combine into the Indus Basin, of which the Indus River is the largest. The Indus
begins in Tibet at the confluence of Sengge and Gar rivers and flows southwest through India and then
through Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. It is fed by the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas, and
the Sutlej rivers, among others.

 Most of the other Himalayan rivers drain the Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin. Its main rivers are
the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Yamuna, as well as other tributaries. The Brahmaputra
originates as the Yarlung Tsangpo River in western Tibet, and flows east through Tibet and west
through the plains of Assam. The Ganges and the Brahmaputra meet in Bangladesh, and drain into
the Bay of Bengal through the world's largest river delta,theSunderbans.[15]

The easternmost Himalayan rivers feed the Ayeyarwady River, which originates in eastern Tibet and flows
south through Myanmar to drain into theAndaman Sea.

The Salween, Mekong, Yangtze and Huang He (Yellow River) all originate from parts of the Tibetan

plateau that are geologically distinct from the Himalaya mountains, and are therefore not considered true
Himalayan rivers. Some geologists refer to all the rivers collectively as the circum-Himalayan rivers.[16] In
recent years, scientists have monitored a notable increase in the rate of glacier retreat across the region as
a result of global climate change.[17] For example, Glacial lakes have been forming rapidly on the surface of
the debris-covered glaciers in the Bhutan Himalaya during the last few decades. Although the effect of this
will not be known for many years, it potentially could mean disaster for the hundreds of millions of people
who rely on the glaciers to feed the rivers of northern India during the dry seasons. [18] Some of the lakes
present a danger of a glacial lake outburst flood. TheTsho Rolpa glacier lake in the Rolwaling Valley is
rated as the most dangerous in Nepal.[19][20]

Lakes[edit]
A high Himalayan lake at an altitude of around 5,000 metres Sikkim, India

The Himalayan region is dotted with hundreds of lakes. Most lakes are found at altitudes of less than 5,000
m, with the size of the lakes diminishing with altitude. Tilicho lake in Nepal in the Annapurna massif is one
of the highest lakes in the world. Pangong Tso, which is spread across the border between India and
China, and Yamdrok Tso, located in central Tibet, are amongst the largest with surface areas of 700 km²,
and 638 km², respectively. Other notable lakes include Gurudogmar lake, in North Sikkim, and Tsongmo
lake, near the Indo-China border in Sikkim.

The mountain lakes are known to geographers as tarns if they are caused by glacial activity. Tarns are
found mostly in the upper reaches of the Himalaya, above 5,500 metres. [21]

Impact on climate[edit]

The Himalayas have a profound effect on the climate of the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan plateau.
They prevent frigid, dry Arctic winds blowing south into the subcontinent, which keeps South Asia much
warmer than corresponding temperate regions in the other continents. It also forms a barrier for
the monsoon winds, keeping them from traveling northwards, and causing heavy rainfall in the Terai region.
The Himalayas are also believed to play an important part in the formation of Central Asian deserts, such
as the Taklamakan and Gobi.[22]

Religion[edit]

The Himalayas between India and China illustrated in the Jami' al-tawarikh.

Pass in Ladakh with the typical Buddhistprayer flags and chorten

The Taktshang Monastery, also known as the "Tiger's Nest"

In Hinduism, the Himalayas have been personified as the god Himavat, father of Ganga and Parvati.[23]

Several places in the Himalayas are of religious significance in Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism.

A notable example of a religious site is Paro Taktsang, where Padmasambhava is said to have founded
Buddhism in Bhutan.[24]

A number of Tibetan Buddhist sites are situated in the Himalayas, including the residence of the Dalai
Lama. There were over 6,000 monasteries in Tibet.[25] The Tibetan Muslims had their own mosques
in Lhasa andShigatse.[26]

See also[edit]

 American Himalayan Foundation

 Baltistan

 Digital Himalaya

 Eastern Himalaya

 Eight-thousander – a list of peaks over 8,000 metres

 Geography of China

 Geography of India

 Geography of Nepal
 Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan

 Himalayan Peaks of Uttarakhand

 Himalayan Towers

 Indian Himalayan Region

 Indian Network on Climate Change Assessment

 Karakoram (mountain range)

 Karakoram Highway

 Ladakh

 List of Himalayan passes and routes

 List of Himalayan peaks

 List of Himalayan topics

 List of mountains in India

 List of mountains in Nepal

 List of mountains in Pakistan

 List of Ultras of the Eastern Himalayas

 Lo Manthang

 Mountain ranges of Pakistan

 Mountaineering

 Trekking peak
References[edit]

1. Jump up^ "Definition of Himalayas". Oxford Dictionaries Online. Retrieved 9 May 2011.

2. Jump up^ Yang, Qinye; Zheng, Du (2004). Himalayan Mountain System. ISBN 9787508506654.

Retrieved 7 August 2007.

3. Jump up^ Bishop, Barry. "Himalayas (mountains, Asia)". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 1 October

2012.

4. ^ Jump up to:a b c The Himalayas: Two continents collide, USGS

5. Jump up^ Hogan, C. Michael (2010). "Archaea". In Monosson, E.; Cleveland, C. Encyclopedia of Earth.

Washington DC: National Council for Science and the Environment.

6. Jump up^ Miehe, Georg; Miehe, Sabine; Vogel, Jonas; Co, Sonam; Duo, La (May 2007). "Highest

Treeline in the Northern Hemisphere Found in Southern Tibet". Mountain Research and Development 27 (2): 169–

173. doi:10.1659/mrd.0792.

7. Jump up^ A site which uses this dramatic fact first used in illustration of "deep time" in John

McPhee's book Basin and Range

8. ^ Jump up to:a b c Kuhle, M. (2011). "The High Glacial (Last Ice Age and Last Glacial Maximum) Ice Cover of

High and Central Asia, with a Critical Review of Some Recent OSL and TCN Dates". In Ehlers, J.; Gibbard, P.L.;
 Hughes, P.D. Quaternary Glaciation – Extent and Chronology, A Closer Look. Amsterdam: Elsevier BV. pp. 943–

965. (glacier maps downloadable)

9. Jump up^ Kuhle, M (1987). "Subtropical mountain- and highland-glaciation as ice age triggers and the

waning of the glacial periods in the Pleistocene". GeoJournal 14 (4): 393–421.doi:10.1007/BF02602717.

10. Jump up^ Kuhle, M. (2005). The maximum Ice Age (Würmian, Last Ice Age, LGM) glaciation of the

Himalaya – a glaciogeomorphological investigation of glacier trim-lines, ice thicknesses and lowest former ice

margin positions in the Mt. Everest-Makalu-Cho Oyu massifs (Khumbu- and Khumbakarna Himal) including

informations on late-glacial-, neoglacial-, and historical glacier stages, their snow-line depressions and ages. "Tibet

and High Asia (VII): Glaciogeomorphology and Former Glaciation in the Himalaya and

Karakorum". GeoJournal (Dordrecht: Kluwer) 62 (3–4): 193–650. doi:10.1007/s10708-005-2338-6.

11. Jump up^ "The Himalayas". Nature on PBS. Retrieved 21 January 2014.

12. Jump up^ "the Himalayan Glaciers". Fourth assessment report on climate change. IPPC. 2007. Retrieved

22 January 2014.

13. Jump up^ Shi, Yafeng; Xie, Zizhu; Zheng, Benxing; Li, Qichun (1978). "Distribution, Feature and

Variations of Glaciers in China". World Glacier Inventory (Riederalp Workshop).

14. Jump up^ Henderson-Sellers, Ann; McGuffie, Kendal. The Future of the World's Climate: A Modelling

Perspective. pp. 199–201. ISBN 9780123869173.

15. Jump up^ "Sunderbans the world's largest delta". gits4u.com.

16. Jump up^ Gaillardet, J; Métivier, F.; Lemarchand, D.; Dupré, B.; Allègre, C. J.; Li, W.; Zhao, J.

(2003)."Geochemistry of the Suspended Sediments of Circum-Himalayan Rivers and Weathering Budgets over the

Last 50 Myrs" (PDF). Geophysical Research Abstracts 5 (13617): 13617.Bibcode:2003EAEJA....13617G. Retrieved

4 November 2006.

17. Jump up^ "Vanishing Himalayan Glaciers Threaten a Billion". Planet Ark. 5 June 2007. Retrieved 17 April

2009.

18. Jump up^ "Glaciers melting at alarming speed". People's Daily Online. 24 July 2007. Retrieved 17 April

2009.

19. Jump up^ Photograph of Tsho Rolpa

20. Jump up^ Tsho Rolpa

21. Jump up^ Drews, Carl. "Highest Lake in the World". Retrieved 14 November 2010.

22. Jump up^ Devitt, Terry (3 May 2001). "Climate shift linked to rise of Himalayas, Tibetan

Plateau".University of Wisconsin–Madison News. Retrieved 1 November 2011.

23. Jump up^ Dallapiccola, Anna (2002). Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend. ISBN 0-500-51088-1.

24. Jump up^ Pommaret, Francoise (2006). Bhutan Himlayan Mountains Kingdom (5th ed.). Odyssey Books

and Guides. pp. 136–7. ISBN 978-9622178106.

25. Jump up^ "Tibetan monks: A controlled life". BBC News. 20 March 2008.

26. Jump up^ "Mosques in Lhasa, Tibet". People's Daily Online. 27 October 2005.

Carpathian Mountains
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Carpathian (disambiguation).

Carpathians

Inner Western Carpathians, High Tatras, Slovakia

Highest point

Peak Gerlachovský štít

Elevation 2,655 m (8,711 ft)

Dimensions

Length 1,700 km (1,100 mi)

Geography
 Satellite image of the Carpathians

Countries List[show]

Range coordinates 47°00′N 25°30′ECoordinates:  47°00′N 25°30′E

Borders on Alps

The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly 1,500 km

(932 mi) long across Centraland Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range
in Europe (after the Scandinavian Mountains, 1,700 km (1,056 mi)). They provide the habitat for the largest
European populations of brown bears, wolves, chamois and lynxes, with the highest concentration
in Romania,[2][3][4] as well as over one third of all European plant species.[5] The Carpathians and
their piedmontalso concentrate many thermal and mineral waters, with Romania having over one-third of
the European total.[6][7] Romania is likewise home to the largest surface of virgin forests in Europe
(excluding Russia), totaling 250,000 hectares (65%), most of them in the Carpathians, [8] with the Southern
Carpathians constituting Europe’s largest unfragmented forested area.[9]

The Carpathians consist of a chain of mountain ranges that stretch in an arc from the Czech Republic (3%)
in the northwest throughSlovakia (17%), Poland (10%), Hungary (4%) and Ukraine (11%)
to Romania (53%) in the east and on to the Iron Gates on the River Danube between Romania
and Serbia (2%) in the south. The highest range within the Carpathians is the Tatras, on the border
ofPoland and Slovakia, where the highest peaks exceed 2,600 m (8,530 ft). The second-highest range is
the Southern Carpathians in Romania, where the highest peaks exceed 2,500 m (8,202 ft).

The Carpathians are usually divided into three major parts: the Western Carpathians (Czech Republic,
Poland, Slovakia), the Central Carpathians (southeastern Poland, eastern Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania),
and the Eastern Carpathians (Romania, Serbia). [1]

The most important cities in or near the Carpathians are: Bratislava and Košice in Slovakia; Kraków in

Poland; Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu andBraşov in Romania; and Miskolc in Hungary.

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Name

 2 Geography

o 2.1 Cities and towns

o 2.2 Highest peaks

o 2.3 Highest peaks by country

o 2.4 Mountain passes

 3 Geology

 4 Divisions of the Carpathians

 5 Notable people

 6 See also

 7 References

 8 External links

Name[edit]

The name "Carpathian" may have been derived from Carpi, a Dacian tribe. According to Zosimus, this tribe
lived until 381 on the eastern Carpathian slopes. The word could come from an Indo-European word
meaning "rock". In Thracian Greek Καρπάτῆς όρος(Karpates oros) means "rocky mountain",[10]

Carpathian mountain range

The range is called Karpaty in Czech, Polish, Slovak and Ukrainian, Carpați [kar

ˈpat͡sʲ] in Romanian, Karpaten in German and Dutch, Kárpátok in Hungarian (kárpátok means "Carpaths",
kárpáti means "Carpathian"), Karpatiin Serbian and Карпати in Bulgarian .

The name Carpates may ultimately be from the Proto Indo-European root *sker-/*ker-, from which comes

the Albanian word karpë (rock), and the Slavic word skála (rock, cliff), perhaps via
a Dacian cognate[which?] which meant mountain, rock, or rugged (cf. Germanic root *skerp-, Old
Norse harfr "harrow", Middle Low German scharf "potsherd" and Modern High German Scherbe "shard",
Old English scearp and Englishsharp, Lithuanian kar~pas "cut, hack, notch", Latvian cìrpt "to shear, clip").
The archaic Polish word karpa meant "rugged irregularities, underwater obstacles/rocks, rugged roots or
trunks". The more common word skarpa means a sharp cliff or other vertical terrain. The name may
instead come from Indo-European *kwerp "to turn", akin to Old English hweorfan "to turn, change"
(English warp) and Greek καρπόςkarpós "wrist", perhaps referring to the way the mountain range bends or
veers in an L-shape.[11]
In late Roman documents, the Eastern Carpathian Mountains were referred to as Montes
Sarmatici (meaning Sarmatian  Mountains). The Western Carpathians were called Carpates, a name that is
first recorded in Ptolemy's Geographia (2nd century AD).

In the Scandinavian Hervarar saga, which relates ancient Germanic legends

about battles between Goths and Huns, the name Karpatesappears in the predictable Germanic form
as Harvaða fjöllum (see Grimm's law).

"Inter Alpes Huniae et Oceanum est Polonia" by Gervase of Tilbury, has described in his Otia Imperialia
("Recreation for an Emperor") in 1211. Thirteenth to 15th century Hungarian documents named the
mountains Thorchal, Tarczal or less frequently Montes Nivium.

Geography[edit]

Lake Bucura, Southern Carpathians, Romania

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section

by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged
and removed. (March 2011)

The Carpathians begin on the Góra Świętego Marcina 384 m. in Tarnów - northern edge of Pogórze
Ciężkowickie. They surround Transcarpathia andTransylvania in a large semicircle, sweeping towards the
southeast, and end on the Danube near Orşova in Romania. The total length of the Carpathians is over
1,500 km (932 mi) and the mountain chain's width varies between 12 and 500 km (7 and 311 mi). The
highest altitudes of the Carpathians occur where they are widest. The system attains its greatest breadth in
the Transylvanian plateau and in the south of the Tatra group – the highest range, in which Gerlachovský
štít in Slovakia is the highest peak at 2,655 m (8,711 ft) above sea level. The Carpathians cover an area of
190,000 km2(73,359 sq mi) and, after the Alps, form the next most extensive mountain system in Europe.

Although commonly referred to as a mountain chain, the Carpathians do not actually form an uninterrupted
chain of mountains. Rather, they consist of several orographically and geologically distinctive groups,
presenting as great a structural variety as the Alps. The Carpathians, which attain an altitude of over
2,500 m (8,202 ft) in only a few places, lack the bold peaks, extensive snowfields, large glaciers, high
waterfalls, and numerous large lakes that are common in the Alps. It was believed that no area of the
Carpathian range was covered in snow all year round and there were no glaciers, but recent research by
Polish scientists discovered one permafrost and glacial area in the Tatra Mountains. [12] The Carpathians at
their highest altitude are only as high as the middle region of the Alps, with which they share a common
appearance, climate, and flora.

Portrait of Hutsuls, living in the Carpathian mountains, c. 1872

The Carpathians are separated from the Alps by the Danube. The two ranges meet at only one point:
the Leitha Mountains at Bratislava. The river also separates them from the Balkan Mountains at Orşova in
Romania. The valley of the March and Oder separates the Carpathians from
the Silesian andMoravian chains, which belong to the middle wing of the great Central Mountain System of
Europe. Unlike the other wings of the system, the Carpathians, which form the watershed between the
northern seas and the Black Sea, are surrounded on all sides by plains, namely the Pannonian plain to the
southwest, the plain of the Lower Danube (Romania) to the south, and the Galician plain to the northeast.

Cities and towns[edit]

A horse atop the Krasna mountain range in Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast

View of Tatry from Bukowina Tatrzańska

Bucegi Mountains in Romania

Carpathian Ruthenia
Tatra Mountains in southern Poland

Maramureș Mountains in north of Romania

View of Spiš Castle in Slovakia, from theBranisko Pass

Important cities and towns in or near the Carpathians are, in approximate descending order of population:

 Vienna (Vienna Woods,  Nowy Sącz (Poland)  Bor (Serbia)

Austria)  Suceava (Romania)  Mediaş (Romania)

 Kraków (Poland)  Tirgu Jiu (Romania)  Poprad (Slovakia)

 Bratislava (Slovakia)  Drobeta-Turnu  Petroşani (Romania)

 Cluj-Napoca (Romania) Severin (Romania)        Negotin (Serbia)

 Braşov (Romania)  Reşiţa (Romania)  Miercurea Ciuc (Romania)

 Košice (Slovakia)  Žilina (Slovakia)  Făgăraş (Romania)

 Oradea (Romania)  Bistriţa (Romania)  Odorheiu Secuiesc (Romania)

 Bielsko-Biała (Poland)  Banská Bystrica (Slovakia)  Petrila (Romania)

 Miskolc (Hungary)  Deva (Romania)  Sighişoara (Romania)

 Sibiu (Romania)  Zlín (Czech Republic)  Zakopane (Poland)

 Târgu Mureş (Romania)  Hunedoara (Romania)  Câmpulung

 Baia Mare (Romania)  Zalău (Romania) Moldovenesc (Romania)

 Tarnów (Poland)  Smederevo (Serbia)  Gheorgheni (Romania)

 Râmnicu Vâlcea (Romania)  Przemyśl (Poland)  Vatra Dornei (Romania)

 Uzhhorod (Ukraine)  Sanok (Poland)  Rakhiv (Ukraine)

 Ivano-Frankivsk (Ukraine)  Vršac (Serbia)

 Piatra Neamţ (Romania)  Alba Iulia (Romania)

 Zaječar (Serbia)

 Sfântu Gheorghe (Romania)

 Turda (Romania)

Highest peaks[edit]

This is an (incomplete) list of the highest peaks of the Carpathians (limited to summits over 2,500 m), their
heights, geologic divisions and locations.

Peak Geologic divisions Nation (Nations) County (Counties) Height (m)

Gerlachovský štít Fatra-Tatra Area Slovakia Prešov Region 2,655

Gerlachovská veža Fatra-Tatra Area Slovakia Prešov Region 2,642

Lomnický štít Fatra-Tatra Area Slovakia Prešov Region 2,633

Ľadový štít Fatra-Tatra Area Slovakia Prešov Region 2,627

Pyšný štít Fatra-Tatra Area Slovakia Prešov Region 2,623

Zadný Gerlach Fatra-Tatra Area Slovakia Prešov Region 2,616

Lavínový štít Fatra-Tatra Area Slovakia Prešov Region 2,606

Malý Ľadový štít Fatra-Tatra Area Slovakia Prešov Region 2,602

Kotlový štít Fatra-Tatra Area Slovakia Prešov Region 2,601

Lavínová veža Fatra-Tatra Area Slovakia Prešov Region 2,600

Malý Pyšný štít Fatra-Tatra Area Slovakia Prešov Region 2,591

Veľká Litvorová veža Fatra-Tatra Area Slovakia Prešov Region 2,581

Strapatá veža Fatra-Tatra Area Slovakia Prešov Region 2,565

Kežmarský štít Fatra-Tatra Area Slovakia Prešov Region 2,556

Vysoká Fatra-Tatra Area Slovakia Prešov Region 2,547

Moldoveanu Făgăraş Mountains Romania Argeş 2,544

Negoiu Făgăraş Mountains Romania Argeş 2,535

Viştea Mare Făgăraş Mountains Romania Braşov 2,527

Lespezi Făgăraş Mountains Romania Sibiu 2,522

Parângu Mare Parâng Mountains Romania Alba, Gorj, Hunedoara 2,519

Peleaga Retezat Mountains Romania Hunedoara 2,509

Păpuşa Retezat Mountains Romania Hunedoara 2,508

Vânătoarea lui Buteanu Făgăraş Mountains Romania Argeş 2,507

Omu (mountain) Bucegi Mountains Romania Prahova, Braşov, Dâmboviţa 2,505

Cornul Călţunului Făgăraş Mountains Romania Sibiu 2,505

Ocolit (Bucura) Bucegi Mountains Romania Prahova, Braşov, Dâmboviţa 2,503

Rysy Fatra-Tatra Area Poland, Slovakia Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Prešov 2,503

 Region

Dara Făgăraş Mountains Romania Sibiu 2,500

Highest peaks by country[edit]

This is a list of the highest national peaks of the Carpathians, their heights, geologic divisions, and
locations.

Peak Geologic divisions Nation (Nations) County (Counties) Height (m)

Gerlachovský štít Fatra-Tatra Area Slovakia Prešov Region 2,655

Moldoveanu Făgăraş Mountains Romania Argeş 2,544

Rysy Fatra-Tatra Area Poland Lesser Poland Voivodeship 2,503

Hoverla Beskides Ukraine Chornohora 2,061

Beljanica Homolje mountains Serbia Braničevo District 1,344

Kékes North Hungarian Mountains Hungary Heves 1,014

Mountain passes[edit]

In the Romanian part of the main chain of the Carpathians, the most important mountain passes are
(starting from the Ukrainian border): the Prislop Pass, Rodna Pass, Tihuţa Pass (also known as Borgo
Pass), Tulgheş Pass, Bicaz Canyon, Ghimeş Pass, Uz Pass and Oituz Pass, Buzău Pass,Predeal
Pass (crossed by the railway from Braşov to Bucharest), Turnu Roşu Pass (1,115 ft., running through the
narrow gorge of the Olt River and crossed by the railway from Sibiu to Bucharest), Vulcan Pass, Teregova
Pass and the Iron Gate (both crossed by the railway from Timişoara to Craiova).

Geology[edit]

The area now occupied by the Carpathians was once occupied by smaller ocean basins. The Carpathian
mountains were formed during the Alpine orogeny in the Mesozoic[13] and Tertiary by moving
the ALCAPA, Tisza and Dacia plates over subducting oceanic crust (see maps).[14] The mountains take the
form of a fold and thrust belt with generally north vergence in the western segment, northeast to east
vergence in the eastern portion and southeast vergence in the southern portion.
The external, generally northern, portion of the orogenic belt is a Tertiary accretionary prism of a so-
called Flysch belt created by rocks scraped off the sea bottom and thrust over the North-European plate.
The Carpathian accretionary wedge is made of several thin skinned nappes composed of Cretaceous to
Paleogene turbidites. Thrusting of the Flysch nappes over the Carpathian foreland caused the formation of
the Carpathian foreland basin.[15] The boundary between the Flysch belt and internal zones of the orogenic
belt in the western segment of the mountain range is marked by the Pieniny Klippen Belt, a narrow
complicated zone of polyphase compressional deformation, later involved in a supposed strike-slip zone.
[16]
 Internal zones in western and eastern segments contain older Variscan igneous massifs reworked in
Mesozoic thick and thin-skinned nappes. During the Middle Miocene this zone was affected by
intensive calc-alkaline[17] arc volcanism that developed over the subduction zone of the flysch basins. At the
same time, the internal zones of the orogenic belt were affected by large extensional structure [18] of the
back-arcPannonian Basin.[19]

Iron, gold and silver were found in great quantities in the Western Carpathians. After the Roman
emperor Trajan's conquest of Dacia, he brought back to Rome over 165 tons of gold and 330 tons of silver.
[20]

Divisions of the Carpathians[edit]

Map of the main divisions of the Carpathians.

1. Outer Western Carpathians

2. Inner Western Carpathians

3. Outer Eastern Carpathians

4. Inner Eastern Carpathians

5. Southern Carpathians

6. Western Romanian Carpathians

7. Transylvanian Plateau

8. Serbian Carpathians

Main article:  Divisions of the Carpathians

The largest range is the Tatras.

A major part of the western and northeastern Outer Carpathians in Poland, Ukraine and Slovakia is
traditionally called the Beskids.

The geological border between the Western and Eastern Carpathians runs approximately along the line
(south to north) between the towns of Michalovce, Bardejov, Nowy Sącz and Tarnów. In older systems the
border runs more in the east, along the line (north to south) along the rivers San and Osława (Poland), the
town of Snina (Slovakia) and river Tur'ia (Ukraine). Biologists, however, shift the border even further to the
east.

The border between the eastern and southern Carpathians is formed by the Predeal Pass, south of Braşov
and the Prahova Valley.

Ukrainians sometimes denote as "Eastern Carpathians" only the Ukrainian Carpathians (or Wooded

Carpathians), meaning the part situated largely on their territory (i.e., to the north of the Prislop Pass), while
Romanians sometimes denote as "Eastern Carpathians" only the part which lies on their territory (i.e., from
the Ukrainian border or from the Prislop Pass to the south), which they subdivide into three simplified
geographical groups (north, center, south), instead of Outer and Inner Eastern Carpathians. These are:

 Carpathians of Maramureş and Bukovina (Romanian: Carpaţii Maramureşului şi ai Bucovinei)

 Moldavian-Transylvanian Carpathians (Romanian: Carpaţii Moldo-Transilvani)

 Curvature Carpathians (Romanian: Carpaţii Curburii, Carpaţii de Curbură)

Notable people[edit]

 Ludwig Greiner, an influential 19th-century lumber industry management expert who

identified Gerlachovský Peak as the highest mountain in the Carpathians.
See also[edit]

 Tourism in Romania

 Tourism in Poland

 Transylvania

 Geology of the Western Carpathians

References[edit]

Notes
1. ^ Jump up to:a b About the Carpathians - Carpathian Heritage Society

2. Jump up^ Peter Christoph Sürth. "Braunbären (Ursus arctos) in Europa". Archived from the original on 8

October 2007. Retrieved 10 March 2011.

3. Jump up^ Peter Christoph Sürth. "Wolf (Canis lupus) in Europa". Archived from the original on 8 October

2007. Retrieved 10 March 2011.

4. Jump up^ Peter Christoph Sürth. "Eurasischer Luchs (Lynx lynx) in Europa". Archived from the original on

8 October 2007. Retrieved 10 March 2011.

5. Jump up^ "Carpathian montane conifer forests - Encyclopedia of Earth". Retrieved 4 August 2010.

6. Jump up^ Bucureşti, staţiune balneară – o glumă bună? in Capital, January 19th, 2009. Retrieved: April

26th, 2011

7. Jump up^ Ruinele de la Baile Herculane si Borsec nu mai au nimic de oferit in Ziarul Financiar, May 5th,

2010. Retrieved: April 26th, 2011

8. Jump up^ Salvaţi pădurile virgine! in Jurnalul Național, October 26th, 2011. Retrieved: October 31st, 2011

9. Jump up^ Europe: New Move to Protect Virgin Forests in Global Issues, May 30th, 2011. Retrieved

October 31st, 2011.

10. Jump up^ Douglas Harper. "Carpathian". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 10 March 2011.

11. Jump up^ Room, Adrian. Placenames of the World. London: MacFarland and Co., Inc., 1997.

12. Jump up^ GĄDEK, GRABIECZ, Bogdan, Mariusz. "GLACIAL ICE AND PERMAFROST DISTRIBUTION

IN THE MEDENA KOTLINA (SLOVAK TATRAS): MAPPED WITH APPLICATION OF GPR AND GST

MEASUREMENTS". L A N D F O R M E V O L U T I O N I N M O U N T A I N A R E A S. S T U D I A G E O M O R

P H O L O G I C A C A R P A T H O - B A L C A N I C A. Retrieved 3 February 2013.

13. Jump up^ Plašienka, D., 2002, Origin and growth of the Western Carpathian orogenetic wedge during the

mesozoic. (PDF) in Geologica Carpathica Special Issues 53 Proceedings of XVII. Congress of Carpathian-Balkan

Geological Association Bratislava, September 1st - 4th 2002

14. Jump up^ Mantovani, E., Viti, M., Babbucci, D., Tamburelli, C., Albarello, D., 2006, Geodynamic

connection between the indentation of Arabia and the Neogene tectonics of the central–eastern Mediterranean

region. GSA Special Papers, v. 409, p. 15-41

15. Jump up^ Nehyba, S., Šikula, J., 2007, Depositional architecture, sequence stratigraphy and geodynamic

development of the Carpathian Foredeep (Czech Republic). Geologica Carpathica, 58, 1, pp. 53-69

16. Jump up^ Mišík, M., 1997, The Slovak Part of the Pieniny Klippen Belt After the Pioneering Works of D.

Andrusov. Geologica Carpathica, 48, 4, pp. 209-220

17. Jump up^ Pácskay, Z., Lexa, J., Szákacs, A., 2006, Geochronology of Neogene magmatism in the

Carpathian arc and intra-Carpathian area. Geologica Carpathica, 57, 6, pp. 511 - 530

18. Jump up^ Dolton, G.L., 2006, Pannonian Basin Province, Central Europe (Province 4808)—Petroleum

geology, total petroleum systems, and petroleum resource assessment. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 2204–B, 47

p.
 19. Jump up^ Royden, L.H., Horváth, F., Rumpler, J., 1983, Evolution of the Pannonian basin system. 1.

Tectionics. Tectonics, 2, pp. 61-90

20. Jump up^ "Dacia-Province of the Roman Empire". United Nations of Roma Victor. Retrieved 2010-11-14.

Scandinavian Mountains
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from Kjølen)

Scandinavian Mountains

Mount Áhkká in Stora Sjöfallet National Park, Northern Sweden

Highest point

Peak Galdhøpiggen (Lom)

Elevation 2,469 m (8,100 ft) [1]

Coordinates
61°38′11″N 08°18′45″E

Dimensions

Length 1,700 km (1,100 mi) [2]

Width 320 km (200 mi) [2]

Naming

Native name Skanderna, Fjällen, Kjølen

Geography
 The Scandinavian Mountains

Countries Norway, Sweden and Finland

Range coordinates 65°N 14°ECoordinates:  65°N 14°E

The Scandinavian Mountains or the Scandes are a mountain range that runs through the Scandinavian

Peninsula. The Scandinavian Mountains are equivalent to the Scandinavian Caledonides. The western
sides of the mountains drop precipitously into the North Sea andNorwegian Sea, forming the famous fjords
of Norway, while to the northeast they gradually curve towards Finland. To the north they form the border
between Norway and Sweden, still reaching 2,000 m high (6,600 ft) at the Arctic Circle. The mountain
range just touches northwesternmost Finland, but are scarcely more than hills at their northernmost
extension at the North Cape (Nordkapp).

The mountains are not very high, but are at places very steep; Galdhøpiggen in southern Norway is the
highest peak, at 2,469 metres (8,100 ft), Kebnekaise has the highest peak on the Swedish side, at 2,104 m
(6,903 ft), while Halti is the highest peak in Finland, at 1,324 m (4,344 ft). The combination of a northerly
location and moisture from the North Atlantic ocean has caused the formation of
many icefields andglaciers. Temperature drops with increasing altitude, and permafrost becomes common
from about 1,500 meters above sea level on their western slope in Southern Norway and at about 1,200
meter amsl on their eastern slope in Southern Norway near the border with Sweden. InNorthern Norway,
permafrost becomes common from about 800 – 900 m amsl on the western slope and some 200 - 300
meter lower on the eastern slope.[3]
 The Scandinavian Mountains show clearly in this satellite photo of the Scandinavian Peninsula from February, 2003.

