Pontic Mountains

Coordinates: 40°30′N 40°30′E / 40.500°N 40.500°E / 40.500; 40.500
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Pontic Alps
)
Pontic Mountains
Mt. Kaçkar
Elevation3,937 m (12,917 ft)
Coordinates40°50′N 41°09′E / 40.833°N 41.150°E / 40.833; 41.150
Dimensions
Length1,000 km (620 mi)
Geography
CountriesTurkey and Georgia
Range coordinates40°30′N 40°30′E / 40.500°N 40.500°E / 40.500; 40.500

The Pontic Mountains or Pontic Alps (Turkish: Kuzey Anadolu Dağları, meaning North Anatolian Mountains) form a mountain range in northern Anatolia, Turkey. They are also known as the Parhar Mountains in the local Turkish and Pontic Greek languages. The term Parhar originates from a Hittite word meaning "high" or "summit".[1] In ancient Greek, the mountains were called the Paryadres[2] or Parihedri Mountains.[3]

Geography

A panorama of the Pontic Mountains in Turkey

The range runs roughly east–west, parallel and close to the southern coast of the

strike-slip faults
, run along the length of the range.

Ecology

Zilkale Castle

The mountains are generally covered by dense forests, predominantly of conifers.

The

Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests, which contain some of the world's few temperate rainforests
.

The region is home to Eurasian wildlife such as the

Winter conditions are very harsh, and snow even in summer months isn't unusual above certain elevations.[5]

The Anatolian Plateau, which lies south of the range, has a considerably drier and more continental climate than the humid and mild coast, owing to the mountains' rain shadow effect.[6]

References

  1. ^ Karadeniz Ansiklopedik Sözlük Archived 2008-05-13 at the Wayback Machine. See the "Parhar" (plateau) and "Parhal" (village) articles.
  2. ^ Strabo. "Chapter XI". Geographica (35 BC – 23 AD). p. xii.4.
  3. ^ Pliny the Elder. "Chapter VI". Naturalis Historia (77–79 AD). p. iix.25.
  4. .
  5. ^ "File:Koppen-Geiger Map TUR present.svg". commons.wikimedia.org. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  6. ^ Pontic Mountains and highlands Archived 2014-02-26 at the Wayback Machine