Mountain ridge

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A mountain ridge (also mountain ridge , in Swiss Krete ) consists of a series of peaks of a mountain range , which, only separated by notches or mountain saddles , are connected to one another by mountain ridges and ridges .

The east ridge of the Nagelfluhkette in the Allgäu Alps . View to the stone mountain (left)

As a geomorphological type, the ridge is a ridge running at more or less regular intervals from peak to peak, and one speaks, for example, of ridge mountains . If differences between the mountain ridge and lower regions are pointed out, the term ridge locations is often used .

The main ridge is the line of the highest peaks of a mountain range. A main ridge is often a water and weather divide and often also a political border. Mountain ridges sloping laterally from the main ridge are called side or secondary ridges .

  • The main Alpine ridge is known from the French-Italian border through Switzerland to Austria. Numerous landscape and field names in the high altitudes indicate this widespread alpine full form.
  • The main ridge of the Ural Mountains represents the northern part of the border between Europe and Asia.
  • The main ridge of the Rocky Mountains is the continental divide in North America between the Atlantic and Pacific .
  • In German-speaking Switzerland, a mountain ridge is also known as a crest . Like the French “crête”, this expression comes from the old French creste and goes back to the Latin crista . On the Jurakrete , the main ridge of the Jura , individual mountain peaks in the French-speaking area have received the word crêt as a mountain name ( oronym ), as has the highest elevation of the Jura massif, the Crêt de la Neige .
  • In Germany, the Taunushauptkamm in the High Taunus is an example in the low mountain range .
  • The Thuringian Forest is another example of a ridge mountain range.

Web links

Wiktionary: mountain ridge  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: mountain ridge  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. Duden Krete