The Scandinavian mountain system is geologically connected with the mountains of Scotland, Ireland and,

crossing the Atlantic Ocean, theAppalachian Mountains of North America.[citation needed] Geologists hold that all
these formed a single range prior to the breakup of the ancientsupercontinent Pangaea.[citation needed] The
current mountains are remnants of the Caledonian mountains. The mountains have been eroded to one-
fifth of their original height, and are one of the oldest still extant mountain ranges in the world. [citation needed]

The Scandinavian Montane Birch forest and grasslands terrestrial ecoregion is closely associated with the
mountain range.

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Names in Scandinavia

 2 The highest mountains in Norway

 3 The highest mountains in Sweden

 4 The highest mountains in Finland

 5 See also

 6 References

 7 External links

Names in Scandinavia[edit]

Its name in Scandinavian languages are, in Swedish Skanderna,[4] Fjällen ("the Fells")

or Kölen (Fjällen being by far the most[citation needed]frequent name and virtually the only one in modern
colloquial speech), in Finnish Köli and in Norwegian Kjølen, with the three latter meaningThe Keel. In 2013
another[4] Norwegian name got the most votes in a naming contest started by Norsk Geologisk
Forening and Den Norske Turistforening[5]—Nordryggen ("the north ridge").

The highest mountains in Norway[edit]

Main article:  List of mountains in Norway by height

Of the 10 highest mountain peaks in Scandinavia (prominence greater than 30 m or 98 ft), 6 are situated
in Oppland, Norway. The other 4 are situated in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. There are 83 peaks equal to or
taller than 2,200 m (7,218 ft) in Norway.

1. 2,469 m (8,100 ft) Galdhøpiggen (Oppland)
2. 2,465 m (8,087 ft) Glittertind (Oppland)
3. 2,405 m (7,890 ft) Store Skagastølstind (Sogn og Fjordane)
4. 2,387 m (7,831 ft) Store Styggedalstinden east (Sogn og Fjordane)
5. 2,373 m (7,785 ft) Skarstind (Oppland)
6. 2,369 m (7,772 ft) Vesle Galdhøpiggen (Oppland)
7. 2,368 m (7,769 ft) Surtningssue (Oppland)
8. 2,366 m (7,762 ft) Store Memurutinden (Oppland)
9. 2,351 m (7,713 ft) Jervvasstind (Sogn og Fjordane)
10. 2,348 m (7,703 ft) Sentraltind (Sogn og Fjordane)

This article is part of a series on

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Galdhøpiggen seen from west, Norway's highest mountain

 
 

Glittertind

Falketind in Jotunheimen

Landscape betweenAbisko National Park andKebnekaise

The highest mountains in Sweden[edit]

There are 12 peaks in Sweden that reach above 2,000 m high (6,600 ft), or 13 depending on how you
define a peak. This list is defined according toUIAA. Eight of them are located in Sarek National Park and
the neighbouring national park Stora Sjöfallet. The other four peaks are located in the further north region
of Kebnekaise. All mountain names are in Sami but with the more common Swedish spelling of it.

1. 2,104 m (6,903 ft) Kebnekaise (Lappland)
2. 2,097 m (6,880 ft) Kebnekaise Nordtoppen (Lappland)
3. 2,089 m (6,854 ft) Sarektjåkkå Stortoppen (Lappland)
4. 2,076 m (6,811 ft) Kaskasatjåkka (Lappland)
5. 2,056 m (6,745 ft) Sarektjåkkå Nordtoppen (Lappland)
6. 2,043 m (6,703 ft) Kaskasapakte (Lappland)
7. 2,023 m (6,637 ft) Sarektjåkkå Sydtoppen (Lappland)
8. 2,016 m (6,614 ft) Akka Stortoppen (Lappland)
9. 2,010 m (6,594 ft) Akka Nordvästtoppen (Lappland)
10. 2,010 m (6,594 ft) Sarektjåkkå Buchttoppen (Lappland)
11. 2,005 m (6,578 ft) Pårtetjåkka (Lappland)
12. 2,002 m (6,568 ft) Palkatjåkka (Lappland)
Other popular mountains for skiers, climbers and hikers in Sweden

 Sulitelma 1,860 m (Lappland)

 Helagsfjället 1,796 m (Härjedalen)

 Norra Storfjället 1,767 m (Lappland)

 Templet 1,728 m (Jämtland)

 Lillsylen 1,704 m (Jämtland)

 Åreskutan 1,420 m (Jämtland)

 Storvätteshågna 1,204 m (Dalarna)

 Molnet 1,191 m (Dalarna)
The highest mountains in Finland[edit]

1. 1,324 m (4,344 ft) Halti (Lappi/Lappland and Norwegian Troms)

2. 1,317 m (4,321 ft) Ridnitsohkka (Lappi/Lappland)
3. 1,280 m (4,200 ft) Kiedditsohkka (Lappi/Lappland)
4. 1,240 m (4,068 ft) Kovddoskaisi (Lappi/Lappland)
5. 1,239 m (4,065 ft) Ruvdnaoaivi (Lappi/Lappland)
6. 1,180 m (3,871 ft) Loassonibba (Lappi/Lappland)
7. 1,150 m (3,773 ft) Urtasvaara (Lappi/Lappland)
8. 1,144 m (3,753 ft) Kahperusvaarat (Lappi/Lappland)
9. 1,130 m (3,707 ft) Aldorassa (Lappi/Lappland)
10. 1,100 m (3,608 ft) Kieddoaivi (Lappi/Lappland)

Highest independent prominence in Finland is found at Taivaskero. At 807 m high.

See also[edit]
Scandinavian Mountains biogeographical region as defined by the European Agency of Environment and corrected by the Norwegian

directorate for Nature Management. Red = Alpine region, Yellow = Atlantic region, green = Boreal region, blue = Arctic region.

 Dovrefjell

 Jotunheimen
References[edit]

1. Jump up^ "Galdhøpiggen". Nationalencyklopedin (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2010.

2. ^ Jump up to:a b Lindström, Maurits. "fjällkedjan". Nationalencyklopedin (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2010.

3. Jump up^ http://www.cicero.uio.no/fulltext/index.aspx?id=9539

4. ^ Jump up to:a b "- Nordryggen, hæ ?" [The North Ridge, what]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian). 2013-09-14.

5. Jump up^ Fjellkjeden skal hete Nordryggen

Barisan Mountains
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Geological map of Bukit Barisan.

The Bukit Barisan or the Barisan Mountains are a mountain range on the western side

of Sumatra, Indonesia, covering nearly 1,700 km (1,050 mi) from the north to the south of the island. The
Bukit Barisan range consists primarily of volcanoes shrouded in dense jungle cover, including Sumatran
tropical pine forests on the higher slopes.[1] The highest peak of the range is Mount Kerinci at 3,800 metres
(12,467 ft).[2] The Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park is situated towards the southern end of the range.

The name Bukit Barisan actually means "row of hills" or "hills that make a row" in Indonesian and Malay, for
the range stretches end to end along the island of Sumatra.

There are 35 active volcanoes in Bukit Barisan. The largest volcano is the supervolcano Toba within the
100 km (62 miles) × 30 km (19 miles) Lake Toba, which was created after a caldera collapse (est. in
74,000 Before Present).[3] The eruption is estimated to have been at level eight on the VEIscale, the largest
possible for a volcanic eruption. The highest peak of the mountain range is Mount Kerinci with an elevation
of 3,800 m (12,467 ft).

List of volcanoes[edit]

The following list is sourced from the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program.[4]

Las
S t
N Ge
h Elev eru
a olo
a atio pti
m cati
p n on
e on
e (VE
I)

617 5.8
strat
metres Pleisto 2°N
Weh ovol
(2,024  cene 95.28°
cano
ft) E

Seula strat 1,810 1839 ( 5.4

wah ovol metres 2)
 Las
S t
N Ge
h Elev eru
a olo
a atio pti
m cati
p n on
e on
e (VE
I)

48°N
(5,940 
Agam cano 95.658
ft)
°E

25
com 2,801 4.9
Peuet Decem
plex metres 14°N
Sagu ber
volca (9,190 
e 2000 ( 96.329
no ft) °E
2)

2,885 4.8
Geur strat
metres 13°N
eudo ovol 1937
(9,465  96.82°
ng cano
ft) E

shiel 2,245 3.8

Kemb d metres Pleisto 50°N
ar volca (7,365  cene 97.664
no ft) °E

2,212 3.2
strat
Sibay metres 3°N
ovol 1881
ak (7,257  98.52°
cano
ft) E

2,460 7 3.1
strat
Sinab metres Septe 7°N
ovol
ung (8,070  mber 98.392
cano
ft) 2010 °E

2,157 2.5
supe
metres unkno 8°N
Toba rvolc
(7,077  wn 98.83°
ano
ft) E

Helat 1,100 2.0

fuma
oba- metres Pleisto 3°N
role 
Tarut (3,600  cene 98.93°
field
ung ft) E

Imun unkn 1,505 unkno 2.1

own metres wn 58°N
(4,938 
 Las
S t
N Ge
h Elev eru
a olo
a atio pti
m cati
p n on
e on
e (VE
I)

98.93°
ft)
E

1,819 1.5
strat
Sibua metres unkno 56°N
ovol
lbuali (5,968  wn 99.255
cano
ft) °E

1,862 1.4
strat
Lubu metres unkno 78°N
ovol
kraya (6,109  wn 99.209
cano
ft) °E

2,145 0.6
Sorik strat
metres 1986 ( 86°N
mara ovol
(7,037  1) 99.539
pi cano
ft) °E

com 2,919 0.0

Talak plex metres unkno 79°N
mau volca (9,577  wn 99.98°
no ft) E

volca 0.0
Sarik- unkno unkno 08°N
nic
Gajah wn wn 100.20
cone
°E

com 2,891 5 0.3

Mara plex metres August 81°S
pi volca (9,485  2004 ( 100.47
no ft) 2) 3°E

2,438 0.4
strat
Tandi metres 1924 ( 33°S
ovol
kat (7,999  1) 100.31
cano
ft) 7°E

2,597 12 0.9
strat
Talan metres April 78°S
ovol
g (8,520  2005 ( 100.67
cano
ft) 2) 9°E
 Las
S t
N Ge
h Elev eru
a olo
a atio pti
m cati
p n on
e on
e (VE
I)

3,800 22 1.6
strat
Kerin metres June 97°S
ovol
ci (12,500  2004 ( 101.26
cano
ft) 2) 4°E

2,021 2.3
Huta strat
metres unkno 3°S
panja ovol
(6,631  wn 101.60
ng cano
ft) °E

2,507 23 2.4
strat
Sumb metres May 14°S
ovol
ing (8,225  1921 ( 101.72
cano
ft) 2) 8°E

2,151 2.5
strat
Kunyi metres unkno 92°S
ovol
t (7,057  wn 101.63
cano
ft) °E

2.8
Pend unkn unkno unkno 2°S
an own wn wn 102.02
°E

1,958 2.8
Belira com
metres unkno 2°S
ng- poun
(6,424  wn 102.18
Beriti d
ft) °E

2,467 3.3
strat
Bukit metres unkno 8°S
ovol
Daun (8,094  wn 102.37
cano
ft) °E

1,952 22 3.5
strat
metres August 2°S
Kaba ovol
(6,404  2000 ( 102.62
cano
ft) 1) °E

Dem strat 3,173 Octob 4.0

po ovol metres er 3°S
cano (10,410  1994 (
 Las
S t
N Ge
h Elev eru
a olo
a atio pti
m cati
p n on
e on
e (VE
I)

103.13
ft) 1)
°E

2,817 4.2
unkn metres unkno 7°S
Patah
own (9,242  wn 103.30
ft) °E

Bukit 2,055 4.2

strat
Lumu metres unkno 3°S
ovol
t (6,742  wn 103.62
cano
Balai ft) °E

1,899 4.4
strat April
metres 3°S
Besar ovol 1940 (
(6,230  103.67
cano 1)
ft) °E

1,881 4.8
Rana cald metres unkno 3°S
u era (6,171  wn 103.92
ft) °E

Sekin 1,719 5.1

cau cald metres unkno 2°S
Belira era (5,640  wn 104.32
ng ft) °E

1,000 5.2
10 July
cald metres 5°S
Suoh 1933 (
era (3,300  104.27
4)
ft) °E

1,040 5.3
Hulu cald metres 5°S
1836
belu era (3,410  104.60
ft) °E

1,281 5.7
strat
Rajab metres 8°S
ovol 1798
asa (4,203  105.62
cano
ft) 5°E
 Las
S t
N Ge
h Elev eru
a olo
a atio pti
m cati
p n on
e on
e (VE
I)

Sibayak 

Landsat image of Lake Toba 

Marapi 

Mount Kerinci, the highest mountain

on Sumatra 

Coordinates:  3°00′S 102°15′E
See also[edit]

 List of volcanoes in Indonesia

References[edit]

1. Jump up^ Travelling in Indonesia

2. Jump up^ "Kerinci". Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institution.

3. Jump up^ Oppenheimer, C. (2002). "Limited global change due to the largest known Quaternary eruption,

Toba ≈74 kyr BP?". Quaternary Science Reviews 21 (14–15): 1593–1609. doi:10.1016/S0277-3791(01)00154-8.

4. Jump up^ "Volcanoes of Indonesia - Sumatra". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian

Institution. Archived from the original on 30 December 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-17.

Coast Mountains
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the mountain ranges of the west coast of North America. For other uses, see  Coast
Range.

Coast Mountains

Coast Range

The Coast Mountains, including Mount Waddington(far background, middle) viewed from a

distance

Highest point

Peak Mount Waddington (British Columbia)

Elevation 4,019 m (13,186 ft)

Coordinates 51°22′30″N 125°15′30″W
 Dimensions

Length 1,600 km (990 mi) north-south

Width 300 km (190 mi) east-west

Area 336,962 km2 (130,102 sq mi)

Geography

Locator map of the Coast Mountains

Countries Canada and United States

Regions British Columbia, Alaska (part of the U.S) and Yukon

54°N 128°WCoordinates: 54°N 128°W
Range coordinates

Parent range Pacific Coast Ranges

The Coast Mountains are a major mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, of western North

America, extending from southwesternYukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of
British Columbia. They are so-named because of their proximity to the sea coast, and are often referred to
as the Coast Range.[1] It includes volcanic and non-volcanic mountains and the huge icefields of
thePacific and Boundary Ranges, and the northern end of the notable volcanic system known as
the Cascade Volcanoes. The Coast Mountains are part of a larger mountain system called the Pacific
Coast Ranges or the Pacific Mountain System, which includes the Cascade Range, the Insular Mountains,
the Oregon and California Coast Ranges and the Saint Elias and Chugach Mountains.

The Coast Mountains are approximately 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) long and average 300 kilometres
(190 mi) in width.[1] Its southern and southeastern boundaries are surrounded by the Fraser River and
the Interior Plateau while its far northwestern edge is delimited by the Kelsalland Tatshenshini Rivers at the
north end of the Alaska Panhandle, beyond which are the Saint Elias Mountains, and by Champagne
 Pass in the Yukon Territory. Covered in dense temperate rainforest on its western exposures, the range
rises to heavily glaciated peaks, including the largest temperate-latitude icefields in the world. It then tapers
to the dry Interior Plateau on its eastern flanks, or to the subarctic boreal forest of the Skeena
Mountains and Stikine Plateau.

The Coast Mountains are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the ring of volcanoes and associated mountains
around the Pacific Ocean. It contains some of British Columbia's highest mountains. Mount Waddington,
northeast of the head of Knight Inlet with an elevation of 4,019 metres (13,186 ft), is the highest mountain
of the Coast Mountains and the highest that lies entirely within British Columbia. [2]

Contents

 1 Geography

 2 Geology

o 2.1 Origins and growth

 2.1.1 Insular and Omineca Arc eruptive periods

 2.1.2 Coast Range Arc eruptive period

 3 High-prominence peaks

 4 Mountain ranges

 5 See also

 6 References

Geography[edit]

The Coast Mountains consists of three subdivisions known as the Pacific Ranges, the Kitimat Ranges, and
the Boundary Ranges. The Pacific Ranges are the southernmost subdivision of the Coast Mountains,
extending from the lower stretches of the Fraser River to Bella Coola. Included in this subdivision is four of
the five major coastal icecaps in the southern Coast Mountains. These are the largest temperate-latitude
icecaps in the world and fuel a number of major rivers. Other than logging and a large ski resort at
the resort town of Whistler, most of the land in the range is completely undeveloped. Mount Waddington,
the highest mountain of the Coast Mountains, lies in the Waddington Range of the Pacific Ranges.

Just north of the Pacific Ranges lies the central subdivision known as the Kitimat Ranges. This subdivision
extends from the Bella Coola Riverand Burke Channel in the south to the Nass River in the north.

The third and northernmost subdivision of the Coast Mountains is the Boundary Ranges, extending from
the Nass River in the south to theKelsall River in the north. It is also the largest subdivision of the Coast
Mountains, spanning the British Columbia-Alaska border and northwards into Yukon flanking the west side
of the Yukon River drainage as far as Champagne Pass, north of which being the Yukon Ranges. The
Boundary Ranges include several large icefields, including the Juneau Icefield between Juneau,
Alaska and Atlin Lake in British Columbia, and the Stikine Icecap, which lies between the lower Stikine
River and the Whiting River.
Because the Coast Mountains are just east of the Pacific Ocean, they have a profound effect on British
Columbia's climate by forcing moisture-laden air off the Pacific Ocean to rise, dropping heavy rainfalls on
the western slopes where lush forests exist. [1] This precipitation is among the heaviest in North America.
[1]
 The eastern slopes are relatively dry and less steep and protect the British Columbia Interior from the
Pacific weather systems, resulting in dry warm summers and dry cold winters. [1]

Beyond the eastern slopes is a 154,635 km2 (59,705 sq mi) plateau occupying the southern and central
portions of British Columbia called the Interior Plateau. Included within the Interior Plateau is a coalescing
series of layered flood basalt lava flows. These sequences of fluid volcanic rock cover about
25,000 km2 (9,700 sq mi) of the Interior Plateau and have a volume of about 1,800 km3(430 cu mi), forming
a large volcanic plateau constructed atop of the Interior Plateau. North of the Interior Plateau on the range's
northeastern slopes lies a huge mountainous area known by geographers as the Interior Mountains, which
includes the neighbouring Skeena, Cassiar and Hazelton Mountains.

Geology[edit]

Origins and growth[edit]

The Coast Mountains consists of deformed igneous and metamorphosed structurally complex pre-

Tertiary rocks. These originated in diverse locations around the globe: the area is built of several
different terranes of different ages with a broad range of tectonic origins. In addition, oceanic crust under
the Pacific Ocean is being subducted at the southern portion of the range to form a north-south line of
volcanoes called the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt, a northern extension of the Cascade Volcanoes in the
northwestern United States, and contains the most explosive young volcanoes in Canada. Further north the
northwesterly structural trend of the Coast Mountains lies partly in a large continental rift responsible for the
creation of several volcanoes. These volcanoes form part of the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province,
the most volcanically active area in Canada.

Insular and Omineca Arc eruptive periods[edit]

The Bridge River Ocean between North America and the Insular Islands

Main articles: Insular Islands and Omineca Arc

The first event began 130 million years ago when a group of active volcanic islands approached a pre-
existing continental margin and coastline of North America.[3] These volcanic islands, known as the Insular
Islands by geoscientists, were formed on a pre-existing tectonic plate called the Insular
Plateby subduction of the former Farallon Plate to the west during the early Paleozoic era.[3] This
subduction zone records another subduction zone to the east under an ancient ocean basin between the
Insular Islands and the former continental margin of North America called the Bridge River Ocean.[3] This
arrangement of two parallel subduction zones is unusual in that very few twin subduction zones exist on
Earth; the Philippine Mobile Belt off the southeastern coast of Asia is an example of a modern twin
subduction zone.[3] As the Insular Plate drew closer to the pre-existing continental margin by ongoing
subduction under the Bridge River Ocean, the Insular Islands drew closer to the former continental margin
and coastline of western North America, supporting a pre-existing volcanic arc on the former continental
margin of North America called the Omineca Arc.[3] As the North American Plate drifted west and the
Insular Plate drifted east to the old continental margin of western North America, the Bridge River Ocean
eventually closed by ongoing subduction under the Bridge River Ocean. [3] This subduction zone eventually
jammed and shut down completely 115 million years ago, ending the Omineca Arc and the Insular Islands
collided, forming the Insular Belt.[3]Compression resulting from this collision crushed, fractured
and folded rocks along the old continental margin.[3] The Insular Belt then welded onto the pre-existing
continental margin by magma that eventually cooled to create a large mass of igneous rock, creating a new
continental margin.[3] This large mass of igneous rock is the largest granite outcropping in North America.[3]

Plate tectonics of the Coast Range Arc 100 million years ago.

Coast Range Arc eruptive period[edit]

Main article:  Coast Range Arc

The final event began when the Farallon Plate continued to subduct under the new continental margin after
the Insular Plate and Insular Islands collided with the old continental margin, supporting a new continental
volcanic arc called the Coast Range Arc about 100 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period.
[4]
 Magma ascending from the Farallon Plate under the new continental margin burned their way upward
through the newly accreted Insular Belt, injecting huge quantities of granite into older igneous rocks of the
Insular Belt.[3] At the surface, new volcanoes were built along the continental margin. [3] Named after the
Coast Mountains, the basement of this arc was likely Early Cretaceous and Late Jurassic intrusions from
the Insular Islands.[4]
Plate tectonics of the Coast Range Arc about 75 million years ago

One of the major aspects that changed early during the Coast Range Arc was the status of the northern
end of the Farallon Plate, a portion now known as the Kula Plate.[3] About 85 million years ago, the Kula
Plate broke off from the Farallon Plate to form a mid-ocean ridge known to geoscientists as the Kula-
Farallon Ridge.[3] This change apparently had some important ramifications for regional geologic evolution.
When this change was completed, Coast Range Arc volcanism returned and sections of the arc were
uplifted considerably in latest Cretaceous time. [5] This started a period of mountain building that affected
much of western North America called the Laramide orogeny.[6] In particular a large area of dextral
transpression and southwest-directed thrust faulting was active from 75 to 66 million years ago. [5] Much of
the record of this deformation has been overridden by Tertiary age structures and the zone of Cretaceous
dextral thrust faulting appears to have been widespread. [5] It was also during this period when massive
amounts of molten granite intruded highly deformed ocean rocks and assorted fragments from pre-existing
island arcs, largely remnants of the Bridge River Ocean. [3] This molten granite burned the old oceanic
sediments into a glittering medium-grade metamorphic rock called schist.[3] The older intrusions of the
Coast Range Arc were then deformed under the heat and pressure of later intrusions, turning them into
layered metamorphic rock known as gneiss.[3] In some places, mixtures of older intrusive rocks and the
original oceanic rocks have been distorted and warped under intense heat, weight and stress to create
unusual swirled patters known as migmatite, appearing to have been nearly melted in the procedure. [3]

Volcanism began to decline along the length of the arc about 60 million years ago during
the Albian and Aptian faunal stages of the Cretaceous period.[4] This resulted from the changing geometry
of the Kula Plate, which progressively developed a more northerly movement along the Pacific Northwest.
[3]
 Instead of subducting beneath the Pacific Northwest, the Kula Plate began subducting underneath
southwestern Yukon and Alaska and during the early Eocene period.[3] Volcanism along the entire length of
the Coast Range Arc shut down about 50 million years ago and many of the volcanoes have disappeared
from erosion.[3] What remains of the Coast Range Arc to this day are outcrops of granite when magma
intruded and cooled at depth beneath the volcanoes, forming the present Coast Mountains. [3] During
construction of intrusions 70 and 57 million years ago, the northern motion of the Kula Plate might have
been between 140 mm (6 in) and 110 mm (4 in) per year.[7] However, other geologic studies determined the
Kula Plate moved at a rate as fast as 200 mm (8 in) per year.[7]

High-prominence peaks[edit]
The North Shore Mountains near Vancouver.

View of the Juneau Icefield.

Map of all coordinates from Google

Map of up to 200 coordinates from Bing

Export all coordinates as KML

Export all coordinates as GeoRSS

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Map of all microformatted coordinates

Place data as RDF

Height Prominence
Mountain/Peak Height (feet) Prominence (feet) Location
(metres) (metres)

Mount Waddington 4019 3289 13,186 10,791 51°22.3′N 125°15.7′W

Monarch Mountain 3555 2930 11,663 9,613

51°54.0′N 125°52.6′W
Skihist Mountain 2968 2463 9,738 8,081
50°11.3′N 121°54.2′W

Mount Ratz 3090 2430 10,138 7,972

57°23.6′N 132°18.2′W

Mount Queen Bess 3298 2355 10,820 7,726

51°16.3′N 124°34.1′W

Razorback
3183 2253 10,295 7,392
Mountain 51°35.4′N 124°41.5′W

Wedge Mountain 2892 2249 9,488 7,379

50°08.0′N 122°47.6′W

Otter Mountain 2692 2242 8,832 7,356

56°00.4′N 129°41.6′W

Mount Silverthrone 2860 974 9,383 3,196

51°31.7′N 126°06.8′W

Kwatna Peak 2290 2225 7,513 7,300

52°04.2′N 126°57.6′W

Scud Peak 2987 2172 9,800 7,126

57°14.5′N 131°10.1′W

Mountain ranges[edit]

Range Name Parent Region(s)

Boundary Ranges Coast Mountains British Columbia, Yukon, Alaska

Boundary Range Boundary Ranges British Columbia, Alaska

Adam Mountains Boundary Ranges Alaska

Ashington Range Boundary Ranges British Columbia

Burniston Range Boundary Ranges British Columbia

Dezadeash Range Boundary Ranges Yukon

Florence Range Boundary Ranges British Columbia

Halleck Range Boundary Ranges Alaska

Juneau Icefield Boundary Ranges British Columbia, Alaska

Sawtooth Range Juneau Icefield Alaska

Kakuhan Range Boundary Ranges Alaska

Lincoln Mountains Boundary Ranges Alaska

Longview Range Boundary Ranges British Columbia

Peabody Mountains Boundary Ranges Alaska

Rousseau Range Boundary Ranges Alaska

Seward Mountains Boundary Ranges Alaska

Snowslide Range Boundary Ranges British Columbia

Spectrum Range Boundary Ranges British Columbia

Stikine Icecap Boundary Ranges British Columbia, Alaska

Chechidla Range Stikine Icecap British Columbia

Cheja Range Stikine Icecap British Columbia

Kitimat Ranges Coast Mountains British Columbia

Bare Top Range Kitimat Ranges British Columbia

Countess of Dufferin Range Kitimat Ranges British Columbia

Kitlope Range Kitimat Ranges British Columbia

North Coastal Archipelago Kitimat Ranges British Columbia

Bell Range North Coastal Archipelago British Columbia

Burnaby Range North Coastal Archipelago British Columbia

Cape Range North Coastal Archipelago British Columbia

Chismore Range North Coastal Archipelago British Columbia

Murphy Range North Coastal Archipelago British Columbia

Richardson Range North Coastal Archipelago British Columbia

Spiller Range North Coastal Archipelago British Columbia

Williams Range North Coastal Archipelago British Columbia

Wimbledon Range North Coastal Archipelago British Columbia

Tenaiko Range Kitimat Ranges British Columbia

Pacific Ranges Coast Mountains British Columbia

Ashlu-Elaho Divide Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Bazalgette Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Bendor Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Bridge-Lillooet Divide Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Broughton Archipelago Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Calliope Range Broughton Archipelago British Columbia

Georgina Range Broughton Archipelago British Columbia

Bunster Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Cadwallader Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Caren Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Charlotte Alplands Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Douglas Ranges Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Chilcotin Ranges Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Camelsfoot Range Chilcotin Ranges British Columbia

Dickson Range Chilcotin Ranges British Columbia

Leckie Range Chilcotin Ranges British Columbia

Pantheon Range Chilcotin Ranges British Columbia

Potato Range Chilcotin Ranges British Columbia

Shulaps Range Chilcotin Ranges British Columbia

Clendinning Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Colville Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Conical Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Earle Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Edwards Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Florence Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Franklyn Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Fraser Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Garibaldi Ranges Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Garibaldi Névé Garibaldi Ranges British Columbia

Fitzsimmons Range Garibaldi Ranges British Columbia

McBride Range Garibaldi Ranges British Columbia

Spearhead Range Garibaldi Ranges British Columbia

Golden Ears Garibaldi Ranges British Columbia

Misty Icefield Garibaldi Ranges British Columbia

Bastion Range Garibaldi Ranges British Columbia

Gastineau Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Ha-Iltzuk Icefield Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Homathko Icefield Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Koeye Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Lewis Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Lillooet Icecap Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Compton Névé Lillooet Icefield British Columbia

Lillooet Ranges Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Cantilever Range Lillooet Ranges British Columbia

Cayoosh Range Lillooet Ranges British Columbia

Mission Ridge Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Monarch Icefield Pacific Ranges British Columbia

North Shore Mountains Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Fannin Range North Shore Mountains British Columbia

Britannia Range North Shore Mountains British Columbia

Namu Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Nicholl Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Niut Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Pemberton Icefield Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Pembroke Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Powell Divide Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Sir Harry Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Squamish-Cheakamus Divide Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Tantalus Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

The Tahumming Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Tottenham Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Unwin Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Waddington Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Wharncliffe Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

Whitemantle Range Pacific Ranges British Columbia

See also[edit]

Geography of Canada portal

 Coast Range Arc

 Geography of British Columbia

 Geology of British Columbia

 Volcanism of Canada

 Volcanism of Western Canada

 List of mountain ranges

 Rocky Mountains

 Columbia Mountains
References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e "BCGNIS Query Results". Government of British Columbia. Retrieved 2008-11-13.[dead link]

 2. ^ "BCGNIS Query Results". Government of British Columbia. Retrieved 2008-11-13.[dead link]

3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "The Coast Range Episode (115 to 57 million years ago)". Burke Museum of

Natural History and Culture. Retrieved 2008-04-09.

4. ^ a b c Stowell, Harold H.; McClelland William C. Tectonics of the Coast Mountains, Southeastern Alaska

and British Columbia. Geological Society of America. p. 101. ISBN 0-8137-2343-4. Retrieved 2008-09-04.

5. ^ a b c Geology of a Transpressional Orogen Developed During Ridge-Trench ... - Google Books.

Books.google.ca. Retrieved on 2013-07-21.

6. ^ "Laramide orogeny". Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. 1998. Retrieved November 16, 2008.

7. ^ a b "Tectonic overview of the CPC". University of Arizona. Retrieved 2008-09-07.

