Foothills (geomorphology)
In geomorphology, foothills are the chain of hills at the base ( foot ) of a mountain range , which gradually rise from the foreland. The peaks typically do not exceed the tree line , the less high mountain regions or hill areas geologically already belong to the rocks of the mountains, but geographically they are usually still assigned to the foothills, ecologically they correspond to the colline height level . As a mountain group of a large mountain range, foothills are also referred to as marginal mountains .
As a rule, they begin as a gentle hilly landscape , which is now mostly used for agriculture (viticulture), under certain circumstances take on the character of a low mountain range with extensive forest cover, and then, depending on the foothills with the beginning of the alpine region and more pronounced peak formations, merge into the actual high mountains . They thus count as a transition zone from ecumenism to sub-ecumenism , the habitable to conditionally habitable zone.
Examples
- the foothills of the European Alps
- the Siwaliks on the southern edge of the Himalayas in the Indian subcontinent
- the numerous foothills on the western edge of the Rocky Mountains , such as the Colorado Front Range , Klondike Hills in the north, or the Foothills of California in front of the Sierra Nevada in the south
- The foothill zone on the eastern edge of the Upper Rhine Plain