Qin Mountains
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Qinling Mountain Range

Highest point

Peak Mount Taibai

Elevation 3,767 m (12,359 ft)

Coordinates 33°57′48″N 107°37′05″ECoordinates:  33°57′48″N 107°37′05″E

Geography

Country China

State/Province Shaanxi Province

This article

contains Chinesetext. Without

proper rendering support, you

may see question marks,

boxes, or other symbolsinstead

of Chinese characters.

The Qin Mountains (simplified Chinese: 秦岭; traditional Chinese: 秦嶺; pinyin: Qín Lǐng; Wade–Giles:

Ch'in2 Ling3) are a major east-westmountain range in southern Shaanxi province, China. The mountains
provide a natural boundary between the North and South of the country, and support a huge variety of plant
and wildlife, some of which is found nowhere else on Earth.
 To the north is the densely populated Wei River valley, an ancient center of Chinese civilization. To the
south is the Han River valley. To the west is the line of mountains along the northern edge of the Tibetan
Plateau. To the east are the lower Funiu Shan and Dabie Shan which rise out of the coastal plain.

The Northern side of the range is prone to hot weather, however the physical barrier of the mountains
mean that the land to the North has asemi-arid climate, with the lack of rich, fertile landscape that can not
support a wealth of wildlife.[1] The mountains also acted as a natural defense against nomadic invasions
from the North, as only four passes cross the mountains. In the late 1990s a railway tunnel and a spiralwas
completed, thereby easing travel across the range.[2]

The highest mountain in the range is Mount Taibai (太白山) at 3,767 metres (12,359 ft), which is about 100
kilometres (62 mi) West of the ancient Chinese capital of Xi'an[3] and is the highest mountain in eastern
China. Mount Hua (华山) (2,155 metres (7,070 ft)), Mount Li (骊山/驪山) (1,302 metres (4,272 ft)),
and Mount Maiji (麦积山) (1,742 metres (5,715 ft)) make up the three other significant peaks in the range.

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Biology

o 1.1 Flora

o 1.2 Fauna

 2 See also

 3 References

Biology[edit]

The environment of the Qin Mountains is that of the Qin Ling Mountains deciduous forests ecoregion.[4]

Flora[edit]

The Qin Mountains form the watershed between the Yellow River basin of northern China, which was
historically home to deciduous broadleaf forests, and the Yangzi River basin of southern China, which has
milder winters and more rainfall, and was historically home to warm temperate evergreen broadleaf forests.

The low-elevation forests of the foothills are dominated by temperate deciduous trees like oaks (Quercus
acutissima, Q. variabilis), elm (Ulmus spp.), Common Walnut (Juglans
regia), maple(Acer spp.), ash (Fraxinus spp.) and Celtis spp. Evergreen species of these low-elevation
forests include broadleaf chinquapins (Castanopsis sclerophylla), ring-cupped oaks (Quercus glauca) and
conifers like Pinus massoniana.[5]

At the middle elevations, conifers like Pinus armandii are mixed with broadleaf birch (Betula spp.) oak
(Quercus spp.) and hornbeam (Carpinus spp.). From 2,600 to 3,000 meters elevation, these mid-elevation
forests give way to a subalpine forests of fir (Abies fargesii,  A. chensiensis), Cunninghamia,
and birch (Betula spp.), with rhododendron (Rhododendron fastigiatum) abundant in the understory.[5]
The region is home to a large number of rare plants, of which around 3,000 have so far been documented.
[3]
 Plant and tree species native to the region include Ginkgo, thought to be one of the oldest species of tree
in the world, as well as Huashan or Armand Pine (Pinus armandii), Acer miaotaiense and Chinese Fir.
[6]
 Timber harvesting reached a peak in the 18th century in the Qinling Mountains. [7]

Fauna[edit]

They are home to the Qinling pandas, a sub-species of the giant panda, which are protected in the region
with the help of the Changqing and Foping nature reserves.[1] Between 250 to 280 giant pandas live in the
region, estimated at around a fifth of the entire wild giant panda population. [3] The mountains are also home
to the golden takin, golden pheasant, golden snub-nosed monkey,Temminck's tragopan, crested
ibis, golden eagle, blackthroat and clouded leopard.[8]

The Chinese giant salamander, at 1.8 metres (6 feet) the largest amphibian in the world, is critically
endangered as it is collected for food and for use in traditional Chinese medicine. An environmental
education programme is being undertaken to encourage sustainable management of wild populations in
the Qin Mountains and captive breeding programmes have been set up. [9]

See also[edit]

 Gallery road

 Huaqing Pool

 Qinling Panda
References[edit]

1. ^ Jump up to:a b World Wildlife Fund (2001). "Qinling Mountains deciduous forests". WildWorld Ecoregion

Profile. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 2010-03-08. Retrieved 2007-12-17.

2. Jump up^ "Qinling Breakthroughs". Highbeam Research. Retrieved 2007-12-17.

3. ^ Jump up to:a b c "Qinling Mountains". Bookrags.com. Retrieved 2007-12-17.

4. Jump up^ Olson, D. M, E. Dinerstein, et al (2001). "Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life

on Earth". BioScience 51 (11): 933–938. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0933:TEOTWA]2.0.CO;2.

5. ^ Jump up to:a b "Qin Ling Mountains deciduous forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved

June 5, 2011.

6. Jump up^ "Qinling Mountains". Wild Giant Panda. Retrieved 2007-12-17.

7. Jump up^ Forest and Land Management in Imperial China By Nicholas K. Menzies

8. Jump up^ "Qinling giant panda focal project". WWF China. Retrieved 2007-12-17.

9. Jump up^ "Chinese Giant Salamander". ZSL Conservation. Zoological Society of London. Retrieved 2013-

07-21.
Western Ghats
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Sahyadri" redirects here. For other uses, see  Sahyadri (disambiguation).

Western Ghats

Sahyadri Mountains

Western Ghats as seen from Gobichettipalayam,Tamil Nadu

Highest point

Peak Anamudi (Eravikulam National Park)

Elevation 2,695 m (8,842 ft)

Coordinates 10°10′N 77°04′ECoordinates:  10°10′N 77°04′E

Dimensions

Width 100 km (62 mi) E–W

Area 160,000 km2 (62,000 sq mi)

Geography
 The Western Ghats lie roughly parallel
to the west coast of India

Country India

States List[show]

Settlements Ooty, Mahabaleshwar, Madikeri andMunnar

Biome Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

Geology

Period Cenozoic

Type of rock Basalt and Laterite

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Natural Properties - Western Ghats (India)

Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List

 Type Natural

Criteria ix, x

Reference 1342

UNESCO region Indian subcontinent

Inscription history

Inscription 2012 (36th Session)

The Western Ghats or the Sahyādri constitute a mountain range along the western side of India. It is
a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the eight "hottest hotspots" of biological diversity in the
world. [1] [2] It is sometimes called the Great Escarpment of India. [3] The range runs north to south along the
western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain,
called Konkan, along the Arabian Sea. A total of thirty nine properties including national parks, wildlife
sanctuaries and reserve forests were designated as world heritage sites - twenty in Kerala, ten
in Karnataka, five in Tamil Nadu and four in Maharashtra.[4][5]

The range starts near the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra, south of the Tapti river, and runs
approximately 1,600 km (990 mi) through the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu and Kerala ending at Kanyakumari, at the southern tip of India.

These hills cover 160,000 km2 (62,000 sq mi) and form the catchment area for complex riverine drainage
systems that drain almost 40% of India. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan Plateau. [6] The
average elevation is around 1,200 m (3,900 ft).[7]

The area is one of the world's ten "Hottest biodiversity hotspots" and has over 5000 species of flowering
plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird species and 179 amphibian species; it is likely that many
 undiscovered species live in the Western Ghats. At least 325 globally threatened species occur in the
Western Ghats.[8]

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Geology

 2 Mountains

 3 Peaks

 4 Lakes and reservoirs

 5 Rivers

 6 Climate

 7 Ecoregions

 8 Biodiversity protection

 9 UNESCO World Heritage Site

 10 Fauna

 11 Flora

 12 Notes

 13 References

 14 External links

Geology[edit]

The Western Ghats are not true mountains, but are the faulted edge of the Deccan Plateau. They are
believed to have been formed during the break-up of the super continent of Gondwana some 150 million
years ago. Geophysicists Barron and Harrison from the University of Miamiadvocate the theory that the
west coast of India came into being somewhere around 100 to 80 mya after it broke away from
Madagascar. After the break-up, the western coast of India would have appeared as an abrupt cliff some
1,000 m (3,300 ft) in elevation.[9]

Basalt is the predominant rock found in the hills reaching a depth of 3 km (2 mi). Other rock types found
are charnockites, granite gneiss,khondalites, leptynites, metamorphic gneisses with detached occurrences
of crystalline limestone, iron ore, dolerites and anorthosites. Residual laterite and bauxite ores are also
found in the southern hills.

Mountains[edit]
A view of Anamudi, the highest peak of western Ghats 2,695 metres (8,842 ft) from Eravikulam National Park, Kerala.

Hill ranges

The Western Ghats extend from the Satpura Range in the north, go south past Maharashtra, Goa,
through Karnataka and into Kerala andTamil Nadu. Major gaps in the range are the Goa Gap, between the
Maharashtra and Karnataka sections, and the Palghat Gap on the Tamil Nadu and Kerala border between
the Nilgiri Hills and the Anaimalai Hills.

Sahyadhris

The major hill range starting from the north is the Sahyadhri (the benevolent mountains) range. This
range is home to many hill stations likeMatheran, Lonavala-
Khandala, Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani, Amboli Ghat, Kudremukh and Kodagu. The range is
called Sahyadri inMaharashtra, Karnataka and Sahya Parvatam in Kerala.

Nilgiris

The Nilgiri Hills,also known as the Nilagiri malai, are in northwestern Tamil Nadu. The Nilgiri Hills
are home to the hill station Ooty. The Bili giri rangana Betta southeast of Mysore in Karnataka,
meet the Shevaroys (Servarayan range) and Tirumala range farther east, linking the Western
Ghats to the Eastern Ghats. In the South, the range is or Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu.

Anaimalai Hills

South of the Palghat Gap are the Anaimalai Hills, in western Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Smaller
ranges are further south, including the Cardamom Hills.

In the southern part of the range is Anamudi peak 2,695 metres (8,842 ft) in Kerala the
highest peak in Western Ghats. Chembra Peak 2,100 metres (6,890 ft), Banasura
Peak 2,073 metres (6,801 ft), Vellarimala 2,200 metres (7,218 ft) and Agasthya mala 1,868
metres (6,129 ft) are also inKerala. Doddabetta in the Nilgiri Hills is 2,637 metres
(8,652 ft). Mullayanagiri is the highest peak in Karnataka 1,950 metres (6,398 ft). The
Western Ghats in Kerala and Tamil Nadu is home to many tea and coffee plantations.
Shola Grasslands and forests in the Kudremukh National Park, Western Ghats, Karnataka.

The northern portion of the narrow coastal plain between the Western Ghats and the Arabian
Sea is known as the Konkan Coast or simply Konkan, the central portion is called Kanara and
the southern portion is called Malabar region or the Malabar Coast. The foothill region east of
the Ghats inMaharashtra is known as Desh, while the eastern foothills of the central
Karnataka state is known as Malenadu.[10] The largest city within the mountains is the city
of Pune (Poona), in the Desh region on the eastern edge of the range. The Biligirirangan
Hills lies at the confluence of the Western and Eastern Ghats.

The mountains intercept the rain-bearing westerly monsoon winds, and are consequently an

area of high rainfall, particularly on their western side. The dense forests also contribute to
the precipitation of the area by acting as a substrate for condensation of moist
rising orographic winds from the sea, and releasing much of the moisture back into the air
via transpiration, allowing it to later condense and fall again as rain.

Peaks[edit]

Following is a list of some of the highest peaks of the Western Ghats:

Ran Elevation
Name Location
k (m)

01. Anamudi 2695 Eravikulam National Park, Kerala

02. Meesapulimala 2640 Eravikulam National Park, Kerala

03. Doddabetta 2637 Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu

Ran Elevation
Name Location
k (m)

04. Kolaribetta 2629 Mukurthi National Park, Tamil Nadu

05. Mukurthi 2554 Mukurthi National Park, Tamil Nadu

Palani Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park, Tamil

06. Vandaravu Peak 2553
Nadu

07. Kattumalai 2552 [11] Eravikulam National Park, Kerala

08. Anginda peak 2383 Silent Valley National Park, Kerala

09. Vavul Mala 2339 [12] Vellarimala, Kerala

10. Kodaikanal 2133 Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu

11. Chembra Peak 2100 Wayanad, Kerala

12. Elivai Malai 2088 [13] Palakkad, Kerala

13. Banasura Peak 2073 Wayanad, Kerala

14. Kottamalai 2019 Periyar National Park, Kerala

15. Mullayanagiri 1930 Chikmagalur, Karnataka

16. Baba Budangiri 1895 Chikmagalur, Karnataka

17. Kudremukh 1894 Chikmagalur, Karnataka

18. Agasthyamalai 1868 Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

Ran Elevation
Name Location
k (m)

19. Biligiriranga Hills 1800 Chamarajanagar, Karnataka

20. Velliangiri Mountains 1778[14] Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu

21. Tadiandamol 1748 Kodagu, Karnataka

22. Kumara Parvata 1712 Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka

23. Pushpagiri 1712 Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka

24. Kalsubai 1646 Nashik, Maharashtra

25. Brahmagiri 1608 Kodagu, Karnataka

26. Salher 1567 Nashik, Maharashtra

27. Madikeri 1525 Kodagu, Karnataka

Himavad Gopalaswamy
28. 1450 Chamarajanagar, Karnataka
Betta

29. Torna Fort 1405 Pune, Maharashtra

30. Purandar fort 1387 Pune, Maharashtra

31. Raigad fort 1346 Raigad, Maharashtra

32. Kodachadri 1343 Shimoga, Karnataka.

33. Paital Mala 1343 Kudiyanmala, Kerala

 Ran Elevation
Name Location
k (m)

34. Mottakkunnu 1010 Elapeedika, Kerala

Lakes and reservoirs[edit]

View from Varandha Pass showing the numerous waterfalls

As seen from Silent Valley National Park, Palghat

The Western Ghats have several manmade lakes and reservoirs. The well known lakes are
the Ooty (2500 m altitude, 34.0 ha) in Nilgiris, and the Kodaikanal (2285 m, 26 ha) and
the Berijam in the Palani Hills. The Pookode lake of Wayanad in Kerala at Lakkadi is a
beautiful scenic one with boating and garden arrangements. Most of the bigger lakes are
situated in the state of Tamil Nadu. Two smaller lakes, theDevikulam (6.0 ha) and
the Letchmi Elephant (2.0 ha) are in the Munnar range.
The majority of streams draining the Western Ghats and joining the Rivers Krishna and
Kaveri carry water during monsoon months only and have been dammed
for hydroelectric and irrigation purposes. The major reservoirs are: Lonavala and Walwahn in
Maharashtra; V.V. Sagar, K.R. Sagar and Tungabhadra in the Malenadu area of
Karnataka; Mettur Dam, Upper Bhavani, Mukurthi, Parson's Valley, Porthumund, Avalanche,
Emerald, Pykara, Sandynulla, Karaiyar, Servalar, Kodaiyar, Manimuthar Dam and
Glenmorgan in Tamil Nadu; and Kundallay and Maddupatty in the High Range of Kerala. Of
these the Lonavla, Walwahn, Upper Bhavani, Mukurthi, Parson's Valley, Porthumund,
Avalanche, Emerald, Pykara, Sandynulla, Glenmorgan, Kundally and Madupatty are
important for their commercial and sport fisheries for trout, mahseer and common carp. [15]

Rivers[edit]

Western Ghats in Maharashtra, during the Monsoon

The Western Ghats form one of the four watersheds of India, feeding the perennial rivers of
India. Important rivers include the Godavari,Krishna and Kaveri. These rivers flow to the east
and drain out into the Bay of Bengal. The west flowing rivers, that drain into the Arabian
Sea and the Laccadive Sea, are fast-moving, owing to the short distance travelled and
steeper gradient. Important rivers include
thePeriyar, Bharathappuzha, Netravati, Sharavathi, Mandovi and Zuari. Many of these rivers
feed the backwaters of Kerala and Maharashtra. Rivers that flow eastwards of the Ghats
drain into the Bay of Bengal. These are comparatively slower moving and eventually merge
into larger rivers such as the Kaveri and Krishna. The larger tributaries include the Tunga
River, Bhadra river, Bhima River, Malaprabha River,Ghataprabha River, Hemavathi
river, Kabini River. In addition there are several smaller rivers such as the Chittar
River, Manimuthar River,Kallayi River, Kundali River and the Pachaiyar River.
Nilgiris a part of Western Ghats From Masinangudi

Fast running rivers and steep slopes have provided sites for many large hydro-electric
projects. There are about 50 major dams along the length of the Western Ghats with the
earliest project up in 1900 near Khopoli in Maharashtra.[16] Most notable of these projects are
theKoyna Hydroelectric Project in Maharashtra, the Parambikulam Dam in Kerala, and
the Linganmakki Dam in Karnataka.[10] The reservoir behind the Koyna Dam, the Shivajisagar
Lake, has a length of 50 km (31 mi) and depth of 80 m (262 ft).[17] It is the largest
hydroelectric project in Maharashtra, generating 1,920 MW of electric power. [18] Another major
Hydro Electric project is Idukki dam in Kerala. This dam is one of the biggest in Asia and
generates around 70% of power for Kerala state. Mullai Periyar dam near Thekkady is one of
the oldest in the world and a major tourist attractions in Kerala. Water from this dam is drawn
to the vast coastal plain of Tamil Nadu, forming a delta and making it rich in vegetation.

The Jog Falls in Karnataka, one of the most spectacular waterfalls in India

Sakaleshpur-Hassan highway in Karnataka runs through the Western Ghats

During the monsoon season, numerous streams fed by incessant rain drain off the mountain
sides leading to numerous and often spectacular waterfalls. Among the most well known is
the Jog Falls, Kunchikal Falls, Dudhsagar Falls, Sivasamudram Falls, and Unchalli Falls. The
Jog Falls is the highest natural plunge waterfall in South Asia and is listed among the 1001
natural wonders of the world.[19]Talakaveri wildlife sanctuary is a critical watershed and the
source of the river Kaveri. This region has dense evergreen and semi-evergreen vegetation,
with shola-grassland in areas of higher elevation. The steep terrain of the area has resulted in
scenic waterfalls along its many mountain streams. Sharavathi and Someshvara Wildlife
sanctuaries in Shimoga district are the source of the Tungabhadra River
system.The Netravathi river has also its origin at western ghats of India flowing westwards to
join Arabian sea at Mangalore.

Climate[edit]
Annual rainfall along the Western Ghat region.

Climate in the Western Ghats varies with altitudinal gradation and distance from the equator.
The climate is humid and tropical in the lower reaches tempered by the proximity to the sea.
Elevations of 1,500 m (4,921 ft) and above in the north and 2,000 m (6,562 ft) and above in
the south have a more temperate climate. Average annual temperature here are around 15
°C (60 °F). In some parts frost is common, and temperatures touch the freezing point during
the winter months. Mean temperature range from 20 °C (68 °F) in the south to 24 °C (75 °F)
in the north. It has also been observed that the coldest periods in the south western ghats
coincide with the wettest.[20]

During the monsoon season between June and September, the unbroken Western Ghats
chain acts as a barrier to the moisture laden clouds. The heavy, eastward-moving rain-
bearing clouds are forced to rise and in the process deposit most of their rain on the
windward side. Rainfall in this region averages 3,000–4,000 mm (120–160 in) with localised
extremes touching 9,000 mm (350 in). The eastern region of the Western Ghats which lie in
the rain shadow, receive far less rainfall averaging about 1,000 mm (40 in) bringing the
average rainfall figure to 2,500 mm (150 in). Data from rainfall figures reveal that there is no
relationship between the total amount of rain received and the spread of the area. Some
areas to the north in Maharashtra while receiving heavier rainfall are followed by long dry
spells, while regions closer to the equator receiving less annual rainfall, have rain spells
lasting almost the entire year.[20]

Ecoregions[edit]

Nilgiri Hills (Tectona grandis) and Wattle

Western Ghats near Rajapalayam, Tamil Nadu

Western Ghats near Mangalore, Karanataka

The Western Ghats are home to four tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf
forest ecoregions – the North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests, North Western Ghats
montane rain forests, South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests, and South Western
Ghats montane rain forests.

The northern portion of the range is generally drier than the southern portion, and at lower
elevations makes up the North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests ecoregion, with mostly
deciduous forests made up predominantly of teak. Above 1,000 meters elevation are the
cooler and wetter North Western Ghats montane rain forests, whose evergreen forests are
characterised by trees of family Lauraceae.

The evergreen Wayanad forests of Kerala mark the transition zone between the northern and
southern ecologic regions of the Western Ghats. The southern ecologic regions are generally
wetter and more species-rich. At lower elevations are the South Western Ghats moist
deciduous forests, with Cullenia the characteristic tree genus, accompanied by
teak, dipterocarps, and other trees. The moist forests transition to the drier South Deccan
Plateau dry deciduous forests, which lie in its rain shadow to the east.

Above 1,000 meters are the South Western Ghats montane rain forests, also cooler and
wetter than the surrounding lowland forests, and dominated by evergreen trees, although
some montane grasslands and stunted forests can be found at the highest elevations. The
South Western Ghats montane rain forests are the most species-rich ecologic region in
peninsular India; eighty percent of the flowering plantspecies of the entire Western Ghats
range are found in this ecologic region.

Biodiversity protection[edit]
A view of Ponmudi Hills in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

Western Ghats near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu

Historically the Western Ghats were well-covered in dense forests that provided wild foods
and natural habitats for native tribal people. Its inaccessibility made it difficult for people from
the plains to cultivate the land and build settlements. After the arrival of the British in the area,
large swathes of territory were cleared for agricultural plantations and timber. The forest in
the Western Ghats has been severely fragmented due to human activities, especially clear
felling for tea, coffee, and teak plantations during 1860 to 1950. Species that are rare,
endemic and habitat specialists are more adversely affected and tend to be lost faster than
other species. Complex and species rich habitats like the tropical rainforest are much more
adversely affected than other habitats. [21]

The area is ecologically sensitive to development and was declared an ecological hotspot in
1988 through the efforts of ecologist Norman Myers. Though this area covers barely five
percent of India's land, 27% of all species of higher plants in India (4,000 of 15,000 species)
are found here. Almost 1,800 of these are endemic to the region. The range is home to at
least 84 amphibian species, 16 bird species, seven mammals, and 1,600 flowering plants
which are not found elsewhere in the world.

The Government of India established many protected areas including 2 biosphere reserves,

13 National parks to restrict human access, several wildlife sanctuaries to protect specific
endangered species and many Reserve Forests, which are all managed by the forest
departments of their respective state to preserve some of the ecoregions still undeveloped.
Many National Parks were initially Wildlife Sanctuaries. The Nilgiri Biosphere
Reserve comprising 5500 km² of the evergreen forests of Nagarahole, deciduous forests
of Bandipur National Park and Nugu in Karnataka and adjoining regions
of Wayanad, Mudumalai National Park and Mukurthi National Park in the states
of Kerala and Tamil Nadu forms the largest contiguous protected area in the Western Ghats.
[22]
 The Western Ghats is home to numerous serene hill stations like Munnar, Ponmudi and
Waynad. The Silent Valley National Park in Kerala is among the last tracts of virgin tropical
evergreen forest in India.[23]

Regarding the Western Ghats, in November 2009, Minister of Environment and

Forests, Jairam Ramesh said,

"The Western Ghats has to be made an "ecologically sensitive zone". It is as important as the
ecological system of the Himalayas for protection of the environment and climate of the
country. The Central government will not give sanction for mining and hydroelectric projects
proposed by the State Governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa that will destroy the
Western Ghatseco-system.’’[24]

In a letter dated 20 June 2009, Mr. Ramesh said,

“The (proposed) 200-MW Gundia hydel project of Karnataka Power Corporation in Hassan

district would drown almost 1,900 acres (7.7 km2) of thick forest in the already endangered
Western Ghats along with all its fauna. This is something that both Karnataka and our country
can ill-afford." "Power generation should not happen at the cost of ecological security."

The Expert Appraisal Committee appointed by Union Government also said that the project
should not be taken up.[25]

In August, 2011, the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) designated the entire
Western Ghats as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) and, assigned three levels of
Ecological Sensitivity to its different regions.[26]
Tea plantations in Munnar, Kerala

View of the Western Ghats at Kanyakumari,Tamil Nadu

Western ghats at Kodachadri

UNESCO World Heritage Site[edit]

In 2006, India applied to the UNESCO MAB for the Western Ghats to be listed as a

protected World Heritage Site.[27] In 2012 following 39 places are declared as World Heritage
Sites:[28][29]

 Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve

 Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary

 Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary

 Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary

 Kulathupuzha Range

 Palode Range

 Periyar Tiger Reserve

 Ranni Forest Division

 Konni Forest Division

 Achankovil Forest Division

 Srivilliputtur Wildlife Sanctuary

 Tirunelveli (North) Forest Division (part)

 Eravikulam National Park (and proposed extension)

 Grass Hills National Park

 Karian Shola National Park

 Karian Shola (part of Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary)

 Mankulam Range

 Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary

 Mannavan Shola

 Silent Valley National Park

 New Amarambalam Reserved Forest

 Mukurthi National Park

 Kalikavu Range

 Attapadi Reserved Forest

 Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary

 Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary

 Talacauvery Wildlife Sanctuary

 Padinalknad Reserved Forest

 Kerti Reserved Forest

 Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary

 Kudremukh National Park

 Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary

 Someshwara Reserved Forest

 Agumbe Reserved Forest

 Balahalli Reserved Forest

 Kaas Plateau

 Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary

 Chandoli National Park

 Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary

Fauna[edit]

The Western Ghats are home to thousands of animal species including at least 325
globally threatened species. Many are endemicspecies, especially in the amphibian and
reptilian classes. Thirty two threatened species of mammals live in the Western Ghats. Of the
16 endemic mammals, 13 are threatened [30]
  Mammals- There are at least 139 mammal species. A critically endangered mammal of
the Western Ghats is the nocturnal Malabar large-spotted civet. The arboreal Lion-tailed
macaque is endangered. Only 2500 of this species are remaining. [31] The largest
population of Lion tailed macacque is in Silent Valley National Park. Kudremukh National
Park also protects a viable population.[32]

These hill ranges serve as important wildlife corridors, allowing seasonal migration of

endangered Asian elephants. The Nilgiri Bio-sphere is home to the largest population of Asian
Elephants and forms an important Project Elephant and Project
Tiger reserve.Brahmagiri and Pushpagiri wildlife sanctuaries are important elephant
habitats. Karnataka's Ghat areas hold over six thousand elephants (as of 2004) and ten percent of
India's critically endangered tiger population.[33]

The largest population of India's tigers outside the Sundarbans is in the unbroken forests bordering
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The largest numbers and herds of vulnerable gaur are found
here with the Bandipur National Park and Nagarhole together holding over five thousand Gaur.
[34]
 To the west the forests of Kodagu hold sizeable populations of the endangered Nilgiri langur.

Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary and project tiger reserve in Lakkavalli of Chikmagalur has large

populations of Indian muntjac. Many Asian elephant, gaur, sambar, vulnerable sloth
bears, leopard, tiger and wild boars dwell in the forests of Karnataka.

Bannerghatta National Park and Annekal reserve forest is an important elephant

corridor connecting the forests of Tamil Nadu with those of Karnataka. Dandeli and Anshi national
parks in Uttara Kannada district are home to the black panther and normal variety ofleopards and
significant populations of Great Indian Hornbill. Bhimgad in Belgaum district is a proposed wildlife
sanctuary and is home to the endemic critically endangered Wroughton's freetailed bat. the
Krishnapur caves close by are one of only three places in the country where the little-
known Theobald's tomb bat is found. Large Lesser False Vampire bats are found in the Talevadi
caves.[35]

 Reptiles- The snake family Uropeltidae of the reptile class is almost

entirely restricted to this region.

 Amphibians- The amphibians of the Western Ghats are diverse and

unique, with more than 80% of the 179 amphibian species being
endemic to the region. Most of the endemic species have their
distribution in the rainforests of these mountains.[36] The
endangeredPurple frog was discovered in 2003 to be a living fossil.
This species of frog is most closely related to species found in
the Seychelles. Four new species of Anurans belonging to the
genus Rhacophorus, Polypedates, Philautus and Bufo have been
described from the Western Ghats.[37]
  Fish – 102 species of fish are listed for the Western Ghats water
bodies.[15] Western Ghats streams are home to several brilliantly
coloured ornamental fishes like Red line torpedo barb, Red-tailed
barb,[38]  Osteobrama bakeri, Günther's catfish and freshwater puffer
fish Tetraodon travancoricus, Carinotetraodon imitator and marine
forms like Chelonodon patoca (Buchanan-Hamilton, 1822);
[39]
mahseers such as Malabar mahseer.[40]

 Birds- There are at least 508 bird species. Most of Karnataka's five
hundred species of birds[41] are from the Western Ghats region.
[42]
Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary is located at the northern end of the
Malabar ranges and the southern tip of the Sahyadri ranges and bird
species from both ranges can be seen here.

There are at least 16 species of birds endemic to the western Ghats including

the endangered Rufous-breasted Laughingthrush, the vulnerable Nilgiri Wood-pigeon, White-
bellied Shortwing and Broad-tailed Grassbird, the near threatened, Grey-breasted
Laughingthrush, Black-and-rufous Flycatcher, Nilgiri Flycatcher, and Nilgiri Pipit and the least
concern Malabar Parakeet, Malabar Grey Hornbill, White-bellied Treepie, Grey-headed
Bulbul, Rufous Babbler, Wynaad Laughingthrush, White-bellied Blue-flycatchers and the Crimson-
backed Sunbird.[43]

Great Indian Hornbill

Nilgiri Wood-Pigeon

 
 

Great Hornbill fromValparai

Malabar Barbet

Golden-Backed Woodpecker

Blue-winged Parakeet

Crested Hawk Eagle

 
 

Peacock

Crested Serpent Eagle

Green Bee Eater

Longtailed Shrike

Magpie Robin

 
 

Nilgiri Pipit

Red Vented Bulbul

Red Whiskered Bulbul

 Insects- There are roughly 6,000 insect species from Kerala

alone.[44] Of 334 butterfly species recorded from the Western
Ghats, 316 species have been reported from the Nilgiri Biosphere
Reserve.[45]

 Molluscs- Seasonal rainfall patterns of the Western Ghats

necessitate a period of dormancy for its land snails, resulting in
their high abundance and diversity including at least 258 species
ofgastropods from 57 genera and 24 families.[46]

Lion-tailed macaque

 
 

Tiger at Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary

The endemic land snailIndrella ampulla

Phallus indusiatus fungus found in Sahyadri range

Creatures in Kundadri Hills

 List of Butterflies recorded from the Western Ghats

Flora[edit]

The damp forested slopes are the original location of Piper nigrum,
the black pepper of history and commerce.

 Malabar Barbet

 Tropical Rainforest of India

Notes[edit]

1. Jump up^ "Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities". Nature.

Retrieved 16 Nov 2013.

2. Jump up^ "UN designates Western Ghats as world heritage site". Times

of India. Retrieved 2 July 2012.

3. Jump up^ Migon, Piotr (2010-05-21). Geomorphological Landscapes of

the World. Springer. p. 257. ISBN 978-90-481-3054-2. Retrieved 2012-

12-01.

4. Jump up^ "Western Ghats". Whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 2013-01-03.

5. Jump up^ Clara Lewis, TNN Jul 3, 2012, 04.02AM IST (2012-07-03)."39

sites in Western Ghats get world heritage status". The Times of India.

Retrieved 2013-02-21.

6. Jump up^ V.S. Vijayan. "Research needs for the Western Ghats".

Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE).

Retrieved 21 June 2007.

7. Jump up^ "The Peninsula". Asia-Pacific Mountain Network. Archived

from the original on 12 August 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2007.

8. Jump up^ Myers, N., R.A. Mittermeier, C.G. Mittermeier, G.A.B. Da

Fonseca, and J. Kent. (2000) "Biodiversity Hotspots for Conservation

Priorities." Nature 403:853–858, retrieved 6/1/2007 MYERS, N.

9. Jump up^ Barron, E.J., Harrison, C.G.A., Sloan, J.L. II and Hay, W.W.

(1981). "Paleogeography, 180 million years ago to the present". Eclogae

geologicae Helvetiae 74 (2): 443–470.

10. ^ Jump up to:a b "The Geography of India". all-aboit-india.com. Retrieved 19

November 2010.

11. Jump up^ Eravikulam National Park, Munnar, Kerala, India, the home of

Nilgiri Tahr. Eravikulam.org. Retrieved on 2013-07-28.

12. Jump up^ Vavul Mala. Peakbagger.com (2004-11-01). Retrieved on

2013-07-28.

13. Jump up^ Elivai Malai. Peakbagger.com (2004-11-01). Retrieved on

2013-07-28.

14. Jump up^ http://theindia.info/travel/velliangiri_Trek_Coimbatore

15. ^ Jump up to:a b Sehgal K. L. "Coldwater fish and fisheries in the Western

Ghats, India". FAO. Retrieved 22 September 2008.

16. Jump up^ "Indian Dams by River and State". Rain water harvesting.

Retrieved 19 March 2007.

17. Jump up^ Rajesh Menon (3 October 2005). "Tremors may rock Koyna

for another two decade". Indian Express, Pune. Retrieved 19 March

2007.
18. Jump up^ R.L. Samani, A.P. Ayhad (2002). "Siltation of Reservoirs-

Koyna Hydroelectric Project-A Case Study". In S. P. Kaushish, B. S. K.

Naidu. Silting Problems in Hydropower Plants. Bangkok: Central Board

of Irrigation and Power.ISBN 90-5809-238-0.

19. Jump up^ Michael Bright, 1001 Natural Wonders of the World by

Barrons Educational Series Inc., Quinted Inc. Publishing, 2005.

20. ^ Jump up to:a b R.J. Ranjit Daniels. "Biodiversity of the Western Ghats  – An

Overview". Wildlife Institute of India. Retrieved 19 March 2007.

21. Jump up^ Ajith Kumar. "Impact of rainforest fragmentation on small

mammals and herpetofauna in the Western Ghats, South India". Salim

Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, India; Ravi

Chellam, B. C. Choudhury, Divya Mudappa, Karthikeyan Vasudevan, N.

M. Ishwar, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun, India; Barry Noon,

Department of Fish and Wildlife Biology, Colorado State University, Fort

Collins, U.S.A., Final Report, April 2002.[dead link]

22. Jump up^ "The Nilgiri Bio-sphere Reserve".[dead link]

23. Jump up^ Elamon Suresh (2006) "Kerala's Greatest Heritage", YouTube

video, retrieved 29 April 2007 Kerala's Greatest Heritage

24. Jump up^ staff (21 November 2009). "No clearance for mining, hydel

projects that destroy Western Ghat: Ramesh". The Hindu, NEWS »

STATES » KERALA (Palakkad: Kasturi & Sons Ltd). Retrieved 29

December 2009.

25. Jump up^ staff (4 August 2009). "Gundia project has not got Centre’s

nod". The hindu (Chennai: Kasturi & Sons Ltd). Retrieved 29 December

2009.

26. Jump up^ Prof. Madhav Gadgil Chairman (2012-08-31). "Report of the

Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel".westernghatindia.org (Ministry of

Environment and Forests, Government of India). Part 1: summary XIX.

Retrieved 4 May 2012.

27. Jump up^ "World Heritage sites, Tentative lists, Western Ghats sub

cluster". UNESCO, MAB. 2007. Retrieved 30 March 2007.

28. Jump

up^http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1342/multiple=1&unique_number=1921

29. Jump up^ UN designates Western Ghats as world heritage site - Times

Of India. Timesofindia.indiatimes.com (2012-07-02). Retrieved on 2013-

07-28.
30. Jump up^ P.O. Nameer, Sanjay Molur, Sally Walker (November

2001). "Mammals of the Western Ghats: A Simplistic Overview". Zoos

Print Journal. 16(11). Retrieved 7 March 2012. Unknown parameter |

pages+ 629= ignored (help)

31. Jump up^ Participants of CBSG CAMP workshop: Status of South Asian

Primates (March 2002) (2004). Macaca silenus. 2006.IUCN Red List of

Threatened Species. IUCN 2006.www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 9

May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is

endangered.

32. Jump up^ Singh Mewa and Kaumanns Werner (2005) "Behavioural

studies: A necessity for wildlife management", Current Science, Vol. 89,

No. 7, 10 October, p.1233. Full text

33. Jump up^ "Karnataka forest department, (forests at a glance

-Statistics)".[dead link]

34. Jump up^ Wildlife populations in Karnataka

35. Jump up^ "Bhimgad awaits government protection".

36. Jump up^ Vasudevan Karthikeyan, A Report on the Survey of

Rainforest Fragments in the Western Ghats for Amphibian Diversity,

retrieved 9/1/2007 (Online version[dead link]). Introduction

37. Jump up^ An evaluation of the endemism of the amphibian

assemblages from the Western Ghats using molecular techniques

Contents & Summary[dead link]

38. Jump up^ "?". geocieties.com.[dead link]

39. Jump up^ "Zoologica". Retrieved 18 December 2006.

40. Jump up^ Silas et al., (2005) Indian Journal of Fisheries, 52(2):125–140

41. Jump up^ "Karnataka birds". karnatakabirds.net.

42. Jump up^ "Karnataka forest department (forests at a glance – Bio-

diversity".[dead link]

43. Jump up^ "Restricted-range species". BirdLife EBA Factsheet 123

Western Ghats. BirdLife International. 1998. Retrieved 3 December

2009.

44. Jump up^ Mathew George and Binoy C.F., An Overview of Insect

Diversity of Western Ghats with Special Reference to Kerala State,

retrieved 24 July 2007. (Online version[dead link]). Brief summary of work so

far carried out on the insect fauna of Western Ghats of Kerala

 45. Jump up^ George Mathew and M. Mahesh Kumar, State of the Art

Knowledge on the Butterflies of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, INDIA,

retrieved 9/1/2007 (Online version[dead link]). Introduction butterfly fauna

46. Jump up^ Madhyastha N. A., Rajendra, Mavinkurve G. and Shanbhag

Sandhya P., Land Snails of Western Ghats, retrieved 9/1/2007 (Online

version[dead link]) Introduction Molluscs

Serra do Mar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves

Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List

Type Natural

Criteria vii, ix, x

Reference 893

UNESCO region Latin America and the Caribbean

Inscription history

Inscription 1999 (23rd Session)
 Amethyst from Serra do Mar, on display at the Smithsonian, USA

Serra do Mar (Portuguese: Sea's ridge or Sea ridge, [ˈsɛʁɐ du ˈmaɾ]) is a 1,500 km long system

of mountain ranges and escarpments inSoutheastern Brazil.

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Geography

 2 Mountain ranges

 3 Natural history

 4 See also

 5 References

Geography[edit]

The Serra do Mar runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean coast from the state of Espírito Santo to
southern Santa Catarina,[1] although some literature includes Serra Geral in the Serra do Mar, in which
case the range would extend to northeastern Rio Grande do Sul.

The main escarpment forms the boundary between the sea-level littoral and the inland plateau (planalto),
which has a mean altitude of 500 to 1,300 metres (1,600 to 4,300 ft). This escarpment is part of the Great
Escarpment that runs along much of the eastern coast of Brazil south from the city of Salvador, Bahia.

Mountain ranges[edit]

The mountain ranges are discontinuous in several places and are given individual names such as Serra de
Bocaina, Serra de Paranapiacaba, Serra Negra, Serra do Indaiá, etc. The range also extends to some
large islands near the coastline, such as Ilhabela and Ilha Anchieta. With an altitude of 2,255 metres
(7,398 ft), Pico da Caledônia in Nova Friburgo is among the highest points in Serra do Mar.
Geologically, the range belongs to the massive crystalline rock platform that forms Eastern South America,
and tectonically it is very stable. Most of the elevations of Serra do Mar were formed about 60 million years
ago.

Natural history[edit]

At the time of the European discovery of Brazil (1500), the Serra do Mar supported a rich and highly
diversified ecosystem, composed mainly of lush tropical rain forest, called Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica).
Due to urbanization and deforestation, however, most of the forest cover has been destroyed and what
cover remains is almost exclusively on the steep escarpments facing the sea.

A chain of national and state parks, ecological stations and biological reserves now protect the Mata
Atlântica and its biological heritage, but acid rain,pollution, poachers, clandestine loggers, forest fires and
encroachment by urban areas and farms are still causing active destruction, particularly in the areas
around cities. Several large metropolises, such as Vale do Itajaí, Curitiba, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro,
are near the Serra do Mar.

Reforestation and recuperation of biological diversity are notoriously difficult to bring about in destroyed
rain forest habitats.

See also[edit]

 List of plants of Atlantic Forest vegetation of Brazil

 Ecoregions of the Atlantic Forest biome

 Geography of Brazil
References[edit]

1. Jump up^ Angulo, R. J., G. C. Lessa, M. C. de Souza (2009). The Holocene Barrier Systems of

Paranaguá and Northern Santa Catarina Coasts, Southern Brazil. Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences 107: 135-176.

Zagros Mountains
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Topographic map of Iran with the Zagros Mountains

The Zagros Mountains from space, September 1992 [1]

The Zagros Mountains (Persian: ‫رشته كوه زاگرس‬, Kurdish:  ‫ زاگرۆس‬É‫زنجیره‌چیاکانی‬, Lurish: ‫کو یه لی‬

‫زاگروس‬, Arabic: ‫جبال زغروس‬  Aramaic: ‫ܛܘܪ ܙܪܓܣ‬,) form the largest mountain range in Iran and Iraq. This

mountain range has a total length of 1,500 km (932 mi). The Zagros mountain range begins in
northwestern Iran and roughly corresponds to Iran's western border, and it spans the whole length of the
western and southwestern Iranian plateau, ending at the Strait of Hormuz. The highest point in the Zagros
Mountains is Dena. The Hazaran massif in the Kerman province of Iran forms an eastern outlier of the
range, the Jebal Barez reaching into Sistan.
 Zagros Folded Zone

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Geology

o 1.1 Type and age of rock

o 1.2 Zones

 2 East Zagros during the Ice Age

 3 Ecology

 4 History

 5 See also

 6 References

 7 External links

Geology[edit]

The Zagros fold and thrust belt was formed by collision of two tectonic plates — the Eurasian (or Iranian)
and Arabian Plates. Recent GPSmeasurements in Iran[2] have shown that this collision is still active and the
resulting deformation is distributed non-uniformly in the country, mainly taken up in the major mountain
belts like Alborz and Zagros. A relatively dense GPS network which covered the Zagros in the Iranian
part[3] also proves a high rate of deformation within the Zagros. The GPS results show that the current rate
of shortening in SE Zagros is ~10 mm/yr and ~5mm/yr in the NW Zagros. The NS strike-slip Kazerun fault
divides the Zagros into two distinct zones of deformation. The GPS results also show different shortening
directions along the belt, i.e. normal shortening in the South-East and oblique shortening in the NW Zagros.

The sedimentary cover in the SE Zagros is deforming above a layer of rock salt (acting as
a ductile decollement with a low basal friction) whereas in the NW Zagros the salt layer is missing or is very
thin. This different basal friction partly made different topographies in either sides of Kazerun fault. Higher
topography and narrower zone of deformation in the NW Zagros is observed whereas in the SE,
deformation was spread more and wider zone of deformation with lower topography was formed.
[4]
 Stresses induced in the Earth's crust by the collision caused extensive folding of the preexisting
layered sedimentary rocks. Subsequent erosion removed softer rocks, such as mudstone (rock formed by
consolidated mud) and siltstone (a slightly coarser-grained mudstone) while leaving harder rocks, such
as limestone (calcium-rich rock consisting of the remains of marine organisms) anddolomite (rocks similar
to limestone containing calcium and magnesium). This differential erosion formed the linear ridges of the
Zagros Mountains.

The depositional environment and tectonic history of the rocks were conducive to the formation and
trapping of petroleum, and the Zagros region is an important part of Persian Gulf oil production.
Salt domes and salt glaciers are a common feature of the Zagros Mountains. Salt domes are an important
target for oil exploration, as the impermeable salt frequently traps petroleum beneath other rock layers.

Type and age of rock[edit]

The mountains are divided into many parallel sub-ranges (up to 10, or 250 km wide), and have the same
age as the Alps. Iran's main oilfields lie in the western central foothills of the Zagros mountain range. The
southern ranges of the Fars Province have somewhat lower summits, reaching 4000 metres. They contain
some limestone rocks showing abundant marine fossils.

The Kuhrud Mountains form one of the parallel ranges at a distance of approx. 300 km to the east. The
area between these two impressive mountain chains is home to a dense human population that lives in the
intermediate valleys which are quite high in altitude with a temperate climate. Their rivers, which eventually
reach salt lakes, create fertile environments for agriculture and commerce.

Zones[edit]

Zagros Mountains follow a NW to SE pattern. A common way to divide this large area is considering two
parts i.e. Northern Zagros and Southern Zagros. Northern Zagros includes Iranian provinces of West
Azerbayejan, Kurdistan, Hamedan, Kermanshahan, Ilam, Lorestan, Khuzestan, Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari.
Southern Zagros covers provinces of Kohgiluye va Buyerahmad, Fars, Bushehr and Hormozgan. Another
description considers three parts: northern, middle and southern Zagros.

Geologically, Zagros Mountains consist of two major parts alongside: Elevated Zagros and Folded Zagros.
Elevated Zagros forms the north eastern mountains and Folded Zagros stands in the south and west of the
Elevated Zagros. Heading east, Elevated Zagros faces Inner Highlands of the Zagros Mountains also
known as Sanandej - Sirjan Zone. Folded Zagros instead ends in the Persian Gulf in south Khuzestan plain
in south west and Mesopotamia in west.

East Zagros during the Ice Age[edit]

The mountain massifs of the East-Zagros, the Kuh-i-Jupar (29°40’ - 30°15’N, 56°50’ -57°35’E, 4135 m asl),
Kuh-i-Lalezar (4374 m) and Kuh-i-Hezar (4469 m) that currently do not show glaciers, during an older
glacial time (Riss-, i.e. pre-LGP = pre-Last Glacial Period) have been glaciated up to down of in excess of
1900 m asl and during the Last Glacial time (Würm ice age e.g. LGP) up to down of in excess of 2160 m
asl. Thereby e.g. on the north-side of the Kuh-i-Jupar a c. 20 km wide foreland glacier has come into being,
fed by a 17 km long valley- to foreland glacier. The thickness of the valley glacier has reached 350 – 550
m. The glacier snowline (ELA) as altitude limit between glacier feeding area and melting zone on average
was lowered by 1590 (older glaciation) i.e. 1490 (younger glaciation) altitude metres. Under the condition of
comparable proportions of precipitation there ought to result from this a glacial depression of the average
annual temperature of 11.2°C as to the Riss- and 10.5°C as to the Würm-ice age compared with today.
Probably, however, it was drier and therefore colder. [5][6][7][8]

Ecology[edit]
The Zagros Mountains contain several ecosystems. Prominent among them are the forest and forest
steppe areas with a semi-arid climate. As defined by the World Wildlife Fund and used in their Wildfinder,
the particular terrestrial ecoregion of the mid to high mountain area is Zagros Mountains forest
steppe (PA0446). The annual precipitation ranges from 400 mm to 800 mm (16 to 30 inches) and falls
mostly in the winter spring. The winters are severe, with low temperatures often below −25°C (-13°F). The
region exemplifies the continental variation of the Mediterranean climatepattern, with a snowy, cold winter
and mild rainy spring followed by a dry summer and autumn.[9]

Although currently degraded through overgrazing and deforestation, the Zagros region is home to a rich

and complex flora. Remnants of the originally widespread oak-dominated woodland can still be found, as
can the park-like pistachio/almond steppelands. The ancestors of many familiar foods,
including wheat, barley, lentil, almond, walnut, pistachio, apricot, plum, pomegranate and grapecan be
found growing wild throughout the mountains. [10] The Zagros are home to
many threatened or endangered organisms, including the Zagros Mountains Mouse-like Hamster
(Calomyscus bailwardi), the Basra Reed-warbler (Acrocephalus griseldis) and the Striped hyena (Hyena
hyena). The Persian fallow deer (Dama dama mesopotamica), an ancient domesticate once thought
extinct, was rediscovered in the late 20th century in Khuzestan province in the southern Zagros.

History[edit]

Signs of early agriculture date back as far as 9000 BC to the foothills of the Zagros Mountains, [11] in cities
later named Anshan and Susa. Jarmo is one archaeological site in this area. Shanidar, where the ancient
skeletal remains of Neanderthals have been found, is another.

Some of the earliest evidence of wine production has been discovered in the Zagros Mountains; both the
settlements of Hajji Firuz Tepe and Godin Tepe have given evidence of wine storage dating between 3500
and 5400 BC.[12]

During early ancient times, the Zagros was the home of peoples such as
the Kassites, Guti, Assyrians, Elamites and Mitanni, who periodically invaded
the Sumerian and/or Akkadian cities ofMesopotamia. The mountains create a geographic barrier between
the flatlands of Mesopotamia, which is in Iraq, and the Iranian plateau. A small archive of clay
tablets detailing the complex interactions of these groups in the early second millennium BC has been
found at Tell Shemshara along the Little Zab.[13] Tell Bazmusian, near Shemshara, was occupied between
the sixth millennium BCE and the ninth century CE, although not continuously. [14]
Oshtoran Kooh Mountain

See also[edit]

 Taurus Mountains

 Alborz Mountains

 Silakhor Plain
References[edit]

1. Jump up^ "Salt Dome in the Zagros Mountains,Iran". NASA Earth Observatory. Retrieved 2006-04-27.

2. Jump up^ Nilforoushan F., Masson F., Vernant P., Vigny C. , Martinod J. , Abbassi M.,Nankali H., Hatzfeld

D., Bayer R., Tavakoli F., Ashtiani A.,Doerflinger E. , Daignières M., Collard P., Chéry J., 2003. GPS network

monitors the Arabia-Eurasia collision deformation in Iran, Journal of Geodesy, 77, 411–422.

3. Jump up^ Hessami K., Nilforoushan F., Talbot CJ., 2006, Active deformation within the Zagros Mountains

deduced from GPS measurements, Journal of the Geological Society, London, 163, 143–148.

4. Jump up^ Nilforoushan F , Koyi HA., Swantesson J.O.H., Talbot CJ., 2008, Effect of basal friction on

surface and volumetric strain in models of convergent settings measured by laser scanner, Journal of Structural

Geology, 30, 366–379.

5. Jump up^ Kuhle, M. (1974):Vorläufige Ausführungen morphologischer Feldarbeitsergebnisse aus den SE-

Iranischen Hochgebirgen am Beispiel des Kuh-i-Jupar. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie N.F., 18, (4), pp. 472-483.

6. Jump up^ Kuhle, M. (1976):Beiträge zur Quartärgeomorphologie SE-Iranischer Hochgebirge. Die quartäre

Vergletscherung des Kuh-i-Jupar. Göttinger Geographische Abhandlungen, 67, Vol. I, pp. 1-209; Vol. II, pp. 1-105.

7. Jump up^ Kuhle, M. (2007):The Pleistocene Glaciation (LGP and pre-LGP, pre-LGM) of SE-Iranian

Mountains exemplified by the Kuh-i-Jupar, Kuh-i-Lalezar and Kuh-i-Hezar Massifs in the Zagros.Polarforschung, 77,

(2-3), pp. 71-88. (Erratum/ Clarification concerning Figure 15, Vol. 78, (1-2), 2008, p. 83.

8. Jump up^ Kuhle, M. (2011):The High Glacial (Last Ice Age and Last Glacial Maximum) Ice Cover of High

and Central Asia, with a Critical Review of Some Recent OSL and TCN Dates. Ehlers, J., Gibbard, P. L., Hughes, P.

D. (Eds.). Quaternary Glaciation - Extent and Chronology, A Closer Look. Amsterdam, Elsevier B.V, pp. 943-965,

(glacier maps downloadable:http://booksite.elsevier.com/9780444534477/).

9. Jump up^ Frey, W.; W. Probst (1986). "A synopsis of the vegetation in Iran". In Kurschner,

Harald. Contributions to the vegetation of Southwest Asia (Wiesbaden, Germany: L. Reichert): pp 9–43. ISBN 3-

88226-297-4.

10. Jump up^ Cowan, edited by C. Wesley; Nancy L. Benco; Patty Jo Watson (2006). The origins of

agriculture  : an international perspective ([New ed.]. ed.). Tuscaloosa, Ala.: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-

8173-5349-6. Retrieved 5 May 2012.

11. Jump up^ La Mediterranée, Braudel, Fernand, 1985, Flammarion, Paris

12. Jump up^ Phillips, Rod. A Short History of Wine. New York: Harper Collins. 2000.
 13. Jump up^ Eidem, Jesper; Læssøe, Jørgen (2001), The Shemshara archives 1. The letters, Historisk-

Filosofiske Skrifter 23, Copenhagen: Kongelige Danske videnskabernes selskab, ISBN 87-7876-245-6

14. Jump up^ Al-Soof, Behnam Abu (1970). "Mounds in the Rania Plain and excavations at Tell Bazmusian

(1956)". Sumer 26: 65–104. ISSN 0081-9271.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has

media related to Zagros

Mountains.

 Zagros, Photos from Iran, Livius.

 The genus Dionysia

 Iran, Timeline of Art History

 Mesopotamia 9000–500 B.C.

 Major Peaks of the Zagros Mountains

Sierra Madre Occidental

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sierra Madre Occidental

Geographical view to Mexico and its mountain ranges Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre
Occidental and Sierra Madre del Sur.
 Highest point

Peak Cerro Mohinora

Elevation 10,863 ft (3,311 m)

Coordinates 25°57′22″N 107°2′52″WCoordinates:  25°57′22″N 107°2′52″W

Dimensions

Length 932 mi (1,500 km) NW x SE

Width 150 mi (240 km) W x E

Geography

Country Mexico

State Sonora, Chihuahua, Sinaloa,Durango,
Zacatecas, Nayarit, Jalisco,
Aguascalientes, Guanajuato

Region Northern Mexico

Borders on Sea of Cortez–Pacific-W

Altiplanicie Mexicana-E
Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt-S
(Cordillera Neovolcanica)

The Sierra Madre Occidental is a mountain range in western Mexico. The name Sierra Madre means

"Mother Mountains".[1] The range extends from near the Arizona border down to the Sierra Madre del Sur.
The high plateau that is formed by the range is cut by deep river valleys. This plateau is formed from
volcanic rock overlying a basement of metamorphic rock.

This uplift has caused changes in weather patterns; increased rainfall occurring in the mountains has
provided areas where ecosystems can form in wetter areas than surrounding land. This water-source forms
watersheds that provide the arid surroundings with water that makes it possible to irrigate and farm crops.
The wet ecosystems are islands of biodiversity, differing significantly from what would otherwise be a
desert landscape. Oak forests are the predominant plant life and extend into the low land deserts.
 This forest and canyon land provided a place for a variety of indigenous people to live, until Spanish
settlers with associated Mestizos came into the area to found towns for the silver mines in the area. The
major industries in the area now are agriculture and forestry, which have become contentious because
of land degradation and the native population's opposition to these practices.

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Geography

o 1.1 Location

o 1.2 Regions

o 1.3 Water

o 1.4 Human

 2 Geology

o 2.1 Geological history

o 2.2 Structures

o 2.3 Mineral deposits

o 2.4 Soil

 3 Climate

o 3.1 Temperature, Pressure, and Wind

o 3.2 Precipitation and Humidity

 4 Ecology

o 4.1 Flora

o 4.2 Fauna

o 4.3 Surroundings

o 4.4 Preservation

 5 People and history

o 5.1 Prehistory

o 5.2 Spanish Sierra Madre

o 5.3 Mexican Sierra Madre

 6 References

Geography[edit]
Copper Canyon in Chihuahua, Mexico

Basaseachic Falls

The range trends from the north to southeast. Canyons cut by the rivers of the wet western slopes exist in
addition to those of the northeast slopes.

Location[edit]

The range runs parallel to the Pacific coast of Mexico, from just south of the Arizona-Sonora border
southeast through eastern Sonora,
western Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, Nayarit, Jalisco,Aguascalientes to Guanajuato, where it
joins with the Sierra Madre del Sur and the Eje Volcánico Transversal(Transverse Volcanic Axis) of central
Mexico after crossing 1,250 km (780 mi).[2] The mountains range from 300 km (190 mi) from the Gulf of
California in the north, but begin to approach within 50 km (31 mi) of thePacific in the south.[3] These
mountains are generally considered to be part of the much larger American cordillera, the mountains
extending from Alaska down to these across Western North America. [4]

Regions[edit]

The Sierra Tarahumara or Tarahumara range is the name for the region of the Sierra Madre beginning at
the Durango border and extending north. This name comes from the Tarahumara natives. [5] This is a
dramatic landscape of steep mountains formed by a high plateau that has been cut through with canyons
including Copper Canyon, larger and, in places, deeper than the Grand Canyon.[6] This plateau has an
average elevation of 2,250 m (7,380 ft) with most of the more eroded canyons on the western slope, due to
the higher moisture content.[2]

The highest elevations occur in the Tarahumara range.[7] The exact elevations of the highest peaks are not
known within accurate enough ranges to determine the relative elevation of peaks. The highest point is
probably Cerro Mohinora, located at 25°57′N 107°03′W. Estimates for the height of the mountain start
around 3,040 m (9,970 ft)[8] and go up to 3,300 m (10,800 ft).[9] However, Cerro Barajas,
at 26°24′N 106°5′W, may be as high as 3,300 m (10,800 ft)[10] although other sources give 3,170 m
(10,400 ft) as the elevation.[11] Cerro Gordo, at 23°12′N 104°57′W, may have an elevation between 3,350 m
(10,990 ft)[12] and 3,340 m (10,960 ft).[13]

The southern end of the mountains may be referred to as the Sierra Huichola. [14] In this area the Sierra
Madre begin to give way to the basin and range province. [15] Subranges of this area include the Sierra de
Alica and the Sierra Pajaritos both in Nayarit. [16]

Water[edit]

The Rio Santiago

The mountains act as a source of water, in an otherwise arid environment from the increased precipitation
from the mountain range. As such, rivers that have headwaters in the mountains to become a source of
water for irrigation in the surrounding lands. From the need of water to irrigate the mountains, dams were
built, which has caused several environmental concerns in the area.

As the northern end of the mountains are more arid, the Yaqui River, which drains that area is an important
source of irrigation in the state of Sonora.[17]The Yaqui drains into the Gulf of California along with
the Humaya River in Sinaloa and the more southern Fuerte River.[18] The Río Grande de Santiagodrains
100000 km2 from the southern slopes of the Sierra Madre.[19] Along the more arid eastern slopes of the
mountains, the Nazas River andAguanaval River drain the mountains in a closed basin.[20] These
mountains supply 90% of the water used for irrigation within the watershed. [21] North of this system is
the Conchos River which drains into the Rio Grande.[18]

Along many rivers the arid conditions have caused courses to be dammed to provide water for irrigation.
These dams have caused concerns along with those caused by the other activities. The Yaqui has been
dammed with three large reservoirs along its course. [18] The Río Grande de Santiago has also been
dammed including the Aguamilpa dam begun in 1991[22] and the El Cajón Dam (Mexico) upstream from it.
[23]
 To provide irrigation water for farming the dry basin, the Nazas river was dammed in the 1930s and 40s.
[24]
 This has led to the former drainage lakes in the area drying up, and soil depletion from the elimination of
the river as a source of soil. Due to the continuedlogging in the area, erosion on the slopes of hillsides has
increased.[25]

Human[edit]

Numerous small populations live in Copper Canyon, including around old missions. [26] Many live as single
families or in small settlements near fields.[27] Creel, Chihuahua is a town with 5000 inhabitants that is a
stop along the train line.[28] South of Copper Canyon, the town of El Salto, Durango is situated along
highway 40.[29] To the west is Copala, Sinaloa.[30]

In the South, the Cora people still live, including in the towns of Jesús María and La Mesa del Nayar.[31] In
addition, 1000 people live in the village of Huajimic in Nayarit.[32] In Jalisco, the Bolaños River valley is
populated with mining communities, such as San Martín de Bolaños, which has a population of around
3000.[33]

Few paved roads cross the mountains, meaning that travel times can be long, even between cities that are
relatively close.[34] In the north, Mexico Federal Highway 16 connect Hermosillo, Sonora and La Junta,
Chihuahua.[35] In the mountains the La Entrada al Pacifico Corridor is an incomplete road intended to
connect Los Mochis, Sinaloa and Chihuahua.[36] Durango and Mazatlan are connected by highway 40,
[37]
 around 24 degrees north latitude.[34]

Geology[edit]

The Sierra Madre Occidental is a high plateau of volcanic rock that is eroded in areas to reveal a basement
composed of plutonic and sedimentary rocks underlying the two groups of extrusivevolcanics.[38] The lower
of these groups is a series of volcanic rocks formed by lava flows. The surface of the plateau is made up of
a second series of volcanic ignimbrites, covered mostly by clay rich organic soils. Some intrusions in the
area have deposited ore veins that are commercially viable.
The landscape was shaped after rock placement. Rivers cut valleys into the plateau, following folds in the
rocks. Rock have been broken off of the slopes, forming rocky sides. The bedrock is covered by the clay
rich soils, except in eroded areas, where water carries away deposits leaving a stony surface.

Geological history[edit]

The basement is thought to be Older North American basement, especially in the North, [39] and a number of
different accreted terranes, which are mostly covered by Cenozoic Volcanism.[40] The northern extent of the
Sierra Madre is the Cortes Terrane, although the northern extreme of this contains a small portion of the
Carborca Terrane.[40] Some of the northern end may also be underlain by a Precambrian basement placed
around the same time as the Grenville Orogeny.[41] Some of this area has a series of Paleozoic sedimentary
sequences from a deep marineenvironment underlying it, which considered by some to be part of the Cotes
Terrane and by others to be transported.[42] In some areas distinct sedimentary rocks can be identified by
shallow-water Silurian and Mississippian sedimentary rocks underlying deep-
water Pennsylvanian and Permian, which are divided by Mississippian rhyolite. The Permian clastics
contain some detritalrock that sit alongside low-grade metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rocks with
serpentinite.[43]

South of the Cortes and Carborca Terranes is the San José de Garcia Terrane, which is a combination of
Cretaceous arc volcanics and volcaniclastics, which may be thrusting over the Cortes terrane. [44] The
southern part of the range is made up of the Guerrero Composite Terrane, a large body, which is actually a
complex of five different subterranes, although not all of these are within the main body of the Sierra
Madre.[40] However, the terrane is mostly covered by volcanics and sedimentary deposits, so it is only
visible where erosion has revealed it.[45] The main subterranes of the Guerrero Composite Terrane that are
within the Sierra Madre are the Tahue and Zihuatanejo terranes. [40] Dividing the Guerrero Terrane from the
rest of the Sierra Madre terranes is a boundary that is thought to represent the Early Cretaceous Arperos
Basin,[46] a marine basin which separated the island arc that came to form the Guerrero terrane from the
accretions that came to form the Sierra Madre terrane.[47] It contains a lower formation made up
of pillow_basalts with pillow breccias, tuffs, and shales underlying a group of pelagic limestones, oozes,
and turbidites.[47]

Covering the southern basement are sedimentary and metamorphised sedimentary rocks

containing argillite, limestone,[48] volcanic schist, slate, and greywacke which were exposed in the canyon of
the Santiago River.[42] Near these sediments late Oligocene to
early Miocene granite and granodiorite intrusive bodies occur. A possible cause of this is that these bodies
were roof pendants which were uplifted by plutons.[48] Mesozoic limestone also occurs in northern portion of
the mountains, mostly from the Cretaceous.[34]
The Durango Volcanic field

Towards the end of the Cretaceous, the Laramide orogeny increased the activity of magmatism in the area,
forming the first major igneous series in the area.[49] The igneous series are made up of formations of
plutonic and volcanic rock, which would later be exposed. Interbedded with these rocks are sedimentary
deposit rocks. In the center of the range, some of these rock have been deformed by tectonic forcing that
occurred at the same time. The southern part of the range contains none of the volcanism that is apparent
in the northern range. These formations ended in the Paleocene.[42] Eocenevolcanism formed a series
of andesitic and rhyolitic formations in the area, with spatial and temporal variations throughout. Most of
the gold and silverdeposits are also in these rocks.[50]

An example of the ignimbrite units

In the Oligocene ash flows became the predominate deposit of the area, with interbedded lava flows
between. These ash flows began the second series of high magmatism formations. The ignimbrite flare
up formed a series of ignimbrite formations layered one atop another,[49] that are sometimes broken by lava
flows.[39] The ignimbrite formations in this area cover the largest area of any known series, with
ten calderas identified in the province.[51] Three of these calderas are placed in Copper Canyon. The lava
has formed a series of maficrock that form the Southern Cordilleran Basaltic Andesite Suite. [52] The tuffs are
above a thick formation of lava rock. Around five or six units have been identified, mostly around the
Copper Canyon area. These tuffs have actually allowed wide ranging correlation with formations in other
geographical areas, for example Death Valley.[53]
During the Miocene three periods of volcanism marked separate events in the Sierras. Each Period is
marked by different volcanic processes.[54] The first was a continuation of the Oligocene flare up, which
lasted through the early Miocene. This may be a distinct second occurrence of the same process,
placing slica rich lava above Oligocene rocks.[42] Also in the early Miocene more intermediate Basaltic
andesites occur along faults and in grabens.[54] Beginning in the early Miocene and continuing into the
middle, an arc of andesite was placed during the spreading of the Gulf of California.[48] The basin and range
style faulting of themiddle-late Miocene took place at the same time as the placement of alkali basalts,[50] In
the westernmost slopes mafic dikes formed. These events have also been linked to the subduction of
theFarallon Plate.[55] Episodes of volcanism continued into the Quaternary.[50]

Structures[edit]

The Sierras are believed to be a thick core covered by volcanics and eroded by numerous rivers. Some
have suggested that the basement of the mountains have numerous intrusions made by mafic magma.
[42]
 The mountains are made up at the surface of large scale ignimbrite sheet which have been incised by
rivers flowing from rainfall in the mountains.[56][57] The surface of the plateau is almost exclusively from the
second series of flows causing the rock that is most visible to be ignimbrites with lava flow layers. [50] The
region has a general strike from just west of north to just south of east.[57]

Faults in the area tend to be younger than the upper volcanics, excluding those associated with calderas,
[50]
 but do occur in distinct periods.[39] The large faults along the eastern slope[50] have caused the slope to
be made up of large escarpments that face into the interior basins.[57] These faults are commonly covered
by alluvium and basalt, making them difficult to discern, but can be found in certain fault blocks.[50]

Grabens have formed in the north, and some of these are filled with volcanic and sedimentary floors, [48] and
long depressions have formed in the southern Sierra Madre.[58] The faulting decreases in the center of the
range where the faults are mostly small normal faults, but increases once again on the western slope. [50] In
fact, the major normal faults tend to diverge around the center of the core and join at either end. [39] Some of
these faults may have allowed ignimbrites to erupt from the surface, and so there may be some association
between the ignimbrite occurrence and faults;[58] this can be used to find out information about different
kinds of basement rock present.[42]

There are two faults dividing the Sierra Madre from the central Mexican Plateau. The more southern one is
the north–south Aguascalientes fault extending 150 kilometres (93 mi) from Altos de Jalisco to near
Zacatecas, where it joins the more northern northwest–southeast trending San Luis–Tepehuanes fault
extending from Guanajuato to Durango.[59] The southern boundary of the Sierra Madre Occidental with the
Jalisco block is a series of folds, thrust, and left lateral faults date from the middle Miocene. This may be
evidence for a left transpressional shear zone.[42] The area between this boundary and the Aguascalientes
fault is filled with numerous grabens and half-grabens, as well an east west left shear zone, the El Roble
shear zone. At the west end of these grabens and half-grabens are the Pochotitan and the more northerly
San Pedro fault systems, which form the western boundary of the faults in the southern mountains. [55] In the
north there is an unknown boundary between the Cortes Terrane and the Guerrero Composite Terrane.
Some theorize that this is a section of the Mojave–Sonora Megashear, but this theory is not universally
accepted; however, the Megashear is important, and, in fact, is necessary for reconstructions of the
opening of the Gulf of California, as of 2003.[60]

Mineral deposits[edit]

On a smaller scale, mineral deposits are distributed in formations of the Sierra Madre, although
the events that placed these deposits vary throughout the mountains. The Guerrero composite terrane
contains many of the economic deposits, often found in ore bodies younger than the Cretaceous. [45]

Gold and silver deposits most commonly occur in the altered andesites of the early volcanics, [50] typically
these deposits are between 30 and 50 million years old.[61] These are believed to be caused by
later intrusions into the early flows. Fissure-vein deposits have been divided into two groups
of fissure vein deposits, which are divided geographically into an eastern and western series. [61] In the east,
the gold and silver are accompanied by lead and zinc. In the south, the Bolaños mine district is contained
with the Bolaños Graben.[62] Some also occur as epithermal deposits. Also, some gold occurs along
with copper in Cenozoic iron-oxide skarn and replacement deposits along the Pacific.[45]

In addition to gold and silver and their related deposits, tin, iron, and mercury occur, sometimes in later
units,[61] mostly in later volcanics, and Molybdenum occurs in the mountains, often along with older copper
deposits[50] or in oligocene deposits in the east.[61] The belt of tin deposits resides mostly within the eastern
slopes from Durango to Guanajuato.[61] In these areas, tin occurs in rhyolitic ignimbrites in many, possibly
over 1000,[63] small deposits[50] of cassiterite. Typically these deposits are divided from overlying ignimbrites
by breccia, which may also contain ore. Many of these are thought to be hydrothermal deposits[63] To the
east of these units is a belt of more mercury deposits, followed by another belt of manganese deposits,
although these deposits are mostly limited to Chihuahua and Hidalgo. [61] Iron occurs in three different
regions placed by different mechanisms. Along the Pacific there the numerous skarn and replacement
deposits mentioned above with relation to gold. [61] Iron occurs in Durango in the form of magnetite lava
flows, which are often surrounded by smaller hematite deposits, thought to be ash flows.[50] There is also a
belt of iron deposits further east.[61]

Soil[edit]

Most soil in the mountains is covered by an organic rich layer over layers rich in clay.[64] Soils are
commonly phaeozems that are up to 100 centimetres (39 in).[64] Some soils are cambisols that are less than
2 metres (6.6 ft) deep and well drained.[21] Due to the high clay contents, which block water from being
absorbed into the soil, larger rock particles in the soil help reduce runoff and soil losses from erosion. Areas
that are covered in stone are known as lithosols and make up most of the remaining surface in the
mountains,[64] especially on upper slopes.[21] The last major soil type are vertisols which are thin mineral
poor soils. Soils at higher elevations experience more leaching, due to increased rainfall.[65] Acidic soils may
have lower calcium content, leading to lower plant soil quality. Soils along the eastern slopes have
increased organic content and a clay heavy layer that is developed more than those of the more arid
eastern lands.[57] The thickness of soil layers also increases.

Problems with soil degradation have been aggravated by the cultivation of drug crops, leading
to deforestation of many areas.[66] Other problems include overgrazing, which has led to terracing from
cattle paths and the formation of a soil crust, and soil acidification, which poses a risk to some grasslands
as of 2002.[21]

Climate[edit]

The climate varies considerably between the northern and southern extents of this long mountain range.
Seasonal variations also occur due to the presence of large bodies of warm water delivering warm damp
air from each side of the range. This region undergoes a seasonal variety with two wet seasons, including a
summer monsoon, and two dry seasons each year.

Temperature, Pressure, and Wind[edit]

Air pressure changes in Northern Mexico and the Southwest United States are the main causes of
seasonal variation in the Sierra Madre. A high pressure area that rests over the mountains in the winter
begins to move north of the mountains into New Mexico during the month of June.[67] The high pressure
begins to breakdown and move south during September or October; however, the breakdown is usually at
a slower pace than the movement north. This high pressure belt is associated with the mechanics that form
the Bermuda High.[68]

The climate in the mountains is mild. Summer temperatures maintain a constant level. Maximum
temperatures are typically in July at around 31 C[68] with average temperatures on the order of 16 C during
this same period.[69] Mean annual temperatures are between 55–65 °F (13–18 °C) above 6,000 feet
(1,800 m).[70] Below freezing temperatures can occur in the higher mountains, withprecipitation occurring as
snowfall certain times of year.[71]

During the summer monsoon, wind patterns undergo large scale changes.[67] In May there is very little large
scale wind current through the mountains, most circulates around the mountains, [67]although onshore flow is
present.[72] As the high pressure moves north, air is pulled off the Gulf of Mexico, bringing easterly winds
aloft to the mountains.[67] On the east slope of the mountain daytime upslope winds flow to the crest, where
the flow joins westerly winds.[73] The mountains cause convection during the following monsoon season,
[72]
 during which nocturnal winds at low levels in the atmosphere move moisture overnight. [73] After the high
pressure breaks down, wind patterns return to those prior to the monsoon season.

Precipitation and Humidity[edit]

Precipitation varies on both annual and seasonal scales in the Sierra Madre. Annual differences in regional
climate are associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation with El Niño years leading to a wetter climate.
[69]
 Monsoon rains come to the Sierra Madre in June, as the high pressure area moves north, leading to wet
summer seasons. This causes east winds bringing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. On the western side
of the mountains, which are affected by the largest change in precipitation between the dry season and
monsoon season,[72] in the monsoon season rainfall can exceed 30 cm (12 in) in a single month.[67] The
southern region receives more of the rainfall than the northern. [72] Much of this precipitation occurs
as tropical storms. As the high pressure over New Mexico breaks down, rainfall in the Sierra Madre end.
Because of the monsoon, the summer accounts for the majority of rainfall in the area. [69] The spring and fall
dry season separate out a weaker wet season in the winter. In addition to increasing in the southern ranges
of the mountains, rainfall increases in the higher elevations of the Sierra Madre Occidental. [69]

Humidity in the mountains varies at wide levels as does rainfall. In the early morning before dawn, the air is
almost saturated (often over 90% relative humidity) near the mountain tops with low clouds over the range.
Lower in the range, air is not as near saturated in the morning.[74] Seasonal variation in humidity is also
present with average May and June relative humidity around 50%, with 25% possible during the day.
[68]
 Also during the day, relative humidity drops and cloud levels rise as temperatures rise. [74] The humidity of
the range is also influenced by the same seasonal changes as rainfall. In the dry season dew points are
low, around −22 °C in the south of the range and −24 °C to −26 °C in the north in May. In June, dew points
begin to increase from the May levels up to −20 °C in the North and −16 °C in the south. By July these dew
points are at −14 °C throughout the range. The range allows higher dew points throughout these periods
than the surrounding low lands. This rise in humidity accompanies the monsoon. [72]

Ecology[edit]

Sierra Madre Occidental pine-oak forests

The mountains create a diverse setting for plants and animals by creating a different set of conditions from
the surroundings. The Sierra Madre Occidental pine-oak forests are found at elevations of 1,500–3,000 m
(4,900–9,800 ft) throughout the range,[75] but the forests in the mountains vary by elevation and place in the
range. This ecoregion is noted for its high biodiversity and large number of endemic species,[76] and for
allowing some species to extend their range.

Flora[edit]

The dominant plants vary across the range, and the habitat that they present varies from
scattered woodland to both deciduous and coniferous forest.
The elevation and latitude in the range are the major determining factors in the dominant
plants. Oaks dominate the lower reaches of the mountains, where stands grow down to about 1,000 m
(3,300 ft). Some oak species even continue into the surrounding ecosystems. [77] In the Western slopes of
the range, cloud forest also occurs, mostly on mid-elevation slopes with little exposure to wind or sun [78] in
the southern end of the range.[79] At higher elevations pines begin to grow alongside the oaks, and pines
begin to dominate the oaks at higher elevations.[80] At high elevations and in the northMixed Conifer
Forests become the dominate ecosystem. These forests are composed primarily of pines and firs, which
begin to grow at these elevations.[81] There are also grasslands on some mountain tops, surrounded by the
forest that occur in those areas.[80]

Plants in the area typically have large responses to the change in climate with each season. Monsoon
season is the largest of these effects, with leaf buds following only a few months after the rains begin.
Flowering season occurs in the months preceding the summer monsoon. [77] This is only the peak flowering
season, with plants flowering throughout the year. Due to the early flowering, fruit is ripe and seeds are
dispersed at the beginning of the rains.[81] There are also areas where plants have little response to the
seasons, particularly those areas that experience moist conditions, caused by the elevations. These plants
may maintain leaves through times when other areas are in the dry season, during which most deciduous
trees have no leaves.[82]

Fauna[edit]

The mountains are often a corridor for species allowing more diversity in the area, by combining species
from different regions. Animals typically associated with arid and mountainous habitats share the
mountains with species associated with habitats further south. [83]

There are many carnivorous and omnivorous mammals native to the area, although several are extirpated
or are part of threatened populations. The Mexican wolf's range in the mountains is limited to the foothills of
Durango[84] or may have been extirpated[85] the black bear population is small,[84] and the Mexican grizzly
bear is confirmed extinct.[86] Jaguar and Ocelot are also now rare. [84]On the other hand, Mountain
lion and bobcat are more common.[87] On the eastern slopes there are American
badger and Coyote and gray fox live across the mountains.[85] Native ungulates include the white tailed
deer,[84] mule deer, and collared peccary.[85] Rodents and lagomorphs include the eastern cottontail, which
lives in the forests of the western slopes,[88] cliff chipmunk,rock squirrel, Mexican fox squirrel, and various
species of Cricetidae.[89] Raccoons, hog-nosed skunk, and hooded skunk live in the mountains. The white-
nosed coati lives on the western slopes, and the ring-tailed cat lives throughout. Many species of bats live
in the mountains also.[85]

A variety of lizards live in the area and surroundings. The Tarahumara frog lives in the oak and pine stands
preferring moving water to pools. The southern extent of the Sonoran mountain kingsnake's range is the
Chihuahuan desert into the mountains. Other snakes and frogs live in the mountains, and many species
live in the western slopes.[90]
Birds frequent the mountains, some as a migratory path and others as native species. The migratory birds
often use the area to the west as an overwintering area, and migrate north along the western slopes. [91] In
the northern canyons birds may be divided into different habitats, or more specifically, the different types of
forest, leading to differences in range by altitude. [92] Some of this difference by altitude may even extend the
range of some species, enabling tropical species to use the mountain valleys for migration. Bird
species endemic to the Sierra Madre Occidental includeTufted Jay,[84] the "gray-eared" subspecies of Red
Warbler, Eared Quetzal, Thick-billed Parrot, and formerly included the Imperial Woodpecker, which now
may be extinct.[84]

The rivers and streams of the range contain some of the southernmost trout populations in North America.
These populations may be native, although this is not universally accepted. [93] Invasivefish compete with the
native species which has been a cause of concern among researchers, [83] along with concerns about the
effects of logging on these species.[84]

Surroundings[edit]

The Sonoran Desert is found in the northwestern foothills at 1,000–2,000 m (3,300–6,600 ft).

[94]
 The Chihuahuan Desert is found to the northeast and east, the Meseta Central matorral and Central
Mexican matorral to the southeast, and the Sinaloan dry forests to the west and southwest. These lower
elevations are usually graded into by a stand of Tropical Deciduous Forest, which has a large portion of
flora made up of flowering plants and legumes.[81] These flowering plants are mostly from the
genus Bursera.[95] The ecotone, made up of the tropical deciduous forest, is commonly sparsely populated,
sometimes only by small stands of trees. It may be referred to as savanna.[81]

Preservation[edit]

Preservation efforts in the modern day, include those from Edwin Bustillos.[96] Other groups work to protect
animal species in the area including Conservation International.[97] Basaseachic Falls National Park is
a national park in the mountains containing the highest waterfalls in the country.[7] Since 1979 there has
also been a national park in the transition between the Chihuahuan Desert and the Sierra, the Cumbres de
Majalca National Park.[98] Additionally there are reserves such as La Michilia in the southern Sierra Madre,
[99]
 or the Tutuaca reserve in western Chihuahua, which was established in 2000 under a new system of
management.[100]

People and history[edit]

An early picture of Tarahumara

The mountains are home to several indigenous nations speaking Uto-Aztecan languages, including
the Tarahumara in the central portion of the range, and the Huichol in the southern part of the range. In
addition to the Tarahumara and Huichol, the Tepehuano also inhabited the mountains.[101]

Prehistory[edit]

Archaic cultures are known to have inhabited the Sierra Madre along with the rest of the surrounding lands,
but little is known of the culture, although it does vary between the northern and southern extremes of the
range.[102] The agrarian Chalchihuites Culture began as farming communities around the first century AD
and remained small communities until 300 AD when new agricultural techniques caused a large growth in
population until around 500 AD.[103] This culture began to decline in the ninth century. The Mogollon
culture has been described in the northern foothills. Sites date the emergence of the culture to around 900
AD and abandonment to around 1000–1100 AD.[104] During the period estimated for Mogollon
abandonment, the Rio Sonora culture began agricultural developments along the Rio Sonora and rivers
flowing into it. This culture produced pottery and lived in pit houses, until 1150 to 1200 when they began to
construct surface dwellings.[105] Construction of these houses ended around AD1550. [102]

Spanish Sierra Madre[edit]

In 1554 Francisco de Ibarra came to Durango and began to settle the area. [106] He would explore the
western coast and cross the Sierra Madre in 1564.[107] Early Spanish influence in the area came from the
new silver mines, the first of which was established in 1567 at Santa Barbara. [108] As sites opened for
mining, missionaries came to the areas and had a strong presence by 1595. [109] The first meeting with the
Tarahumara came in 1607, when a missionary went up the valley to meet them. [109] Opposition to the
missionaries built up, leading to the Tepehuán Revolt. This revolt began in 1616 in the town of Santa
Catarina de Tepehuanes in Durango[110] and lasted for two years.[109] The discovery of silver at Parral in
1631 led to the northern limit of settlement moving into Tarahumara lands. [109]

The Jesuits renewed missionary activity in the 1630s, with a new program that increased in scope until
around 1650. Tarahumara moved further into the mountains in order to escape the conditions.
[109]
 A smallpox epidemic caused a revolt in 1645.[111] In 1648 a revolt arose, primarily among the
Tarahumara.[109] A drought caused a pair of revolutions in 1650 and 1652.[111] The last major revolt began in
March 1690 among the Tarahumara and ended in 1698.[112] Demands from labor drafts increased in the
1720s, placing a new pressure on missions.[111] Criticism of the Jesuits rose in the 1730s with complaints of
Jesuit Commerce, which was established by mission stores.[113] In 1767, Jesuits were expelled from New
Spain, ending the mission program.[109]

A new colonial official José de Gálvez came to New Spain and established new laws that caused a boom in
silver mining activity in the 1770s.[114] After the Apache faced heightened resistance to raiding from the
Spanish in Chihuahuan, they moved down to the Sierra Madre in 1794. [115] By 1800, raiding had essentially
ended.[109]

Mexican Sierra Madre[edit]

After leaving San Carlos in fall of 1881 Geronimo and other Apache moved to the mountains, [115] and
became known as the nednai, sometimes referred to as the "Pinery Apache" or "Bronco Apache". [116] From
here they would raid Sonora and the surrounding land until general George Crook entered the mountains in
1883 to discuss Geronimo's return. Geronimo eventually surrendered in 1886. [116] Pancho Villa fled to the
mountains in 1894, becoming a bandit.[117]

Pancho Villa
Railroads came to the area starting in the 1880s and 1890s, which allowed many old mines in the region to
reopen at a profit.[118] Since most of the railroads were American, the foreign influence led to unrest among
the people living in the mountains, causing the Tomochic rebellion in 1892. [119] In addition to the railroads,
canals were constructed in the 1890s in the Yaqui and Mayo river valleys. [120] However, these canal
projects failed due to the resistance that the natives of the valleys put up against the projects. [121] Loggers
began arriving in the mountains in the late 1800s. In response to the new industry, the Tarahumara moved
further into the canyons.[118]

The 1910 revolution began in Chihuahua and spread over the mountains throughout the winter of 1910–
1911.[122] Silver mines were forced to make payments to the rebels, but were allowed to continue operating.
[118]
 General John Pershing began to follow Villa in 1916 and entered the mountains; however, he received
no information from the local population.[21] By 1919 the raids subsided and Villa returned peacefully to the
foothills.

In order to construct irrigation projects in the lowlands below the valleys, irrigation projects were never
completed in the Sonoran hills; instead, the Yaqui River was dammed in the 1930s. [120] Dams continued to
be constructed in the 1940s and 1950s on the Yaqui River and its tributaries with the largest reservoir,
behind the Oviachic dam, completed in 1952. [121] Dams were also constructed on the Mayo river. Because
of the dams, soil conditions fell, and more works were required to improve soil quality. [121] The mountain
range was crossed by the Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacifico railroad completed 1962.[25] The railroad went
up for sale in 1996, but no transaction was ever completed. [123]

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Mantiqueira Mountains
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mantiqueira Mountains
 The range as seen from Passa Quatro

Highest point

Peak Pedra da Mina

Elevation 2,798 m (9,180 ft)

Coordinates
22°25′S 44°51′W

Naming

Native name Serra da Mantiqueira

Geography

Country Brazil

State/Province Southeast

Range coordinates 22°00′S 44°45′WCoordinates:  22°00′S 44°45′W

Borders on Mantiqueira Mountains

The Mantiqueira Mountains (Portuguese: Serra da Mantiqueira) are a mountain range in Southeastern

Brazil, with parts in the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. It rises abruptly from the
northwestern bank of the Paraíba do Sul River and extends northeastward for approximately 320 km
(200 mi), reaching a height of 2,798 m (9,180 ft) at Pedra da Mina. The mountains, which eventually merge
with theSerra do Espinhaço, were originally forest-covered, except for the peaks that rise above the tree
line. They provide charcoal and pasture for cattle; on the lower slopes there are several health and tourist
resorts, such as Campos do Jordão, Brazil's highest city. The nameMantiqueira derives from a Tupi word
meaning "mountains that cry", denoting the large number of springs and streams found there.

The name shows the range's great importance as a source of drinking water, and the waters supply a great
number of important cities in the southeast of Brazil. From its brooks are formed the Jaguari River, which
supplies the northern region of Greater São Paulo; the Paraíba do Sul River, which crosses a densely
populated and highly industrialized region; and the Grande River, which is the source of the Paraná River,
one of the longest and most important in South America and the river with the world's
 largest hydroelectric output, through a series of power plants way down the river
to Argentina and Paraguay.

Many springs of mineral water lie in the regions of Caxambu and São Lourenço in Minas Gerais,
and Campos do Jordão and Serra Negra inSão Paulo.

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Ecology

 2 Altitudes and Climate

 3 Micro-regions

 4 Miscellaneous information

 5 External links

Ecology[edit]

The Serra da Mantiqueira is a part of the Mata Atlântica ecosystem. Despite the clearing of the land for
livestock raising, the difficult access to many areas has made possible for sanctuaries of well-preserved
forest to still exist, with trees such as the jacarandá, Spanish cedar, canjerana, guatambu, ipê,
canela, angico, jequitibá, and also the araucaria, more typical of subtropical South America but found in the
area because of altitude. At its closest point, the region is only 100 km (62 mi) from the city of São Paulo.

It is also the habitat of a varied fauna: pampas deer (locally known as veado campeiro), maned

wolves (lobo guará), cougars (onça-parda or suçuarana), bush dogs (cachorro-
vinagre), ocelots(jaguatirica), pacas, howler monkeys (bugio), Atlantic Titis (sauá), squirrels,
and hedgehogs can still be found there. Birds of note are the azure jay, the toucan, the scaly-headed
parrot (maitaca), the inhambu, the jacana, the seriema and the caracara.

Altitudes and Climate[edit]

The Mantiqueira is a popular region for mountain climbers and trekkers, where in winter, which is the dry
season, one can climb some of the highest peaks in the country:

 Pedra da Mina – 2,798 m (9,180 ft), between Passa Quatro, Minas Gerais, and Queluz, São
Paulo; only recently discovered by GPS measurement to be the highest point in the range, as well the
highest of São Paulo state and the third highest in Minas Gerais.

 Pico das Agulhas Negras – 2,792 m (9,160 ft), in the Itatiaia National Park, between the states of
Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro; formerly thought to be the highest in the range.

 Pico dos Três Estados – 2,665 m (8,743 ft), between the former two peaks, on the border tripoint
of the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
 Pico dos Marins – 2,421 m (7,942 ft), near Piquete, São Paulo, that state's highest point not
shared with another state.

Here are also some of the highest Brazilian cities:

 Campos do Jordão, São Paulo – 1,620 m (5,315 ft)

 Monte Verde (district of Camanducaia), Minas Gerais – 1,550 m (5,085 ft)

 Senador Amaral, Minas Gerais – 1,505 m (4,938 ft)

 Bom Repouso, Minas Gerais – 1,370 m (4,495 ft)

 Maria da Fé, Minas Gerais – 1,280 m (4,199 ft)

 Munhoz, Minas Gerais – 1,260 m (4,134 ft)

 Gonçalves, Minas Gerais – 1,250 m (4,101 ft)

 Visconde de Mauá, Rio de Janeiro – 1,200 m (3,937 ft)

 Delfim Moreira, Minas Gerais – 1,200 m (3,937 ft)

 Bueno Brandão, Minas Gerais – 1,200 m (3,937 ft)

 Barbacena, Minas Gerais – 1,160 m (3,806 ft)

Due to altitude, winter in the Serra da Mantiqueira sees low temperatures, with the occurrence of fog in
early morning and frost, giving the landscape the appearance of regions with a much colder climate. In
winter, it is common for the thermometer to reach temperatures near 0°C (32°F), and then sub-freezing
temperatures not rarely occur in the region's towns. On top of the highest peaks, the cold can be even
more intense, and temperatures can drop to -10°C (14°F). Snow is rare, but has been recorded a few
times, such as in the winter of 1994, when it snowed in the Itatiaia massif.

Micro-regions[edit]

 Cidades Altas: region lying on the right bank of the Jaguari River and including the cities
of Itapeva, Camanducaia, Munhoz, Senador Amaral, Bom Repouso, Bueno Brandão and Ouro Fino, in
the state of Minas Gerais, and Pedra Bela and Serra Negra in the state of São Paulo.

 Entre Rios: between two rivers, the Jaguari, which flows in a north-south direction and is part of
the Tietê River basin, and the Sapucaí-Mirim River, which flows from south to north and forms
the Grande River. It includes the cities of Extrema, Monte Verde, Gonçalves and Sapucaí-
Mirim in Minas Gerais.

 Pinhais: contains two relatively large cities, Campos do Jordão and São Bento do Sapucaí, as well
as Santo Antônio do Pinhal, in the state of São Paulo, and Brasópolis, Piranguçu, Monte Verde district
of Camanducaia and Wenceslau Braz, in the state of Minas Gerais.

 Terras Altas: containing some of the area's oldest cities, such as Passa
Quatro, Itanhandu, Itamonte, Pouso Alto, Alagoa, Virgínia, Delfim Moreira and Marmelópolis, all in
Minas Gerais.
 Itatiaia: with the Itatiaia National Park, the nearby cities of Bocaina de Minas, Liberdade,
and Mirantão in Minas Gerais, Resende and Itatiaia in Rio de Janeiro, and the village of Visconde de
Mauá, which lies partly in each state.

 Ibitipoca: this region is entirely in Minas Gerais, after a sharp northeast turn takes the range away
from the state's southern borders; it includes the cities of Bom Jardim de Minas, Lima Duarte, Santa
Rita de Ibitipoca and Barbacena, the latter being the largest city in the Mantiqueira range.
Miscellaneous information[edit]

Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim composed a song called "Mantiqueira Range" for his album
"Jobim"(1972). Jobim got his inspiration for the piece from the mountain range of the same name.

External links[edit]

 Serra da Mantiqueira (in Portuguese)

 Terras Altas da Mantiqueira (in Portuguese)

 Itatiaia and Itamonte {in English}

 Campos do Jordão City located in Mantiqueira Mountains

Alps
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Alpe" redirects here. For the German river, see Alpe (river). For o
‌ ther uses, see  Alps (disambiguation).

Alps

Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps

Highest point
 Peak Mont Blanc

Elevation 4,810 m (15,780 ft)

Coordinates
45°50′01″N 06°51′54″E

Geography

Relief of the Alps. See also map with international borders marked

Countries List[show]

Range coordinates 46°30′20″N 9°19′49″ECoordinates:  46°30′20″N 9°19′49″E

Geology

Orogeny Alpine orogeny

Period Tertiary

Type of rock Bündner schist, flysch andmolasse

The Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe stretching approximately 1,200

kilometres (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries from Austria and Slovenia in the
east, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, and France to the west, and Italy and Monaco to the south.
[1]
 The mountains were formed over hundreds of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic
plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising
by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn. Mont Blanc
spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,810 m (15,781 ft) is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine
region area contains many peaks higher than 4,000 m (13,123 ft), known as the "four-thousanders".

The altitude and size of the range affects the climate in Europe; in the mountains precipitation levels vary
greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to
elevations of 3,400 m (11,155 ft), and plants such as Edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as
well as in higher elevations. Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Paleolithic era.
Amummified man, determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian
 border in 1991. By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal famously
crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In
1800 Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries
saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular the Romantics, followed by the golden age of
alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks. In World War II, Adolf Hitler kept a base of
operation in the Bavarian Alps throughout the war.

The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. The traditional culture of farming, cheesemaking, and
woodworking still exists in Alpine villages, although the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th
century and expanded greatly after World War II to become the dominant industry by the end of the
century. The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German
Alps. At present the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors. [2]

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Etymology

 2 Geography

 3 Passes

 4 Orogeny and geology

 5 "Four-thousanders" and ascents

 6 Minerals

 7 Glaciers

 8 Rivers and lakes

 9 Climate

 10 Ecology

o 10.1 Flora

o 10.2 Fauna

 11 History

o 11.1 Prehistory to Christianity

o 11.2 Christianity, feudalism, and Napoleonic wars

o 11.3 Exploration

o 11.4 The Romantics

o 11.5 The World Wars

 12 Alpine people and culture

 13 Tourism

 14 Transportation

 15 Notes
 o 15.1 References

o 15.2 Sources

 16 External links

Etymology[edit]

An "alp" refers to a high mountain pasture where cows are brought to for grazing, often with a structure, such as this one on the south

side of the Alps.

The English word Alps derives from the Latin Alpes (through French). Maurus Servius Honoratus, an

ancient commentator of Virgil, says in his commentary (A. X 13) that every high mountains are
called Alpes by Celts. The term may be common to Italo-Celtic, because the Celtic languages have terms
for high mountains derived from alp.

This may be consistent with the theory that in Latin Alpes is a name of non-Indo-European origin (which is
common for prominent mountains and mountain ranges in the Mediterranean region). According to the Old
English Dictionary, the Latin Alpes might possibly derive from a pre-Indo-Europeanword *alb "hill",
with Albania being a related derivation. Interestingly, Albania (which is a foreign name for modern
Albanians) has been used as a name for a number of mountainous areas across Europe. In Roman
times, Albania was a name for the eastern Caucasus, while in the English languageAlbania (or Albany) was
occasionally used as a name for Scotland.[3]

It's likely that alb ("white") and albus have common origins deriving from the association of the tops of tall
mountains or steep hills with snow.

In modern languages the term alp, alm, albe or alpe refers to a grazing pastures in the alpine regions below
the glaciers, not the peaks.[4] An alp refers to a high mountain pasture where cows are taken to be grazed
during the summer months and where hay barns can be found, and the term "the Alps", referring to the
mountains, is a misnomer.[5][6] The term for the mountain peaks varies by nation and language: words such
as horn, kogel, gipfel, andberg are used in German speaking regions: mont and aiguille in French speaking
regions; and monte or cima in Italian speaking regions.[7]

German Alpen is the accusative in origin, but was made the nominative in Modern German, whence
also Alm.[8]
Geography[edit]

Main article:  Geography of the Alps

The Alps extend from France in the west to Slovenia in the east, and from Italy in the south to Germany in the north.

The Alps are a crescent shaped geographic feature of central Europe that ranges in a 800 km (500 mi) arc
from east to west and is 200 km (120 mi) in width. The mean height of the mountain peaks is 2.5 km
(1.6 mi).[9] The range stretches from the Mediterranean Sea north above the Po river basin, extending
through France from Grenoble, eastward through mid and southern Switzerland. The range continues
toward Vienna in Austria, and east to the Adriatic Sea and into Slovenia.[10][11][12] To the south it dips into
northern Italy and to the north extends to Bavaria in Germany.[12] In areas likeChiasso, Switzerland,
and Neuschwanstein, Bavaria, the demarkation between the mountain range and the flatlands are clear; in
other places such asGeneva, the demarkation is less clear. The countries with the greatest alpine territory
are Switzerland, France, Austria and Italy.

The highest portion of the range is divided by the glacial trough of the Rhone valley, with the Pennine
Alps from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa on the Southern side, and the Bernese Alps on
the Northern. The peaks in the easterly portion of the range, in Austria and Slovenia, are smaller than those
in the central and western portions.[12]

The variances in nomenclature in the region spanned by the Alps makes classification of the mountains
and subregions difficult, but a general classification is that of the Eastern Alps and Western Alps with the
divide between the two occurring in eastern Switzerland according to geologist Stefan Schmid, [4] near
the Splügen Pass.

The highest peaks of the Western Alps and Eastern Alps, respectively, are Mont Blanc, at 4,810 m
(15,780 ft)[13] and Piz Bernina at 4,049 metres (13,284 ft). The second-highest peaks are Monte Rosa at
4,634 m (15,200 ft) and Ortler[14] at 3,905 m (12,810 ft), respectively

Series of lower mountain ranges run parallel to the main chain of the Alps, including the French Prealps in
France and the Jura Mountains in Switzerland and France. The secondary chain of the Alps follows
the watershed from the Mediterranean Sea to the Wienerwald, passing over many of the highest and most
well-known peaks in the Alps. From the Colle di Cadibona to Col de Tende it runs westwards, before
turning to the northwest and then, near the Colle della Maddalena, to the north. Upon reaching the Swiss
border, the line of the main chain heads approximately east-northeast, a heading it follows until its end near
Vienna.

Passes[edit]

Teufelsbrücke (Devil's Bridge) at theGotthard Pass; the medieval bridge is below the newer bridge.

See also:  Principal passes of the Alps

The Alps have been crossed for war and commerce, and by pilgrims, students and tourists. Crossing
routes by road, train or foot are known as passes, and usually consist of depressions in the mountains in
which a valley leads from the plains and hilly pre-mountainous zones. In the medieval periodhospices were
established by religious orders at the summits of many of the main passes. [6] The most important passes
are the Brenner Pass, theGreat St. Bernard Pass, the Tenda Pass, the Gotthard Pass, the Semmering
Pass, and the Stelvio Pass.[15]

Crossing the Italian-Austrian border, the Brenner Pass separates the Ötztal Alps and Zillertal Alps and has
been in use as a trading route since the 14th century. The lowest of the Alpine passes at 985 m (3,232 ft),
the Semmering crosses from Lower Austria to Styria; since the 12th century when a hospice was built there
it has seen continuous use. A railroad with a tunnel 1 mile (1.6 km) long was built along the route of the
pass in the mid-19th century. With a summit of 2,469 m (8,100 ft), the Great St. Bernard Pass is one of the
highest in the Alps, crossing the Italian-Swiss border east of the Pennine Alps along the flanks of Mont
Blanc. The pass was used by Napoleon Bonaparte to cross 40,000 troops in 1800. The Saint Gotthard
Pass crosses from Central Switzerland to Ticino; in the late 19th century the 9 miles (14 km) long Saint
Gotthard Tunnel was built connecting Lucerne in Switzerland, with Milan in Italy. At 2,756 m (9,042 ft), the
Stelvio Pass in northern Italy is one of the highest of the Alpine passes; the road was built in the 1820s. [15]

Orogeny and geology[edit]

Main articles: Alpine orogeny  and  Geology of the Alps

Important geological concepts were established as naturalists began studying the rock formations of the
Alps in the 18th century. In the mid-19th century the now defunct theory of geosynclineswas used to
explain the presence of "folded" mountain chains but by the mid-20th century the theory of plate
tectonics became widely accepted.[16]

The geologic folding seen at the Arpanaz waterfall, shown here in a mid-18th century drawing, was noted by 18th-century geologists. [17]

The formation of the Alps (the Alpine orogeny) was an episodic process that began about 300 million years
ago.[18] In the Paleozoic Era the Pangaeansupercontinent consisted of a single tectonic plate; it broke into
separate plates during the Mesozoic Era and the Tethys sea developed
betweenLaurasia and Gondwana during the Jurassic Period.[16] The Tethys was later squeezed between
colliding plates causing the formation of mountain ranges called the Alpide belt, from Gibraltar through
the Himalayas to Indonesia—a process that began at the end of the Mesozoic and continues into the
present. The formation of the Alps was a segment of this orogenic process, [16] caused by the collision
between the African and the Eurasianplates[19] that began in the late Cretaceous Period.[20]

Under extreme compressive stresses and pressure, marine sedimentary rocks were uplifted, creating

characteristic recumbent folds, or nappes, andthrust faults.[21] As the rising peaks underwent erosion, a
layer of marine flysch sediments was deposited in the foreland basin, and the sediments became involved
in younger nappes (folds) as the orogeny progressed. Coarse sediments from the continual uplift and
erosion were later deposited in foreland areas as molasse.[19] The molasse regions in Switzerland and
Bavaria were well-developed and saw further upthrusting of flysch. [22]

The crystalline basement of the Mont Blanc Massif.

The Alpine orogeny occurred in ongoing cycles through to the Paleogene causing differences in nappe
structures, with a late-stage orogeny causing the development of the Jura Mountains.[23] A series of tectonic
events in the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods caused different paleogeographic regions.[23] The
Alps are subdivided by different lithology (rock composition) and nappe structure according to the orogenic
events that affected them.[4] The geological subdivision differentiates the Western, Eastern Alps and
Southern Alps: the Helveticum in the north, the Penninicum and Austroalpine system in the center and,
south of the Periadriatic Seam, theSouthern Alpine system.[24]

Compressed metamorphosed Tethyan sediments and their oceanic basement are sandwiched between the tip of theMatterhorn, which

consists of gneisses originally part of the African plate, and the base of the peak, which is part of the Eurasian plate. [17]

According to geologist Stefan Schmid, because the Western Alps underwent a metamorphic event in
theCenozoic Era while the Austroalpine peaks underwent an event in the Cretaceous Period, the two areas
show distinct differences in nappe formations. [23] Flysch deposits in the Southern Alps
of Lombardy probably occurred in the Cretaceous or later.[23]

Peaks in France, Italy and Switzerland lie in the "Houlliere zone", which consists of basement with
sediments from the Mesozoic Era.[24] High "massifs" with external sedimentary cover are more common in
the Western Alps and were affected by Neogene Period thin-skinned thrusting whereas the Eastern Alps
have comparatively few high peaked massifs.[22] Similarly the peaks in Switzerland extending to western
Austria (Helvetic nappes) consist of thin-skinned sedimentary folding that detachedfrom
former basement rock.[25]

In simple terms the structure of the Alps consists of layers of rock of European, African and oceanic
(Tethyan) origin.[26] The bottom nappe structure is of continental European origin, above which are stacked
marine sediment nappes, topped off by nappes derived from the African plate. [27] The Matterhorn is an
example of the ongoing orogeny and shows evidence of great folding. The tip of the mountain consists
of gneisses from the African plate; the base of the peak, below the glaciated area, consists of European
basement rock. The sequence of Tethyan marine sediments and their oceanic basement is sandwiched
between rock derived from the African and European plates. [17]

The core regions of the Alpine orogenic belt have been folded and fractured in such a manner that erosion
created the characteristic steep vertical peaks of the Swiss Alps that rise seemingly straight out of the
foreland areas.[20] Peaks such as Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, and high peaks in the Pennine Alps
and Hohe Tauern consist of layers of rock from the various orogenies including exposures of basement
rock.[28]

"Four-thousanders" and ascents[edit]

See also:  List of Alpine Four-thousanders

The Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA) has defined a list of 82 "official" Alpine
summits that reach at least 4,000 m (13,123 ft).[29] The list includes not only mountains, but also subpeaks
with little prominence that are considered important mountaineering objectives. Below are listed the 22
"four-thousanders" with at least 500 m (1,640 ft) of prominence.

While Mont Blanc was first climbed in 1786, most of the Alpine four-thousanders were climbed during the
first half of the 19th century; the ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 marked the end of thegolden age of
alpinism. Karl Blodig (1859–1956) was among the first to successfully climb all the major 4,000 m peaks.
He completed his series of ascents in 1911.[30]

The first British Mont Blanc ascent was in 1788; the first female ascent in 1819. By the mid-1850s Swiss
mountaineers had ascended most of the peaks and were eagerly sought as mountain guides. Edward
Whymper reached the top of the Matterhorn in 1865 (after seven attempts), and in 1938 the last of the
six great north faces of the Alps was climbed with the first ascent of the Eiger Nordwand (north face of the
Eiger).[31]

The 22 Alpine four-thousanders with at least 500 metres of topographic prominence[32]

Name Height Range Name Height Range

Mont Blanc 4,810 m (15,781 ft) Graian Alps Dent d'Hérens 4,171 m (13,684 ft) Pennine Alps

Monte Rosa 4,634 m (15,203 ft) Pennine Alps Jungfrau 4,158 m (13,642 ft) Bernese Alps

Dom 4,545 m (14,911 ft) Pennine Alps Aiguille Verte 4,122 m (13,524 ft) Graian Alps

Weisshorn 4,506 m (14,783 ft) Pennine Alps Mönch 4,107 m (13,474 ft) Bernese Alps

Matterhorn 4,478 m (14,692 ft) Pennine Alps Barre des Écrins 4,102 m (13,458 ft) Dauphiné Alps

Dent Blanche 4,357 m (14,295 ft) Pennine Alps Schreckhorn 4,078 m (13,379 ft) Bernese Alps
 Ober
Grand Combin 4,314 m (14,154 ft) Pennine Alps 4,063 m (13,330 ft) Pennine Alps
Gabelhorn

Finsteraarhorn 4,273 m (14,019 ft) Bernese Alps Gran Paradiso 4,061 m (13,323 ft) Graian Alps

Grandes Jorasses 4,208 m (13,806 ft) Graian Alps Piz Bernina 4,049 m (13,284 ft) Bernina Range

Rimpfischhorn 4,199 m (13,776 ft) Pennine Alps Weissmies 4,017 m (13,179 ft) Pennine Alps

Aletschhorn 4,193 m (13,757 ft) Bernese Alps Lagginhorn 4,010 m (13,156 ft) Pennine Alps

A view from the Männlichen of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau (left to right)

Minerals[edit]

The Alps are a source of a minerals that have been mined for thousands of years. In the 8th to 6th
centuries BC during the Hallstatt culture, Celtic tribes mined copper; later the Romans mined gold for coins
in the Bad Gastein area. Erzberg in Styria furnishes high-quality iron ore for the steel industry. Crystals are
found throughout much of the Alpine region such as cinnabar, amethyst, and quartz. The cinnabar deposits
in Slovenia are a notable source of cinnabar pigments.[33]

Alpine crystals have been studied and collected for hundreds of years, and began to be classified in the
18th century. Leonhard Euler studied the shapes of crystals, and by the 19th century crystal hunting was
common in Alpine regions. David Friedrich Wiser amassed a collection of 8000 crystals that he studied and
documented. In the 20th century Robert Parker wrote a well-known work about the rock crystals of the
Swiss Alps; at the same period a commission was established to control and standardize the naming of
Alpine minerals.[34]

Glaciers[edit]

See also:  List of glaciers in Switzerland

In the Miocene Epoch the mountains underwent severe erosion because of glaciation, [20] which was noted
in the mid-19th century by naturalist Louis Agassiz who presented a paper proclaiming the Alps were
covered in ice at various intervals—a theory he formed when studying rocks near his Neuchâtel home
which he believed originated to the west in the Bernese Oberland. Because of his work he came to be
known as the "father of the ice-age concept" although other naturalists before him put forth similar ideas. [35]

Louis Agassiz's studies of the Unteraar Glacier in the 1840s showed that it moved at 100 m (328 ft) per year.[35]

Agassiz studied glacier movement in the 1840s at the Unteraar Glacier where he found the glacier moved
100 m (328 ft) per year, more rapidly in the middle than at the edges. His work was continued by other
scientists and now a permanent laboratory exists inside a glacier under the Jungfraujoch, devoted
exclusively to the study of Alpine glaciers.[35]

Glaciers pick up rocks and sediment with them as they flow. This causes erosion and the formation of
valleys over time. The Inn valley is an example of a valley carved by glaciers during the ice ages with a
typical terraced structure caused by erosion. Eroded rocks from the most recent ice age lie at the bottom of
the valley while the top of the valley consists of erosion from earlier ice ages. [35] Glacial valleys have
characteristically steep walls (reliefs); valleys with lower reliefs and talus slopes are remnants of glacial
troughs or previously infilled valleys.[36] Moraines, piles of rock picked up during the movement of the
glacier, accumulate at edges, center and the terminus of glaciers. [35]
Inside a glacier at the top of the train station at the Jungfraujoch

Alpine glaciers can be straight rivers of ice, long sweeping rivers, spread in a fan-like shape (Piedmont
glaciers), and curtains of ice that hang from vertical slopes of the mountain peaks. Some glaciers flow in
two directions such as the glacier between the Jungfrau and the Mönch in Switzerland and
the Similaun glacier on the border of Italy and Austria.[35] The stress of the movement causes the ice to
break and crack loudly, perhaps explaining why the mountains were believed to be home to dragons in the
medieval period. The cracking creates unpredictable and dangerous crevasses, often invisible under new
snowfall, which cause the greatest danger to mountaineers. [37]

Glaciers end in ice caves (the Rhone Glacier), by trailing into a lake or river, or by shedding snowmelt on a
meadow. Sometimes a piece of glacier will detach or break resulting in flooding, property damage and loss
of life.[37] In the 17th century about 2500 people were killed by an avalanche in a village on the French-
Italian border; in the 19th century 120 homes in a village near Zermatt were destroyed by an avalanche. [38]

High levels of precipitation cause the glaciers to descend to permafrost levels in some areas whereas in
other, more arid regions, glaciers remain above about the 3,500 m (11,483 ft) level.[39] The 1,817 square
kilometres (702 sq mi) of the Alps covered by glaciers in 1876 had shrunk to 1,342 km2(518 sq mi) by 1973,
resulting in decreased river run-off levels. [40] Forty percent of the glaciation in Austria has disappeared since
1850, and 30% of that in Switzerland.[41]

Rivers and lakes[edit]

The St. Bartholomew's chapel on theKönigssee in Bavaria is a popular tourist destination. [42]

The Alps provide lowland Europe with drinking water, irrigation, and hydroelectric power. [43] Although the
area is only about 11 percent of the surface area of Europe, the Alps provide up to 90 percent of water to
lowland Europe, particularly to arid areas and during the summer months. Cities such as Milan depend on
80 percent of water from Alpine runoff.[10][44][45] Water from the rivers is used in over
500 hydroelectricity power plants, generating as much as 2900 kilowatts per hour of electricity. [2]

Major European rivers flow from Switzerland, such as the Rhine, the Rhone, the Inn, the Ticino and
the Po rivers, all of which have headwaters in the Alps and flow into neighbouring countries, finally
emptying into the North Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea. Other rivers such
as the Danube have major tributaries flowing into them that originate in the Alps.[10] The Rhone river is
second to the Nile as a freshwater source to the Mediterranean Sea; the river begins as glacial meltwater,
flows into Lake Geneva, and from there to France where one of its uses is to cool nuclear power plants.
[46]
 The Rhine originates in a 30 square kilometre area in Switzerland and represents almost 60 percent of
water exported from the country.[46] Tributary valleys, some of which are complicated, channel water to the
main valleys which can experience flooding during the snow melt season when rapid runoff causes debris
torrents and swollen rivers.[47]

The rivers form lakes, such as Lake Geneva, a crescent shaped lake crossing the Swiss border with
Geneva on the Swiss side and the town of Evian-les-Bains on the French side. In Germany, the
medieval St. Bartholomew's chapel was built on the south side of the Königssee, accessible only by boat or
by climbing over the abutting peaks.[48]

Scientists have been studying the impact of climate change and water use. For example, each year more
water is diverted from rivers for snowmaking in the ski resorts, the effect of which is yet unknown.
Furthermore, the decrease of glaciated areas combined with a succession of winters with lower-than-
expected precipitation may have a future impact on the rivers in the Alps as well as an effect on the water
availability to the lowlands.[44][49]

Climate[edit]

Main articles: Climate of the Alps and High Alps

The Alps are a classic example of what happens when a temperate area at lower altitude gives way to
higher-elevation terrain. Elevations around the world that have cold climates similar to those of the polar
regions have been called Alpine. A rise from sea level into the upper regions of the atmosphere causes the
temperature to decrease (see adiabatic lapse rate). The effect of mountain chains on prevailing winds is to
carry warm air belonging to the lower region into an upper zone, where it expands in volume at the cost of
a proportionate loss of heat, often accompanied by precipitation in the form of snow or rain. The height of
the Alps is sufficient to divide the weather patterns in Europe into a wet north and a dry south because
moisture is sucked from the air as it flows over the high peaks. [50]
The Aletsch Glacier with pine trees growing on the hillside

The severe weather in the Alps has been studied since the 18th century; particularly the weather patterns
such as the seasonal foehn wind. Numerous weather stations were placed in the mountains early in the
early 20th century, providing continuous data for climatologists. [9] Some of the valleys are quite arid such as
the Aosta valley in Italy, the Grison Alps, and northern Tyrol.[9]

The areas that are not arid and receive high precipitation experience periodic flooding from rapid snowmelt
and runoff.[47] The mean precipitation in the Alps ranges from a low of 2600 mm per year to 3600 mm per
year with the higher levels occurring at high altitudes. At altitudes between 1,000 m (3,281 ft) and 3,000 m
(9,843 ft), snowfall begins in November and accumulates through to April or May when the melt
begins. Snow lines vary from 2,400 m (7,874 ft) to 3,000 m (9,843 ft), above which the snow is permanent
and the temperatures hover around the freezing point even July and August. High-water levels in streams
and rivers peak in June and July when the snow is still melting at the higher altitudes. [51]

The Alps are split into five climatic zones, each with different vegetation. The climate, plant life and animal
life vary among the different sections or zones of the mountains. The lowest zone is the colline zone, which
exists between 500 m (1,640 ft) and 1,000 m (3,281 ft), depending on the location. Themontane zone
extends from 800 m (2,625 ft) to 1,700 m (5,577 ft), followed by the sub-Alpine zone from 1,600 m
(5,249 ft) to 2,400 m (7,874 ft). The Alpine zone, extending from tree line to snow line, is followed by the
glacial zone, which covers the glaciated areas of the mountain. Climatic conditions show variances within
the same zones; for example, weather conditions at the head of a mountain valley, extending directly from
the peaks, are colder and more severe than those at the mouth of a valley which tend to be less severe
and receive less snowfall.[52]

Various models of climate change have been projected into the 22nd century for the Alps, with an
expectation that a trend toward increased temperatures will have an affect on snowfall, snowpack,
glaciation, and river runoff.[53]

Ecology[edit]

Flora[edit]
Main article:  Flora of the Alps
Stemless gentian (Gentiana acaulis)

13,000 species of plants have been identified in the Alpine regions. [2] Alpine plants are grouped by habitat
and soil type which can be limestone or non-calcerous. The habitats range from meadows, bogs, woodland
(deciduous and coniferous) areas to soilless scree and moraines, and rock faces and ridges.[5] A natural
vegetation limit with altitude is given by the presence of the chief deciduous trees—oak,
beech, ash and sycamore maple. These do not reach exactly to the same elevation, nor are they often
found growing together; but their upper limit corresponds accurately enough to the change from a
temperate to a colder climate that is further proved by a change in the presence of wild herbaceous
vegetation. This limit usually lies about 1,200 m (3,940 ft) above the sea on the north side of the Alps, but
on the southern slopes it often rises to 1,500 m (4,920 ft), sometimes even to 1,700 m (5,580 ft).[54]

Above the forestry, there is often a band of short pine trees (Pinus mugo), which is in turn superseded
by Alpenrosen, dwarf shrubs, typicallyRhododendron ferrugineum (on acid soils) or Rhododendron
hirsutum (on alkaline soils).[55] Although the Alpenrose prefers acidic soil, the plants are found throughout
the region.[5] Above the tree line is the area defined as "alpine" where in the alpine meadow plants are
found that have adapted well to harsh conditions of cold temperatures, aridity, and high altitudes. The
alpine area fluctuates greatly because of regional fluctuations in tree lines. [56]

Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum)

Alpine plants such the Alpine gentian grow in abundance in areas such as the meadows above
the Lauterbrunnental. Gentians are named after the Illyrian kingGentius, and 40 species of the early-spring
blooming flower grow in the Alps, in a range of 1,500 m (4,921 ft) to 2,400 m (7,874 ft).[57] Writing about the
gentians in Switzerland D. H. Lawrence described them as "darkening the day-time, torch-like with the
smoking blueness of Pluto's gloom."[58] Gentians tend to "appear" repeatedly as the spring blooming takes
place at progressively later dates, moving from the lower altitude to the higher altitude meadows where the
snow melts much later than in the valleys. On the highest rocky ledges the spring flowers bloom in the
summer.[5]

At these higher altitudes, the plants tend to form isolated cushions. In the Alps, several species of flowering
plants have been recorded above 4,000 m (13,120 ft), including Ranunculus glacialis, Androsace
alpina and Saxifraga biflora. The Eritrichium nanum, commonly known as the King of the Alps, is the most
elusive of the alpine flowers, growing on rocky ridges at 2,600 m (8,530 ft) to 3,750 m (12,303 ft).
[59]
 Perhaps the best known of the alpine plants is the Edelweiss which grows in rocky areas and can be
found at altitudes as low as 1,400 m (4,593 ft) and as high as 3,400 m (11,155 ft).[5] The plants that grow at
the highest altitudes have adapted to conditions by specialization such as growing in rock screes that give
protection from winds.[60]

The extreme and stressful climatic conditions give way to the growth of plant species with secondary
metabolites important for medicinal purposes. Origanum vulgare, Prunella vulgaris, Solanum nigrum
and Urtica dioica are some of the more useful medicinal species found in the Alps.[61]

Human interference has nearly exterminated the trees in many areas, and, except for the beech forests of
the Austrian Alps, forests of deciduous trees are rarely found after the extreme deforestation between the
17th and 19th centuries.[62] The vegetation has changed since the second half of the 20th century, as the
high alpine meadows cease to be harvested for hay or used for grazing which eventually might result in a
regrowth of forest. In some areas the modern practice of building ski runs by mechanical means has
destroyed the underlying tundra from which the plant life cannot recover during the non-skiing months,
whereas areas that still practice a natural pistetype of ski slope building preserve the fragile underlayers.[60]

Fauna[edit]

The Alps are a habitat for 30,000 species of wildlife, ranging from the tiniest snow fleas to brown bears,
many of which have made adaptations to the harsh cold conditions and high altitudes to the point that
some only survive in specific micro-climates either directly above or below the snow line.[2][63]
Young Alpine ibex. When fully grown its horns will be about one metre wide.

The largest mammal to live in the highest altitudes are the Ibex, which have been sighted as high as
3,000 m (9,843 ft). The ibex live in caves and descend to eat the succulent alpine grasses. [64] Classified
as antelopes,[5] Chamois are smaller than ibex and found throughout the Alps, living above the tree line and
are the most prevalent in Austria and Bavaria.[65] Areas of the eastern Alps are still home to brown bears. In
Switzerland the canton of Bern was named for the bears but the last bear is recorded as having been killed
in 1792 above Kleine Scheidegg by three hunters from Grindelwald.[66]

Many rodents such as voles live underground. Marmots live almost exclusively above the tree line as high
as 2,700 m (8,858 ft). They hibernate in large groups to provide warmth, [65] and can be found in all areas of
the Alps, in large colonies they build beneath the alpine pastures. [5] Golden eagles are the largest birds to
be found in the Alps; they nest high on rocky ledges and can be found at altitudes of 2,400 m (7,874 ft).
The most common bird isa the alpine chough which can be found scavenging at climber's huts or at
the Jungfraujoch, a high altitude tourist destination.[67]

The Alpine Apollo Butterfly has adapted to Alpine conditions.

Reptiles such as adders and vipers live up to the snow line; because they cannot bear the cold
temperatures they hibernate underground and soak up the warmth on rocky ledges. [68] The high-
altitude Alpine salamanders have adapted to living above the snow line by giving birth to fully developed
young rather than laying eggs. Brown trout can be found in the streams up to the snow line.[68] Molluscs
such as the wood snail live up the snow line. Popularly gathered as food, the snails are now protected.[69]

A number of species of moths live in the Alps, some of which are believed to have evolved in the same
habitat up to 120 million years ago, long before the Alps were created. Blue moths can commonly be seen
drinking from the snow melt; some species of blue moths fly as high as 1,800 m (5,906 ft).[70] The butterflies
tend to be large, such as those from the swallowtail Parnassus family, with a habitat that ranges to 1,800 m
(5,906 ft). Twelve species of beetles have habitats up to the snow line; the most beautiful and formerly
collected for its colours but now protected is the Rosalia alpina.[71] Spiders, such as the large wolf spider,
live above the snow line and can be seen as high as 400 m (1,312 ft). Scorpions can be found in the Italian
Alps.[69]

Some of the species of moths and insects show evidence of having been indigenous to the area from as
long ago as the Alpine orogeny. In Emosson in Valais, Switzerland, dinosaur tracks were found in 1970s,
dating probably from the Triassic era.[72]

History[edit]

Main article:  History of the Alps

Prehistory to Christianity[edit]

Ötzi, the 5,300-year-old mummy, found in the Ötztal Alpsshown here in a museum reproduction of what he may have looked like.

About 10,000 years ago, when the ice melted after the last glacial period, late Paleolithic communities were
established along the lake shores and in cave systems. Evidence of human habitation has been found in
caves near Vercors, close to Grenoble; in Austria the Mondsee culture shows evidence of houses built on
piles to keep them dry. Standing stones have been found in Alpine areas of France and Italy. The Rock
Drawings in Valcamonica are more than 5000 years old; more than 200,000 drawings and etchings have
been identified at the site.[73]
In 1991 a mummy of a neolithic body, known as Ötzi the Iceman, was discovered by hikers on
the Similaun glacier. His clothing and gear indicate that he lived in an alpine farming community, while the
location and manner of his death—an arrowhead was discovered in his shoulder—suggests he was
traveling from one place to another.[74] Analysis of the Mitochondrial DNA of Ötzi, has shown that he
belongs to the K1 subclade which cannot be categorized into any of the three modern branches of that
subclade. The new subclade has provisionally been named K1ö for Ötzi.[75]

Celtic tribes settled in Switzerland between 1000 to 1500 BC. The Raetians lived in the eastern regions,
while the west was occupied by the Helvetii and theAllobrogi settled in the Rhone valley. Among the many
substances Celtic tribes mined was salt in areas such as Salzburg in Austria where evidence of theHallstatt
culture was found by a mine manager in the 19th century.[73] By the 6th century BC the La Tène culture was
well established in the region,[76] and became known for high quality decorated weapons and jewelry.[77] The
Celts were the most widespread of the mountain tribes—they had warriors that were strong, tall and fair
skinned skilled with iron weapons, which gave them an advantage in warfare. [78]

During the Second Punic War in 218 BC, the Carthaginian general Hannibal probably crossed the Alps with

an army numbering 38,000 infantry, 8,000 cavalry, and 37 war elephants. This was one of the most
celebrated achievements of any military force in ancient warfare, [79] although no evidence exists of the
actual crossing or the place of crossing. The Romans, however, had built roads along the mountain
passes, which continued to be used through the medieval period to cross the mountains and Roman road
markers can still be found on the mountain passes. [80]

Château de Chillon, an early medieval castle on the north shore of Lake Geneva, is shown here against the backdrop of theDents du

Midi

The Roman expansion brought the defeat of the Allobrogi in 121 BC and during the Gallic Wars in 58
BC Julius Caesar overcame the Helvetii. The Rhaetians continued to resist but were eventually conquered
when the Romans turned northward to the Danube valley in Austria and defeated theBrigantes.[81] The
Romans built settlements in the Alps; towns such as Aosta (named for Augustus) in
Italy, Martigny and Lausanne in Switzerland, andPartenkirchen in Bavaria show remains of Roman baths,
villas, arenas and temples.[82] Much of the Alpine region was gradually settled by Germanic tribes,
(Lombards, Alemanni, Bavarii, and Franks) from the 6th to the 13th centuries,[83] with the latest expansion
corresponding to the Walsermigrations.
Christianity, feudalism, and Napoleonic wars[edit]

Christianity was established in the region by the Romans, and saw the establishment of monasteries and
churches in the high regions. The Frankish expansion of the Carolingian Empire and the Bavarian
expansion in the eastern Alps introduced feudalism and the building of castles to support the growing
number of dukedoms and kingdoms. Castello del Buonconsiglio in Trento, Italy, still has intricate frescoes,
excellent examples of Gothic art, in a tower room. In Switzerland, Château de Chillon is preserved as an
example of medieval architecture.[84]

Much of the medieval period was a time of power struggles between competing dynasties such as
the House of Savoy, the Visconti in northern Italy and the House of Habsburg in Austria.[85] In 1291 to
protect themselves from incursions by the Habsburgs, four cantons in the middle of Switzerland drew up
a charter that is considered to be a declaration of independence from neighboring kingdoms. After a series
of battles fought in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, more cantons joined the confederacy and by the 16th
century Switzerland was well-established as a separate state. [86]

Russian troops under Suvorov crossing the Alps in 1799

During the Napoleonic Wars in the late 18th century and early 19th century, Napoleon annexed territory
formerly controlled by the Habsburgs and Savoys. In 1798 he established the Helvetic Republic in
Switzerland; two years later he led an army across the St. Bernhard pass and conquered almost all of the
Alpine regions.[87]

In the 19th century, the monasteries built in the high Alps during the medieval period to shelter travelers
and as places of pilgrimage, became tourist destinations. The Benedictines had built monasteries
in Lucerne, Switzerland, and Oberammergau; the Cistercians in the Tyrol and at Lake Constance; and
the Augustinians had abbeys in the Savoy and one in the center of Interlaken, Switzerland.[88] The Great St
Bernard Hospice, built in the 9th or 10th centuries, at the summit of the Great Saint Bernard Pass was
shelter for travelers and place for pilgrims since its inception; by the 19th century it became a tourist
attraction with notable visitors such as author Charles Dickens and mountaineer Edward Whymper.[89]

Exploration[edit]
Main article:  Exploration of the High Alps
The first ascent of the Matterhorn (1865), lithograph byGustave Doré

Radiocarbon dated charcoal placed around 50,000 years ago was found in the Drachloch (Dragon's Hole)
cave above the village of Vattis in the canton of St. Gallen, proving that the high peaks were visited by
prehistoric people. Seven bear skulls from the cave may have been buried by the same prehistoric people.
[90]
The peaks, however, were mostly ignored except for a few notable examples, and long left to the
exclusive attention of the people of the adjoining valleys. [91] The mountain peaks were seen as terrifying,
the abode of dragons and demons, to the point that people blindfolded themselves to cross the Alpine
passes.[92] The glaciers remained a mystery and many still believed the highest areas to be inhabited by
dragons.[93]

Charles VII of France ordered his chamberlain to climb Mont Aiguille in 1356. The knight reached the
summit of Rocciamelone where he left a bronze triptych of three crosses, a feat which he conducted with
the use of ladders to traverse the ice. [94] In 1492 Antoine de Ville climbed Mont Aiguille, without reaching the
summit, an experience he described as "horrifying and terrifying." [91] Leonardo da Vinci was fascinated by
variations of light in the higher altitudes, and climbed a mountain—scholars are uncertain which one; some
believe it may have been Monte Rosa. From his description of a "blue like that of a gentian" sky it is
thought that he reached a significantly high altitude. [95] In the 18th century four Chamonix man almost made
the summit of Mont Blanc but were overcome by altitude sickness and snowblindness. [96]

Conrad Gessner was the first naturalist to ascend the mountains in the 16th century, to study them, writing
that in the mountains he found the "theatre of the Lord".[97] By the 19th century more naturalists began to
arrive to explore, study and conquer the high peaks; they were followed by artists, writers and painters.
[98]
 Two men who first explored the regions of ice and snow were Horace-Bénédict de Saussure (1740–
1799) in the Pennine Alps,[99] and the Benedictine monk of Disentis Placidus a Spescha (1752–1833).
[98]
 Born in Geneva, Saussure was enamored with the mountains from an early age; he left a law career to
become a naturalist and spent many years trekking through the Bernese Oberland, the Savois, the
Piedmont and Valais, studying the glaciers and the geology, as he became an early proponent of the
theory of rock upheaval.[100] Saussure, in 1787, was a member of the third ascent of Mont Blanc—today the
summits of all the peaks have been climbed.[31]

The Romantics[edit]

Jean-Jacques Rousseau of Geneva was the first of many to present the Alps as a place of allure and
beauty, banishing the prevalent conception of the mountains as a hellish wasteland inhabited by demons.
Rousseau's conception of alpine purity was later emphasized with the publication of Albrecht von Haller's
poem Die Alpen that described the mountains as an area of mythical purity.[101] Late in the 18th century the
first wave of Romantics such as Goethe and Turner came to admire the scenery; Wordsworth visited the
area in 1790, writing of his experiences in The Prelude. Schiller later wrote the play William
Tell romanticising Swiss independence. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the Alpine countries began
to see an influx of poets, artists, and musicians, [102] as visitors came to experience the sublime effects of
monumental nature.[103]

In 1816 Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and his wife Mary Shelley visited Geneva and all three were inspired
by the scenery in their writings.[102] During these visits Shelley wrote the poem "Mont Blanc", Byron wrote
"The Prisoner of Chillon" and the dramatic poem Manfred, and Mary Shelley, who found the scenery
overwhelming, conceived the idea for the novel Frankenstein in her villa on the shores of Lake Geneva in
the midst of a thunderstorm. When Coleridge travelled to Chamonix, he declaimed, in defiance of Shelley,
who had signed himself "Atheos" in the guestbook of the Hotel de Londres near Montenvers, [104] "Who
would be, who could be an atheist in this valley of wonders". [105] By the mid-19th century scientists began to
arrive en masse to study the geology and ecology of the region. [106]

The World Wars[edit]

During World War I, an estimated 40,000 to 80,000 soldiers died as a result of avalanches during the
mountain campaign in the Alps at the Austrian-Italian front, many of which were caused byartillery fire.[107]
[108]
 Some 10,000 men, from both sides, lost their lives in avalanches in December 1916. [109]

Austrian-born Adolf Hitler had a lifelong romantic fascination with the Alps and by the 1930s established a
home in the Obersalzberg region outside of Berchtesgaden. His first visit to the area was in 1923 and he
maintained a strong tie there until the end of his life. At the end of World War II the US Army occupied
Obersalzberg, to prevent Hitler from retreating with the Wehrmacht into the mountains.[110]
The Nazis hid looted art in salt mines atAltaussee, such as the Early NetherlandishGhent Altarpiece which sustained significant

damage.

By 1940 the Third Reich had occupied many of the Alpine countries. Austria underwent a political coup that
made it part of the Third Reich; France had been invaded and Italy was a fascist regime. Switzerland was
the only country to luckily avoid invasion.[111] The Swiss Confederate mobilized its troops—the country
follows the doctrine of "armed neutrality" with all males required to have military training—a number
that General Eisenhower estimated to be about 850,000. The Swiss commanders wired the infrastructure
leading into the country, and threatening to destroy bridges, railway tunnels and passes in the event of a
Nazi invasion, and then they retreated to the heart of the mountain peaks where conditions were harsher
and a military invasion would involve difficult and protracted battles. [112]

Ski troops were trained for the war, and battles were waged in mountainous areas such as the battle at
Riva Ridge in Italy, where the American 10th Mountain Division encountered heavy resistance in February
1945.[113] At the end of the war, a substantial amount of Nazi plunder was found stored in Austria, where
Hitler had hoped to retreat as the war drew to a close. The salt mines surrounding the Altaussee area,
where American troops found 75 kilos of gold coins stored in a single mine, were used to store looted art,
jewels, and currency; vast quantities of looted art were found and returned to the owners. [114]

Alpine people and culture[edit]

Further information:  Transhumance in the Alps  and  Swiss folklore

The population of the region is 14 million spread across eight countries. [2] On the rim of the mountains, on
the plateaus and the plains the economy consists of manufacturing and service jobs whereas in the higher
altitudes and in the mountains farming is still essential to the economy. [115]

Hallstatt is known for its production of salt, dating back to prehistoric times.

Much of the Alpine culture is unchanged since the medieval period when skills that guaranteed survival in
the mountain valleys and in the highest villages became mainstays, leading to strong traditions of
carpentry, woodcarving, baking and pastry-making, and cheesemaking. [116] Farming and forestry continue
to be mainstays of Alpine culture, industries that provide for export to the cities and maintain the mountain
ecology.[117]
Farming had been a traditional occupation for centuries, although is becoming less dominant in the 20th
century with the advent of tourism. Grazing and pasture land is limited because of the steep and rocky
topography of the Alps. In mid-June cows are moved to the highest pastures close to the snowline, where
they are watched by herdsmen who stay in the high altitudes often living in stone huts or wooden barns
during the summers.[116]Villagers celebrate the day the cows are herded up to the pastures and again when
they return in mid-September. The Alpanschluss or Desalpes("coming down from the alps") is celebrated
by decorating the cows with garlands and enormous cowbells while the farmers dress in traditional
costumes.[116]

Herding sheep

Cheesemaking is an ancient tradition in most Alpine countries. A wheel of cheese from the Emmental in
Switzerland can weigh up to 100 pounds, and owners of the cows traditionally receive from the
cheesemakers a portion in relation to the proportion of the cow's milk from the summer months in the high
alps. Haymaking is an important farming activity in mountain villages which has become somewhat
mechanized recent years, although the slopes are so steep that usually scythes are necessary to cut the
grass. Hay is normally brought in twice a year, often also on festival days. [116] Alpine festivals vary from
country to country and often include the display of local costumes such as dirndl and trachten, the playing
of Alpenhorns, wrestling matches, some pagan traditions such asWalpurgis Night, and in many
areas Carnival is celebrated before Lent.[118]

In the high villages people live in homes built according to medieval designs that withstand cold winters.
The kitchen is separated from the living area (called the stube, the area of the home heated by a stove),
and second-floor bedrooms benefit from rising heat. The typical Swiss chalet originated in the Bernese
Oberland. Chalets often face south or downhill, are built of solid wood, with a steeply gabled roof to allow
accumulated snow to slide off easily. Stairs leading to upper levels are sometimes built on the outside, and
balconies are sometimes enclosed.[116][119]

Food is passed from the kitchen to the stube, where the dining room table is placed. Some meals are
communal, such as fondue, where a pot is set in the middle of the table for each person to dip into. Other
meals are still served in a traditional manner on carved wooden plates. Furniture has been traditionally
elaborately carved and in many Alpine countries carpentry skills are passed from generation to generation.
Roofs are constructed from Alpine rocks such as pieces of schist, gneiss or slate.[120]
The Alpine regions are multicultural and linguistically diverse. Dialects are common, and vary from valley to
valley, region to region. In the Slavic Alps alone 19 dialects have been identified. Some of the French
dialects spoken in the French and Swiss Alps derive from Old Provençal; the German dialects derive from
Germanic tribal languages.[121] Romansh, spoken by two percent of the population in southeast Switzerland,
is an ancient Rheato-Romanic language derived from Latin, remnants of ancient Celtic languages and
perhaps Etruscan.[121]

Tourism[edit]

Further information:  Tourism in Austria, Tourism in France,  Tourism in Italy,  Tourism in

Slovenia,  and  Tourism in Switzerland

The ski resort in Speikboden, Italy

At present the Alps are one of the more popular tourist destinations in the world with many resorts
such Oberstdorf, in Bavaria, Saalbach in Austria,Davos in Switzerland, Chamonix in France, and Cortina
d'Ampezzo in Italy recording more than a million annual visitors. With over 120 million visitors a year
tourism is integral to the Alpine economy with much it coming from winter sports although summer visitors
are an important component of the tourism industry.[122]

The tourism industry began in the early 19th century when foreigners visited the Alps, traveled to the bases
of the mountains to enjoy the scenery, and stayed at the spa-resorts. Large hotels were built during
the Belle Époque; cog-railways, built early in the 20th century, brought tourists to ever higher elevations,
with the Jungfraubahn terminating at the Jungfraujoch after going through a tunnel in Eiger. During this
period winter sports were slowly introduced: in 1882 the first figure skating championship was held in St.
Moritz, and downhill skiing became a popular sport with English visitors early in the 20th century, [122] as the
first ski-lift was installed in 1908 above Grindelwald. [123]
Karl Schranz running the Lauberhorn in 1966

In the first half of the 20th century the Olympic Winter Games were held three times in Alpine venues:
the1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France; the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland; and
the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. During World War II the winter games
were canceled but after that time the Winter Games have been held in St. Moritz (1948),Cortina d'Ampezzo
(1956), Innsbruck, Austria (1964 and 1976), Grenoble, France, (1968), Albertville, France, (1992),
and Torino (2006) .[124] In 1930 theLauberhorn Rennen (Lauberhorn Race), was run for the first time on
the Lauberhorn above Wengen;[125] the equally demanding Hahnenkamm was first run in the same year
in Kitzbühl, Austria.[126] Both races continue to be held each January on successive weekends. The
Lauberhorn is the more strenuous downhill race at 4.5 km (2.8 mi) and poses danger to racers who reach
130 km/h (81 mph) within seconds of leaving the start gate. [127]

During the post-World War I period ski-lifts were built in Swiss and Austrian towns to accommodate winter
visitors, but summer tourism continued to be important; by the mid-20th century the popularity of downhill
skiing increased greatly as it became more accessible and in the 1970s several new villages were built in
France devoted almost exclusively to skiing, such as Les Menuires. Until this point Austria and Switzerland
had been the traditional and more popular destinations for winter sports, but by the end of the 20th century
and into the early 21st century, France, Italy and the Tyrol began to see increases in winter visitors.
[122]
 From 1980 to the present, ski-lifts have been modernized and snow-making machines installed at many
resorts, leading to concerns regarding the loss of traditional Alpine culture and questions regarding
sustainable development as the winter ski industry continues to develop quickly and the number of summer
tourists decline.[122]

Transportation[edit]
Zentralbahn Interregio train following theLake Brienz shoreline, near Niederried in Switzerland.

The region is serviced by 4,200 km (2,600 mi) of roads used by 6 million vehicles.[2] Train travel is well
established in the Alps, with, for instance 120 km (75 mi) of track for every 1,000 km2 (390 sq mi) in a
country such as Switzerland.[128] Most of Europe's highest railways are located there. Moreover, plans are
underway to build a 57 km (35 mi)-long sub-alpine tunnel connecting the
older Lötschberg and Gotthard tunnels built in the 19th century.[129]

Some high mountain villages, such as Avoriaz (in France), Wengen, and Zermatt (in Switzerland) are
accessible only by cable car or cog-rail trains, and are car free. Other villages in the Alps are considering
becoming car free zones or limiting the number of cars for reasons of sustainability of the fragile Alpine
terrain.[130]

The lower regions and larger towns of the Alps are well-served by motorways and main roads, but higher
mountain passes and byroads can be treacherous even in summer due to steep slopes. Many passes are
closed in winter. A multitude of airports around the Alps (and some within), as well as long-distance rail
links from all neighbouring countries, afford large numbers of travellers easy access from abroad. [2]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

1. Jump up^ "Alpine Convention". Alpine Conferences. Retrieved August 3, 2012

2. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g Chatré, Baptiste, et al. (2010), 8

3. Jump up^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". Etymonline.com. 1955-05-14. Retrieved 2012-04-18.

4. ^ Jump up to:a b c Schmid et al. (2004), 93

5. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g Reynolds, (2012), 43–45

6. ^ Jump up to:a b Fleming (2000), 4

7. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 117–119

8. Jump up^ "Names". Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Swissworld.org. Retrieved August 3, 2012

9. ^ Jump up to:a b c Ceben (1998), 22–24

10. ^ Jump up to:a b c Chatré, Baptiste, et al. (2010), 9

11. Jump up^ Fleming (2000), 1

12. ^ Jump up to:a b c Beattie (2006), xii–xiii

13. Jump up^ Shoumtoff (2001), 23

14. Jump up^ Excluding the Piz Zupò and Piz Roseg located in the Bernina range, close to Piz Bernina.

15. ^ Jump up to:a b Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopedia Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica.

Retrieved 6 August 2012

16. ^ Jump up to:a b c Graciansky (2011), 1–2

17. ^ Jump up to:a b c Graciansky (2011), 5

18. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 35

19. ^ Jump up to:a b Gerrard, (1990), 9

20. ^ Jump up to:a b c Gerrard, (1990), 16

21. Jump up^ Earth (2008), 142

22. ^ Jump up to:a b Schmid (2004), 102

23. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Schmid (2004), 97

24. ^ Jump up to:a b Schmid, 99

25. Jump up^ Schmid (2004), 103

26. Jump up^ Graciansky (2011), 29

27. Jump up^ Graciansky (2011), 31

28. Jump up^ Beattie (2006), 6–8

29. Jump up^ "The 4000ers of the Alps: Official UIAA List" (PDF).UIAA-Bulletin (145). March 1994. Archived

from the original on 7 March 2010.

30. Jump up^ Michael Huxley, The Geographical magazine: Volume 59, Geographical Press, 1987

31. ^ Jump up to:a b Shoumatoff (2001), 197–200

32. Jump up^ "4000 m Peaks of the Alps". Bielefeldt.de. 2010-07-06. Retrieved 2012-08-09.

33. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 49–53

34. Jump up^ Roth, 10–17

35. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f Shoumatoff (2001), 63–68

36. Jump up^ Gerrard, (1990), 132

37. ^ Jump up to:a b Shoumatoff (2001), 71–72

38. Jump up^ Fleming (2000), 89–90

39. Jump up^ Gerrard, (1990), 78

40. Jump up^ Gerrard, (1990), 108

41. Jump up^ Ceben (1998), 38

42. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 31

43. Jump up^ Chatré, Baptiste, et al. (2010), 5

44. ^ Jump up to:a b Benniston et al. (2011), 1

45. Jump up^ Price, Martin. Mountains: Globally Important Eco-systems". University of Oxford

46. ^ Jump up to:a b Benniston et al. (2011), 3

47. ^ Jump up to:a b Ceben (1998), 31

48. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 24, 31

49. Jump up^ Chatré, Baptiste, et al. (2010), 13

50. Jump up^ Fleming (2000), 3

51. Jump up^ Ceben (1998), 34–36

52. Jump up^ Viazzo (1980), 17

53. Jump up^ Benniston (2011), 3–4

54. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 75

55. Jump up^ Beattie (2006), 17

56. Jump up^ Körner (2003), 9

57. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 85

58. Jump up^ qtd in Beattie (2006), 17

59. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 87

60. ^ Jump up to:a b Sharp (2002), 14

61. Jump up^ Kala, C.P. and Ratajc, P. 2012."High altitude biodiversity of the Alps and the Himalayas:

ethnobotany, plant distribution and conservation perspective". Biodiversity and Conservation, 21 (4): 1115–1126.

62. Jump up^ Gerrard (1990), 225

63. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 90, 96, 101

64. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 104

65. ^ Jump up to:a b Shoumatoff (2001), 102–103

66. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 101

67. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 97–98

68. ^ Jump up to:a b Shoumatoff (2001), 96

69. ^ Jump up to:a b Shoumatoff (2001), 88–89

70. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 93

71. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 91

72. Jump up^ Reynolds (2012), 75

73. ^ Jump up to:a b Beatttie, (2006), 25

74. Jump up^ Beatttie, (2006), 21

75. Jump up^ Luca Ermini et al., "Complete Mitochondrial Genome Sequence of the Tyrolean

Iceman," Current Biology, vol. 18, no. 21 (30 October 2008), pp. 1687–1693.

76. Jump up^ Fleming (2000), 2

77. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 131

78. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 110

79. Jump up^ Lancel, Serge, (1999), 71

80. Jump up^ Prevas (2001), 68–69

81. Jump up^ Beatttie, (2006), 27

82. Jump up^ Beattie, (2006), 28–31

83. Jump up^ Beattie, (2006), 31, 34

84. Jump up^ Beattie, (2006), 32, 34, 37, 43

85. Jump up^ Beattie, (2006), 41, 46, 48

86. Jump up^ Beattie, (2006), 56, 66

87. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 182–183

88. Jump up^ Beattie, (2006), 69–70

89. Jump up^ Beattie, (2006), 73, 75–76

90. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 108

91. ^ Jump up to:a b Shoumatoff (2001), 188–191

92. Jump up^ Fleming (2000), 6

93. Jump up^ Fleming (2000), 12

94. Jump up^ Fleming (2000), 5

95. Jump up^ qtd in Shoumatoff (2001), 193

96. Jump up^ Shoumatoff (2001), 192–194

97. Jump up^ Fleming (2000), 8

98. ^ Jump up to:a b Fleming (2000), vii

99. Jump up^ Fleming (2000), 27

100. Jump up^ Fleming (2000), 12–13, 30, 27

101. Jump up^ Beattie, (2006), 121–123

102. ^ Jump up to:a b Fleming (2000), 83

103. Jump up^ Beattie, (2006), 125–126

104. Jump up^ Geoffrey Hartman, "Gods, Ghosts, and Shelley's 'Atheos'", Literature and Theology, Volume 24,

Issue 1, pp. 4–18

105. Jump up^ Beattie, (2006), 127–133

106. Jump up^ Beattie, (2006), 139

107. Jump up^ Davis, Lee (2009). Natural Disasters, New Edition. Infobase Publishing. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-4381-

1878-9.

108. Jump up^ Eduard Rabofsky et al., Lawininenhandbuch, Innsbruck, Verlaganstalt Tyrolia, 1986, p. 11

109. Jump up^ History Channel - December 13, 1916: Soldiers perish in avalanche as World War I rages

110. Jump up^ Mitchell (2007), 7–10

111. Jump up^ Halbrook (1998), 1

112. Jump up^ Halbrook (2006), 1–3

113. Jump up^ Feuer (2006), viii

114. Jump up^ Mitchell (2007), 10, 151

115. Jump up^ Chartes et. el. (2010), 14

116. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Shoumataff (2001), 123–126

117. Jump up^ Chartes et. el. (2010), 5

118. Jump up^ Shoumataff (2001), 129, 135

119. Jump up^ Shoumataff (2001), 134

 120. Jump up^ Shoumataff (2001), 131, 134

121. ^ Jump up to:a b Shoumataff (2001), 114–166

122. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Bartaletti, Fabrizio."What Role Do the Alps Play within World Tourism?". Commission

Internationale pour la Protection des Alpes. CIRPA.org. Retrieved 9 August 2012

123. Jump up^ Beattie (2006), 198

124. Jump up^ "21 Past Olympic Games". Olympic.org. Retrieved August 13, 2012

125. Jump up^ Lauberhorn History. Retrieved August 14, 2012.

126. Jump up^ "Hahenkamm Races Kitzbuhel". HKR.com. Retrieved August 13, 2012

127. Jump up^ Lauberhorn Downhill. Retrieved August 14, 2012.

128. Jump up^ "Rail". Swissworld.org. Retrieved August 20, 2012

129. Jump up^ "The Longest Hole". Swissworld.org. Retrieved August 20, 2012

130. Jump up^ Hudson (2000), 107

Sources[edit]

 Allaby, Michael et al. The Encyclopedia of Earth. (2008). Berkeley: University of California

Press. ISBN 978-0-520-25471-8

 Beattie, Andrew. (2006). The Alps: A Cultural History. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN
978-0-19-530955-3

 Benniston, Martin, et al. (2011). "Impact of Climatic Change on Water and Natural Hazards in the
Alps". Environmental Science and Policy. Volume 30. 1–9

 Cebon, Peter, et al. (1998). Views from the Alps: Regional Perspectives on Climate Change.
Cambridge MA: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-03252-0

 Chatré, Baptiste, et al. (2010). The Alps: People and Pressures in the Mountains, the Facts at a
Glance. Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention (alpconv.org). Retrieved August 4,
2012. ISBN 978-88-905158-2-8

 De Graciansky, Pierre-Charles et al. (2011). The Western Alps, From Rift to Passive Margin to
Orogenic Belt. Amsterdam: Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-444-53724-9

 Feuer, A.B. (2006). Packs On!: Memoirs of the 10th Mountain Division in World War II.
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3289-5

 Fleming, Fergus. (2000). Killing Dragons: The Conquest of the Alps. New York: Grove. ISBN 978-
0-8021-3867-5

 Halbrook, Stephen P. (1998). Target Switzerland: Swiss Armed Neutrality in World War II.
Rockville Center, NY: Sarpedon. ISBN 978-1-885119-53-7

 Halbrook, Stephen P. (2006). The Swiss and the Nazis: How the Alpine Republic Survived in the
Shadow of the Third Reich. Havertown, PA: Casemate. ISBN 978-1-932033-42-7

 Hudson, Simon. (2000). Snow Business: A Study of the International Ski Industry. New York:
Cengage ISBN 978-0-304-70471-2
 Gerrard, AJ. (1990) Mountain Environments: An Examination of the Physical Geography of
Mountains. Boston: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-07128-4

 Körner, Christian. (2003). Alpine Plant Life. New York: Springer Verlag. ISBN 978-3-540-00347-2

 Lancel, Serge. (1999). Hannibal. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-21848-7

 Mitchell, Arthur H. (2007). Hitler's Mountain. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-2458-0

 Prevas, John. (2001). Hannibal Crosses The Alps: The Invasion Of Italy And The Punic Wars.
Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81070-1

 Reynolds, Kev. (2012) The Swiss Alps. Cicerone Press. ISBN 978-1-85284-465-3

 Roth, Philipe. (2007). Minerals first Discovered in Switzerland. Lausanne, CH: Museum of

Geology. ISBN 978-3-9807561-8-1

 Schmid, Stefan M. (2004). "Regional tectonics: from the Rhine graben to the Po plain, a summary
of the tectonic evolution of the Alps and their forelands". Basel: Geologisch-Paläontologisches Institut

 Sharp, Hilary. (2002). Trekking and Climbing in the Western Alps. London: New Holland. ISBN
978-0-8117-2954-3

 Schmid, Stefan M.et al. (2004). "Tectonic map and overall architecture of the Alpine
orogen". Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae. Volume 97. 93–117

 Shoumatoff, Nicholas and Nina. (2001). The Alps: Europe's Mountain Heart. Ann Arbor, MI:
University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-11111-4

 Viazzo, Pier Paolo. (1980). Upland Communities: Environment, Population and Social Structure in
the Alps since the Sixteenth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-3066-
8

Cascade Range
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from Cascade Mountains)

Cascade Range

Cascade Mountains (in Canada)

"The Cascades"
 Cascades in Washington, with Mount Rainier in the background

Highest point

Peak Mount Rainier

Elevation 14,411 ft (4,392 m)

Coordinates 46°51′1.9″N 121°45′35.6″WCoordinates:  46°51′1.9″N 121°45′35.6″

W

Dimensions

Length 700 mi (1,100 km) north-south

Width 80 mi (130 km)

Geography

Countries United States and Canada

Provinces/States British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California

Geology

Period Pliocene

The Cascade Range (or Cascades) is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from

southern British Columbia throughWashington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-
volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notablevolcanoes known as the High Cascades.
The small part of the range in British Columbia is referred to as the Canadian Cascades or, locally, as
the Cascade Mountains. The latter term is also sometimes used by Washington residents to refer to the
Washington section of the Cascades in addition to North Cascades, the more usual U.S. term, as in North
Cascades National Park. The highest peak in the range isMount Rainier in Washington at 14,411 feet
(4,392 m).

The Cascades are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the ring of volcanoes and associated mountains around
the Pacific Ocean. All of the eruptions in the contiguous United States over the last 200 years have been
 from Cascade volcanoes. The two most recent were Lassen Peakfrom 1914 to 1921 and a major eruption
of Mount St. Helens in 1980. Minor eruptions of Mount St. Helens have also occurred since, most recently
in 2005.[1]

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Geography

 2 History

 3 Geology

 4 Human uses and legends

 5 Ecology

 6 See also

 7 Notes

 8 References

 9 External links

Geography[edit]
Map of the Cascade Range showing major volcanic peaks.

The Cascades extend northward from Lassen Peak (also known as Mount Lassen) in northernCalifornia to
the confluence of the Nicola and Thompson rivers in British Columbia. The Fraser River separates the
Cascades from the Coast Mountains.[2] The highest volcanoes of the Cascades, known as the High
Cascades,[3] dominate their surroundings, often standing twice the height of the nearby mountains. They
often have a visual height (height above nearby crestlines) of 1 mi (1.6 km) or more. The highest peaks,
such as the 14,411 ft (4,392 m)Mount Rainier, dominate their surroundings for 50 to 100 mi (80 to 161 km).

The northern part of the range, north of Mount Rainier, is known as the North Cascades in the United
States but is formally named the Cascade Mountains north of the Canada – United States border, reaching
to the northern extremity of the Cascades at Lytton Mountain.[4] Overall, the North Cascades and
southwestern Canadian Cascades are extremely rugged, with many of the lesser peaks steep and
glaciated, with valleys quite low relative to its peaks and ridges, resulting in great local relief.[5] The
southern part of the Canadian Cascades, particularly the Skagit Range, is geologically and topographically
similar to the North Cascades, while the northern and northeastern parts are less glaciated and more
plateau-like in character, resembling nearby areas of the Thompson Plateau.[2]

Because of the range's proximity to the Pacific Ocean and the region's prevailing westerly winds,
precipitation is substantial, especially on the western slopes, with annual snow accumulations of up to
1,000 in (25,000 mm) in some areas. For example, Mount Baker recorded the largest single-season
snowfall on record in the world in the winter of 1998–1999 with 1,140 inches (29,000 mm).[6] Prior to that
year, Mount Rainier held the world record for snow accumulation at Paradise in 1978. It is not uncommon
for some places in the Cascades to have over 500 in (13,000 mm) of annual snow accumulation, such as
at Lake Helen, near Lassen Peak.[7] Most of the High Cascades are therefore white with snow and ice year-
round. The western slopes are densely covered with Douglas-fir, Western Hemlock and Red alder,[8] while
the drier eastern slopes are mostlyPonderosa Pine, with some Western Larch, and Subalpine
Fir and Alpine Larch at higher elevations.[9] Annual rainfall drops to 9 in (230 mm) on the
eastern foothills due to a rainshadow effect.[10]

Beyond the eastern foothills is an arid plateau that was created 16 million years ago as a coalescing series
of layered flood basalt flows. Together, these sequences of fluid volcanic rock form a 200,000 sq mi
(520,000 km2) region out of eastern Washington, Oregon, and parts of Northern California and Idaho called
the Columbia River Plateau.[11]

The Columbia Gorge marks where theColumbia River splits the Cascade Range between the states of Washington and Oregon.

The Columbia River Gorge is the only major break in the American part of the Cascades. When the
Cascades started to rise 7 million years ago in the Pliocene, the Columbia River drained the relatively
low Columbia Plateau. As the range grew, erosion from the Columbia River was able to keep pace,
creating the gorge and major pass seen today. The gorge also exposes uplifted and warped layers of
basalt from the plateau.[12][13]

History[edit]

In early 1792 British navigator George Vancouver explored Puget Sound and gave English names to the
high mountains he saw. Mount Baker was named for Vancouver's third lieutenant, Joseph Baker, although
the first European to see it was Manuel Quimper, who named it "La gran Montaña del Carmelo" in 1790.
[14]
 Mount Rainier was named after Admiral Peter Rainier. Later in 1792 Vancouver had his
lieutenant William Robert Broughtonexplore the lower Columbia River. He named Mount Hood after Lord
Samuel Hood, an admiral of the Royal Navy. Mount St. Helens was sighted by Vancouver in May 1792,
from near the mouth of the Columbia River. It was named for Alleyne FitzHerbert, 1st Baron St Helens, a
British diplomat.[15]Vancouver's expedition did not, however, name the mountain range which contained
these peaks. He referred to it simply as the "eastern snowy range". Earlier Spanish explorers called
it sierra nevadas, meaning "snowy mountains".[14]

In 1805 the Lewis and Clark Expedition passed through the Cascades on the Columbia River, which for
many years was the only practical way to pass that part of the range. They were the first non-indigenous
people to see Mount Adams, but they thought it was Mount St. Helens. When they later saw Mount St.
Helens they thought it was Mount Rainier.[16] On their return trip Lewis and Clark spotted a high but distant
snowy pinnacle that they named for the sponsor of the expedition, U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.
[17]
 Lewis and Clark called the Cascade Range the "Western Mountains". [18]

West side view of Mount Shuksan in summer as seen from Artist Point inWashington

The Lewis and Clark expedition, and the many settlers and traders that followed, met their last obstacle to
their journey at the Cascades Rapids in theColumbia River Gorge, a feature on the river now submerged
beneath the Bonneville Reservoir. Before long, the great white-capped mountains that loomed above the
rapids were called the "mountains by the cascades" and later simply as the "Cascades". The earliest
attested use of the name "Cascade Range" is in the writings of botanist David Douglas.[19]

In 1814 Alexander Ross, a fur trader with the North West Company, seeking a viable route across the
mountains, explored and crossed the northern Cascades between Fort Okanogan and Puget Sound. His
report of the journey is vague about the route taken. He followed the lower Methow River into the
mountains. He might have used Cascade Pass to reach the Skagit River. Ross was the first European-
American to explore the Methow River area and likely the first to explore the Stehekin River and Bridge
Creek region. Due to the difficulty of crossing the northern Cascades and the paucity of beaver, fur-trading
companies made only a few explorations into the mountains north of the Columbia River after Ross. [20]

Exploration and settlement of the Cascades region by Europeans and Americans was accelerated by the
establishment of a major trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) at Fort Vancouver near
today's Portland, Oregon. From this base HBC trapping parties traveled throughout the Cascades in search
of beaver and other fur-bearing animals. For example, using what became known as the Siskiyou Trail,
Hudson's Bay Company trappers were the first non-natives to explore the southern Cascades in the 1820s
and 1830s, establishing trails which passed near Crater Lake, Mount McLoughlin, Medicine Lake
Volcano, Mount Shasta, andLassen Peak.[21]

Mount Hood is the tallest point in the U.S. state of Oregon.

The course of political history in the Pacific Northwest saw the spine of the Cascade Range being proposed
as a boundary settlement during the Oregon Dispute of 1846. The United States rejected the proposal and
insisted on the 49th parallel north, which cuts across the range just north of Mount Baker. Throughout the
period of dispute and up to the creation of the Crown Colony of British Columbia in 1858, the Hudson's Bay
Company's York Factory Express route, as well the route of fur brigades, followed the Okanogan River
along the east edge of the Cascades and the Columbia River through the range. Passes across the range
were not well known and little used. Naches Pass was used for driving cattle and horses to Fort
Nisqually. Yakima Pass was also used by the Hudson's Bay Company.[22]

Looking toward Magic Mountain from Sahale Arm north of Cascade Pass. Yawning Glacier has retreated significantly since 1980.

American settlement of the flanks of the Coast Range did not occur until the early 1840s, at first only
marginally. Following the Oregon Treaty the inward flux of migration from the Oregon Trail intensified and
the passes and back-valleys of what is now the state of Washington were explored and populated, and it
was not long after that railways followed. Despite its being traversed by several major freeways and rail
lines, and its lower flanks subjected to major logging in recent decades, large parts of the range remain
intense and forbidding alpine wilderness. Much of the northern half of the Cascades, from Rainier north,
have been preserved by US national or British Columbiaprovincial parks (such as E.C. Manning Provincial
Park), or other forms of protected area.[23]

The Canadian side of the range has a history that includes the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858–60 and
its famous Cariboo Road, as well as the olderHudson's Bay Company Brigade Trail from the Canyon to the
Interior, the Dewdney Trail, and older routes which connected east to
the Similkameen andOkanagan valleys.

The Coquihalla River in the Canadian Cascades

The southern mainline of the Canadian Pacific Railway penetrated the range via the passes of
the Coquihalla River, along one of the steepest and snowiest routes in the entire Pacific Cordillera.
Near Hope, B.C., the railway roadbedand the Othello Tunnels, now decommissioned, are popular tourist
recreation destinations for hiking and bicycling. The pass is used by the Coquihalla Highway, a
government megaproject built as part of the Expo 86 spending boom of the 1980s, which is now the main
route from the Coast to the British Columbia interior. Traffic formerly went via the Fraser Canyon, to the
west, or via Allison Pass and Manning Park along Highway 3 to the south, near the border.

The Barlow Road was the first established land path for U.S. settlers through the Cascade Range in 1845,
and formed the final overland link for the Oregon Trail(previously, settlers had to raft down the treacherous
rapids of the Columbia River). The Barlow Road left the Columbia at Hood River and passed along the
south side of Mount Hood at Government Camp, terminating in Oregon City. There is an interpretive site
there now at "The End of The Oregon Trail." The road was constructed as a toll road — $5/wagon — and
was very successful.

In addition, the Applegate Trail was created to allow settlers to avoid rafting down the Columbia River. The
Applegate Trail used the path of the California Trail to north-central Nevada. From there, the Applegate
Trail headed northwest into northern California, and continued northwest towards today's Ashland, Oregon.
From there, settlers would head north along the established Siskiyou Trail into the Willamette Valley.
With the exception of the 1915 eruption of remote Lassen Peak in Northern California, the range was quiet
for more than a century. Then, on May 18, 1980, the dramatic eruption of little-known Mount St.
Helens shattered the quiet and brought the world's attention to the range. Geologists were also concerned
that the St. Helens eruption was a sign that long-dormant Cascade volcanoes might become active once
more, as in the period from 1800 to 1857 when a total of eight erupted. None have erupted since St.
Helens, but precautions are being taken nevertheless, such as the Mount Rainier Volcano Lahar Warning
System in Pierce County, Washington.[24]

Geology[edit]

Geology of the Cascade Range-related plate tectonics.

The Cascades contain active volcanoes, including Mount St. Helens, and several dormant volcanoes
including Mount Rainier and Mount Baker. Thetectonics of the region has been extensively studied to help
describe the extent of the shifting and volcanic problems.

Human uses and legends[edit]

Soil conditions for farming are generally good, especially downwind of volcanoes. This is largely because
volcanic rocks are often rich in potassiumbearing minerals such as orthoclase and decay easily. Volcanic
debris, especially lahars, also have a leveling effect and the storage of water in the form of snow and ice is
also important. These snow capped mountains such as Mt. Hood and Mt. Bachelor are used as ski resorts
in the late winter. Much of that water eventually flows into reservoirs, where it is used for recreation before
its potential energy is captured to generate hydroelectric power before being used to irrigate crops.

Because of the abundance of powerful streams, many of the major westward rivers off the Cascades have
been dammed to provide hydroelectric power. One of these, Ross Dam on the Skagit River, created a
reservoir which spans the border southeast of Hope, British Columbia, extending 2 mi (3.2 km) into
Canada. At the foot of the southeast flank of Mount Baker, at Concrete, Washington, the Baker River is
dammed to form Lake Shannon and Baker Lake.

In addition, there is a largely untapped amount of geothermal power that can be generated from the
Cascades. The U.S. Geological Survey Geothermal Research Program has been investigating this
potential. Some of this energy is already being used in places like Klamath Falls, Oregon, where volcanic
steam is used to heat public buildings.[25] The highest recorded temperature found in the range is 510 °F
(266 °C) at 3,075 ft (937 m) below Newberry Volcano's caldera floor.

Indigenous peoples have inhabited the area for thousands of years and developed their own myths and
legends about the Cascades. In these legends, St. Helens with its pre-1980 graceful appearance, was
regarded as a beautiful maiden for whom Hood and Adams feuded.[26] Native tribes also developed their
own names for the High Cascades and many of the smaller peaks, including "Tahoma",
the Lushootseed name for Mount Rainier;[27] and "Louwala-Clough", meaning "smoking mountain" for
Mount St. Helens.[26]

Ecology[edit]

Oval-leaf Blueberry on Mount Pilchuck

Main articles: Cascades (ecoregion) and Ecology of the North Cascades

There is a wide range of flora and fauna inhabiting the Cascade Range. The ecology of the area can be
understood by following a west-to-east line. As the line passes through the Cascade Range, it crosses a
number of ecoregions, first getting higher and colder, then getting warmer, yet drier. [28] Most of the
Cascades' lower and middle elevations are covered in coniferous forest; the higher altitudes have
extensive meadows as well as alpine tundra andglaciers. Common trees include Western
hemlock and Douglas fir. The southern part of the Cascades are within the California Floristic Province, an
area of high biodiversity.

Black bears, coyotes, bobcats, cougars, beavers, deer, elk, moose and a few wolf packs returning from

Canada live in the Cascades. Fewer than 50grizzly bears reside in the Cascades of Canada and
Washington.[29]
See also[edit]

 Cascadia subduction zone

 Geology of the Pacific Northwest

 List of mountain ranges in Washington

 List of Cascade Range topics

Notes[edit]

1. Jump up^ "Mount St. Helens: 2004-2008 Renewed Volcanic Activity". Cascades Volcano Observatory.

U.S. Geological Survey. February 7, 2013. Retrieved November 9, 2013.

2. ^ Jump up to:a b Beckey 2008, pp. 191–200

3. Jump up^ Martin 2002, p. 31.

4. Jump up^ Duffell & McTaggart 1951, p. 8.

5. Jump up^ Beckey 2003, pp. 9–12.

6. Jump up^ "National Climate Extremes". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived

from the original on June 26, 2012.

7. Jump up^ McLaughlin, Mark (October 14, 2010). "Weather Window: The snowiest spot in California is

Lake Helen near Lassen Volcanic National Park". Sierra Sun (Truckee, California). Retrieved November 9, 2013.

8. Jump up^ Beckey 2008, p. 16.

9. Jump up^ Mueller & Mueller 2002, p. 99.

10. Jump up^ Ernst 2000, p. 479.

11. Jump up^ Straub, Kristen; Link, Paul. "Columbia River Basalt Province". Digital Geology of Idaho. Idaho

State University. Retrieved November 3, 2013.

12. Jump up^ Harrision, John (October 31, 2008). "Columbia River Gorge". Columbia River History.

Northwest Power and Conservation Council. Retrieved November 9, 2013.

13. Jump up^ "The Cascade Episode: Evolution of the Modern Pacific Northwest". Burke Museum of Natural

History and Culture, University of Washington. Retrieved November 9, 2013.

14. ^ Jump up to:a b Beckey 2003, pp. 3–7

15. Jump up^ "Naming the Cascade Range Volcanoes: Mount St. Helens, Washington". U.S. Geological

Survey. Retrieved June 15, 2012.

16. Jump up^ Beckey 2003, pp. 38–39.

17. Jump up^ "The Volcanoes of Lewis and Clark, Mount Jefferson, Oregon". U.S. Geological Survey.

Retrieved June 15, 2012.

18. Jump up^ Beckey 2003, p. 28.

19. Jump up^ Beckey 2003, p. 48.

20. Jump up^ Beckey 2003, pp. 41–45.

21. Jump up^ "Museum of the Siskiyou Trail". Archived from the original on April 4, 2012.
 22. Jump up^ Beckey 2003, pp. 63–64, 98.

23. Jump up^ "North Cascades Ecoregion". Land Scope America. Retrieved June 15, 2012.

24. Jump up^ "Pilot Project – Mount Rainier Volcano Lahar Warning System". Volcano Hazards Program.

U.S. Geological Survey. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008.

25. Jump up^ "Geothermal Utility". City of Klamath Falls. Archived fromthe original on October 6, 2010.

26. ^ Jump up to:a b "Northwest Legends". Mount St. Helens Volcano, Washington. U.S. Geological Survey.

Archived from the original on May 10, 2012.

27. Jump up^ "Mount Rainier, Washington". Naming the Cascade Range Volcanoes. U.S. Geological Survey.

Retrieved April 23, 2012.

28. Jump up^ "Ecoregions of Western Washington and Oregon"(PDF). U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency. Retrieved November 4, 2013.

29. Jump up^ Rice, Nathan (November 14, 2011). "The forgotten North Cascades grizzly bear". High Country

News.

References[edit]

 Beckey, Fred W. (2003). Range of Glaciers: the Exploration and Survey of the Northern Cascade Range. Portland,

Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-0-87595-243-7.

 Beckey, Fred W. (2008). Cascade Alpine Guide: Climbing and High Routes Rainy Pass to Fraser River. Seattle,

Washington: The Mountaineers Books. ISBN 978-1-59485-136-0.

 Duffell, Stanley; McTaggart, Kenneth Cunningham (1951). Ashcroft Map-Area, British Columbia. Memoir (Geological

Survey of Canada), 262. Ottawa, Ontario: Natural Resources Canada; E. Cloutier, King's Printer. OCLC 3333133.

 Dzurisin, Dan; Stauffer, Peter H.; Hendley, James W., II (1997, revised 2000). Living With Volcanic Risk in the

Cascades. U.S. Geological Survey.

 Ernst, Wallace Gary (2000). Earth Systems: Processes and Issues. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge

University Press. ISBN 0-521-47323-3.

 Harris, Stephen L. (2005). Fire Mountains of the West: The Cascade and Mono Lake Volcanoes (3rd ed.). Missoula,

Montana: Mountain Press Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87842-511-X.

 Holland, Stuart S. (1976). Landforms of British Columbia: A Physiographic Outline (Bulletin 48). British Columbia

Department of Mines and Petroleum Resources. Archived from the original on May 4, 2005.

 Martin, James (2002). North Cascades Crest: Notes and Images from America's Alps. Seattle, Washington:

Sasquatch Books. ISBN 978-1-57061-140-7.

 Mueller, Marge; Mueller, Ted (2002). Exploring Washington's Wild Areas (2nd ed.). Seattle, Washington: The

Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0-89886-807-6.

 Wood, Charles A.; Kienle, Jürgen, eds. (1990). Volcanoes of North America. Cambridge, United Kingdom:

Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43811-X.

Brooks Range
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brooks Range

Brooks Range from near Galbraith Lake

Highest point

Peak Mount Chamberlin

Elevation 9,020 ft (2,750 m)

Coordinates
69°16′39″N 144°54′40″W

Dimensions

Length 700 mi (1,100 km) East-west

Width 150 mi (240 km) North-south

Geography

Countries United States and Canada

States/Provinces Alaska and Yukon

Range coordinates 68°12′N 152°15′WCoordinates:  68°12′N 152°15′W

Geology

Orogeny Laramide

Period Cretaceous

The Brooks Range (Gwich'in Athabaskan Gwazhał[pronunciation?]) is a mountain range in far northern North

America stretching some 1100 km (700 mi) from west to east across northern Alaska into Canada's Yukon
 Territory. Reaching an elevation exceeeding 2,700 m (9,000 ft), the range is believed to be approximately
126 million years old.

In the United States, these mountains are considered an extension of the Rocky Mountains, whereas in
Canada they are considered separate, the northern border of the Rocky Mountains regarded as the Liard
River far to the south in the province of British Columbia.[1][2]

While the range is mostly uninhabited, the Dalton Highway and Trans-Alaska Pipeline System run through
the Atigun Pass (1,415 m, 4,643 ft) on their way to the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay on Alaskas's North Slope .
The Alaska Native villages of Anaktuvuk and Arctic Village, as well as the very small communities
of Coldfoot, Wiseman, Bettles, and Chandalar Lake, are the range's only settlements. In the far west, near
the Wulik River in the De Long Mountains is the Red Dog mine, largest zinc mine in the world.

The range was named by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1925 after Alfred Hulse
Brooks, chief USGS geologist for Alaska from 1903 to 1924.

Various historical records also referred to the range as the Arctic Mountains, Hooper Mountains, Meade
Mountains and Meade River Mountains; the Canadian portion is still often referred to as the British
Mountains, a part of Ivvavik National Park.

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Peaks

 2 Ecology

 3 Paleontology

 4 Climate

 5 Films

 6 See also

 7 Notes

 8 Further reading

Peaks[edit]
Limestack Mountain, in the central Brooks Range

 Mount Chamberlin at 9020 ft (2,749 m), is generally considered to be the highest peak in the
range.

Other notable peaks include:

 Mount Isto at 8,975 ft (2,736 m)

 Mount Michelson at 8,855 ft (2,699 m)

 The Gates of Kiev at 7,775 ft (2,370 m), the highest point in the central part of the range, and

 Black Mountain at 5,020 ft (1,530 m), the highest point in the far western part of the range.

 Mount Doonerak

 Mount Igikpak

 Frigid Crags West Gate

 Boreal Mountain East Gate

 Limestack Mountain

 Cockedhat Mountain
Ecology[edit]

Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain, looking south toward the Brooks Range mountains.

This mountain range forms the northernmost drainage divide in North America, separating streams
flowing into the Arctic Ocean and the North Pacific. The range roughly delineates the summer position
of the Arctic front. It represents the northern extent of the tree line, with few trees (apart from some
isolated Balsam poplar stands) occurring north of the continental drainage divide. The southern slopes
of the Brooks Range have some cover of Black Spruce, Picea mariana, and Quaking Aspen, marking
the northern limit of those trees.[3] As one of the most remote and least-disturbed wildernesses of North
America, the mountains are home to Dall sheep, grizzly bears, and caribou.

In Alaska, the Western Arctic Caribou herd traverses the Brooks Range in its annual migration. This
herd was measured at 490,000 animals in 2004. The smaller Central Arctic herd (32,000 in 2002), as
well as the 123,000 strong Porcupine Caribou herd likewise travel through the Brooks range on their
migratory paths in and out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The migration path of the Porcupine
Caribou Herd is the longest of any terrestrial mammal on earth.

Paleontology[edit]

Fossilized corals in the Brooks Range, near Limestack Mountain

Because it is heavily composed of ancient seabed, the Brooks Range contains ancient marine and
other fossils. In addition to the coral fossils shown at left, trilobites and brachiopods from the middle
Cambrian have been found in the sandy limestones of the Central Brooks Range. [4]

Climate[edit]

While other Alaskan ranges to the south and closer to the coast can receive 250 inches (640 cm) to
500 inches (1,300 cm) of precipitation, the average precipitation on the Brooks Range is reported at 30
inches (76 cm)[5] to 51 inches (130 cm).[6]

As measured at the Anaktuvuk Pass weather station (elevation 770 metres (2,530 ft)), the average
summer temperatures are 3 °C (37 °F) as a low and 16 °C (61 °F) as a high. During the winter the
average low is −30 °C (−22 °F) while the average high is −22 °C (−8 °F).[6]

Films[edit]

Brooks Range Mountains

 2007 - Gates of the Arctic: Alaska's Brooks Range

 2008 - Alone Across Alaska: 1,000 Miles of Wilderness

See also[edit]

 Richardson Mountains
Notes[edit]

1. Jump up^ The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 23, page 618 (Grolier 2000).

2. Jump up^ Safire, William. The New York Times guide to essential knowledge: a desk reference for the

curious mind, page 623 (Macmillan 2007 ).

3. Jump up^ C. Michael Hogan, Black Spruce: Picea mariana, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg,

November, 2008

4. Jump up^ J.T. Dutro et al, November 1984, "Middle Cambrian Fossils from the Doonerak Anticlinorium,

Central Brooks Range, Alaska", Journal of Paleontology Vol. 58 No. 6, pages 1364-1371

5. Jump up^ Shulski, Martha; Wendler, Gerd (2007-12-15). The Climate of Alaska. University of Alaska

Press. pp. 148–. ISBN 9781602230071. Retrieved 16 December 2012.

6. ^ Jump up to:a b Gallant, Alisa L. (1998-05-01). EcoRegions of Alaska. DIANE Publishing.

pp. 15–. ISBN 9780788148965. Retrieved 16 December 2012.

Further reading[edit]

 Allan, C. (2013). Arctic citadel : a history of exploration in the Brooks Range region of Northern
Alaska. Washington, D.C,: U.S. Deaprtment of the Interior, National Park Service.

 Witmer, Dennis "Far to the North: Photographs from the Brooks Range" Far to the North Press
(2008) ISBN 0-9771028-0-7

 Kauffmann, John M. "Alaska's Brooks Range: The Ultimate Mountains" (Second Edition)
Mountaineers Books (2005) ISBN 1-59485-008-9

 Brown, William E. "History of the Central Brooks Range: Gaunt Beauty, Tenuous Life" University of
Alaska Press (2007) ISBN 1-60223-009-9

 Cooper, David "Brooks Range Passage" Mountaineers Books (1983) ISBN 0-89886-061-X

 Dover, J.H., I.L. Tailleur, and J.A. Dumoulin. (2004). Geologic and fossil locality maps of the west-
central part of the Howard Pass quadrangle and part of the adjacent Misheguk Mountain
quadrangle, Western Brooks Range, Alaska [Miscellaneous Field Studies; Map MF-2413].
Reston, Va.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

 Krumhardt, A.P., A.G. Harris, and K.F. Watts. (1996). Lithostratigraphy, microlithofacies, and
conodont biostratigraphy and biofacies of the Wahoo Limestone (Carboniferous), eastern
Sadlerochit Mountains, northeast Brooks Range, Alaska U.S. Geological Survey Professional
Paper 1568. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

 Marshall, R. (1970). Alaska wilderness; exploring the Central Brooks Range 2nd ed. Berkeley:
University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24498-2
  Mayfield, C.F. et al. (1984). Reconnaissance geologic map of southeastern Misheguk Mountain
quadrangle, Alaska [ Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-1503]. Reston, Va.: U.S.
Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

 Morin, R.L. (1997). Gravity and magnetic maps of part of the Drenchwater Creek stratiform zinc-
lead-silver deposit, Howard Pass quadrangle, northwestern Brooks Range, Alaska [Open-file
report 97-705]. Menlo Park, CA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

 Morin, R.L. (1997). Gravity models of Abby Creek and Bion barite deposits, Howard Pass
quadrangle, northwestern Brooks Range, Alaska [U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report 97-
704]. Menlo Park, CA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

 Mull, C.G. et al. (1994). Geologic map of the Killik River quadrangle, Brooks Range, Alaska [U.S.
Geological Survey Open-file Report 94-679]. Reston, Va: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S.
Geological Survey.

 Nelson, P.H. et al. (2006). Potential tight gas resources in a frontier province, Jurassic through
Tertiary strata beneath the Brooks Range foothills, Arctic Alaska U.S. Geological Survey Open-file
Report 2006-1172. Reston, VA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

 U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey. (2003). The natural dispersal of metals to
the environment in the Wulik River-Ikalukrok Creek area, western Brooks Range, AlaskaU.S.
Geological Survey Fact Sheet 107-03. Reston, VA: author.

 U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey. (1995). Natural environmental effects of
silver-lead-zinc deposits in the Brooks Range, Alaska U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 092-95.
Reston, VA: author.

U.S. Interior Highlands

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Talimena Scenic Drive traverses the Ouachita Mountains in Oklahoma, part of the U.S. Interior Highlands region.
The U.S. Interior Highlands is a mountainous region spanning eastern Oklahoma, western and
northern Arkansas, southern Missouri, and the extreme southeast corner of Kansas. The name is
designated by the United States Geological Survey to refer to the combined mountainous region of
the Ozarksand Ouachita Mountains, which form a distinct physiographic division.[1] It is the only major
highland region between the Rocky Mountains and theAppalachian Mountains in the United States.[2][3]

The region is occupied by the Ozark mountain forests, an ecoregion of temperate broadleaf and mixed
forests. Parts of the area are covered by threenational forests: The Ouachita National Forest in Oklahoma
and Arkansas, the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest in Arkansas, and the Mark Twain National Forest in
Missouri.

References[edit]

1. Jump up^ "Physiographic divisions of the conterminous U. S.". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2007-

12-06.

2. Jump up^ "Managing Upland Forests of the Midsouth". United States Forestry Service. Retrieved 2007-

10-13.

3. Jump up^ "A Tapestry of Time and Terrain: The Union of Two Maps - Geology and Topography". United

States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2007-10-13.

Aravalli Range
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the mountain range in west India. For Information regarding district in Gujarat state,
see  Aravali district.

Aravali Range
 The Aravali Range in Rajasthan

Highest point

Peak Guru Shikhar

Elevation 1,722 m (5,650 ft)

Coordinates
24°35′33″N 74°42′30″E

Dimensions

Length 800 km (500 mi)

Geography

Topographic map of India showing the range

Country India

States Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat

Settlement Mount Abu

Range coordinates 25°00′N 73°30′ECoordinates:  25°00′N 73°30′E

 The Aravali Range[1] (हिन्दी, संस्कृत= अरावली) literally meaning 'line of peaks',[2] is a range of mountains in

western India running approximately 800 km in a northeastern direction across Indian states

of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi.[3][4][5] It is also called Mewathills locally.

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Features

 2 Gallery

 3 Mining

 4 See also

 5 Further reading

 6 Notes

 7 External links

Features[edit]

The Aravali range are the oldest fold mountains in India. The northern end of the range continues as
isolated hills and rocky ridges intoHaryana state, ending in Delhi. The famous Delhi Ridge is the last leg of
the Aravali Range, which traverses through South Delhi and terminates into Central Delhi where Raisina
hill is its last extension. It is one of the world's oldest mountain ranges. It dates back to a pre-Indian
subcontinental collision with the mainland Eurasian Plate. The southern end is
at Palanpur near Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The highest peak is Guru Shikhar in Mount Abu in Rajasthan.
Rising to 5650 feet (1722 meters), it lies near the south-western extremity of the range, close to the border
with Gujarat state. The city of Udaipur with its lakes lies on the south slope of the range in Rajasthan.
Numerous rivers rise amidst the ranges including the Banas River, the Luni River, the Sahibi, the Sakhi,
and the Sabarmati River.

The Aravali Range is the eroded stub of a range of ancient folded mountains. [6] The range rose in
a Precambrian event called the Aravali-Delhiorogen. The range joins two of the ancient segments that
make up the Indian craton, the Marwar segment to the northwest of the range, and
the Bundelkhand segment to the southeast.

Old fold mountains are characterized by having stopped growing higher due to the cessation of upward
thrust caused by the stopping of movement of the tectonic plates in the Earth's crust below them. In ancient
times they were extremely high but since have worn down almost completely by millions of years
of weathering. In contrast, the Himalayas are continuously rising young fold mountains of today.

Gallery[edit]
 

The Aravali Range insideRanthambhore National Park, in Rajasthan.

Ranthambore National Park, in Rajasthan.

The Aravali Range, seen from the range's highest point at Guru Shikhar, in Rajasthan.

Aravali Hill

Mining[edit]

Being rich in mineral resources, the Aravali hills have witnessed years of illegal mining, which have led to
their fast erosion in Rajasthan and Haryana. This also poses a grave environmental concern as the ranges
form a natural barrier against the spread of the Thar desert northwards into the Gangetic plains in
the Gangetic basin and Gujarat.[7]

In May 2009, after months of media and public protests, along with several environmental groups,
the Supreme Court banned mining in an area of 448 km2 across Faridabad, Gurgaon and Mewatdistricts
in Haryana, that was once supposed to be set aside for a national park. This comes after the earlier court
judgment in 1994 that allowed limited mining on the basis of the sustainable development principle under
strict guidelines. Violation of the guidelines by local miners led to the court ban ruling. [8][9] However, there
are many illegal mines in Rajasthan,[10] some of them operating at the edges of the Sariska Tiger Reserve.
[11]
See also[edit]

 Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary Aravali range, Delhi

 Aravali Biodiversity Park

Further reading[edit]

 Watershed Management in Aravali Foothills, by Gurmel Singh, S. S. Grewal, R. C. Kaushal.

Published by Central Soil & Water Conservation Research & Training Institute, 1990.
Notes[edit]

1. Jump up^ Aravali Biodiversity Park, Gurgaon, website

2. Jump up^ The Geography of British India, Political & Physical, by George Smith. Published by J. Murray,

1882. Page 23..

3. Jump up^ Kohli, M.S. (2004), Mountains of India: Tourism, Adventure, Pilgrimage, Indus Publishing,

pp. 29–, ISBN 978-81-7387-135-1

4. Jump up^ Aravali Range Students' Britannica India, by Dale Hoiberg, Indu Ramchandani. Published by

Popular Prakashan, 2000. ISBN 0-85229-760-2. Page 92-93.

5. Jump up^ Aravali Range Britannica.com.

6. Jump up^ "The India Center - Physical Features". Archived from the original on 30 December 2006.

Retrieved 2007-01-05.

7. Jump up^ The Aravali region under threat The Hindu, November 7, 2005

8. Jump up^ SC bans all mining activity in Aravali hills area of Haryana, May 9, 2009.

9. Jump up^ Mission Green: SC bans mining in Aravali hills Hindustan Times, May 9, 2009.

10. Jump up^ Singh, Rachna (October 27, 2010). "Over 200 Aravali mines still functional". The Times Of

India.

11. Jump up^ "Jairam to Raj CM: Shut mines near Sariska now". The Times Of India. November 4, 2010.