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Apennine mountains
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- This is about the Italian mountain range. There is also a lunar mountain range named the Montes Apenninus.
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (Greek: ?pe??????; Latin: Appenninus — in both cases used in the plural; Italian: Appennini) is a mountain range stretching 1000 km from the north to the south of Italy along its east coast, traversing the entire peninsula, and forming the backbone of the country.
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- This is about the Italian mountain range. There is also a lunar mountain range named the Montes Apenninus.
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (Greek: ?pe??????; Latin: Appenninus — in both cases used in the plural; Italian: Appennini) is a mountain range stretching 1000 km from the north to the south of Italy along its east coast, traversing the entire peninsula, and forming the backbone of the country. The range characteristically consists of limestone and related sedimentary strata believed to have been uplifted near the end of the Cretaceous when the African plate began to gently collide with the eastern part of the European plate. The same tectonic episode also formed the Alps. The Apennines strata are of particular significance in oceanic anoxic events studies, having triggered off a three-decades-long series of research when a meter thick band of black shale matched core sample from the Pacific ocean signaling a worldwide event.
The name may be derived from the Latin root "penne", meaning a quill or feather, also the source of the word "pinnacle". Thus, is it may be linked etymologically to the English Pennines. The term Apennines was originally applied to the northern portion of the chain, from the Maritime Alps to Ancona. Polybius is probably the first writer who applied it to the whole chain, making, indeed, no distinction between the Apennines and the Maritime Alps, and extending the former name as far as Marseilles. Other Classical authors do not differentiate the various parts of the chain, but use the name as a general name for the whole.
The mountains lend their name to the Apennine peninsula, which forms the major part of Italy. The mountains are mostly green and wooded, although one side of the highest peak, Corno Grande (2,912 m), is partially covered by the southernmost glacier in Europe. The eastern slopes down to the Adriatic Sea are steep, while the western slopes form a plain on which most of peninsular Italy's historic cities are located. The total length is some 1,000 km and the maximum width 80/140 km.
Divisions
Modern geographers divide the range into three parts: northern, central and southern. Together, they form a distinct physiographic province of the larger Alpine System physiographic division.
Northern Apennines
The northern Apennines are generally distinguished (though there is no real solution of continuity) from the Maritime Alps at the Bocchetta dell' Altare, some 8 km west of Savona on the high road to Turin. They again are divided into three parts: the Ligurian, Tuscan and Umbrian Apennines.
Ligurian Apennines
The Ligurian Apennines extend as far as the La Cisa pass in the upper valley of the Magra above Spezia; at first they follow the curve of the Gulf of Genoa, and then run east-south-east parallel to the coast. On the north and north-east lie the broad plains of Piedmont and Lombardy, traversed by the Po, the chief tributaries of which from the Ligurian Apennines are the Scrivia, Trebbia and Taro. The Tanaro (Tanarus), though largely fed by tributaries from the Ligurian Apennines, itself rises in the Maritime Alps, while the rivers on the south and south-west of the range are short and unimportant. The south side of the range rises steeply from the sea, leaving practically no coast strip: its slopes are sheltered and therefore fertile and highly cultivated, and the coast towns form the favourite winter resorts of the Italian Riviera.
The highest point (Monte Maggiorasca) reaches 1,799 m. The range is crossed by several railways - the line from Savona to Turin (with a branch at Ceva for Acqui), that from Genoa to Ovada and Acquit, the main lines from Genoa to Novi Ligure, the junction for Turin and Milan (both of which pass under the Monte dei Giovi, the ancient Mons Loventius, by which the ancient Via Postumia ran from Genua to Dertona), and that from Spezia to Parma under the pass of La Cisa. (This pass was also traversed by a nameless Roman road). All these traverse the ridge by long tunnels - that on the new line from Genoa to Ronco Scrivia is upwards of 8 km in length.
Tuscan-Emilian Apennines
The Tuscan Apennines extend from the pass of La Cisa to the sources of the Tiber. The main chain continues to run in an east-south-east direction, but traverses the peninsula, the west coast meanwhile turning almost due south. From the northern slopes many rivers and streams run north and north-north-east into the Po, the Secchia and Panaro being among the most important, while farther east most of the rivers are tributaries of the Reno.
Other small streams, e.g. the Ronco and Montone, which flow into the sea together east of Ravenna, were also tributaries of the Po; and the Savio and the Rubicon seem to be the only streams from this side of the Tuscan Apennines that ran directly into the sea in Roman days. From the south-west side of the main range the Arno and Serchio run into the Mediterranean. This section of the Apennines is crossed by three railways, from Lunigiana to Parma, from Pistoia to Bologna and from Prato to Bologna, and by several good high roads, of which the direct road from Florence to Bologna over the Futa pass is of Roman origin; and certain places in it are favourite summer resorts. The highest peaks of the chain are Monte Cimone (2,156 m) and Monte Cusna (2,121 m). The so-called Alpi Apuane, a detached chain south-west of the valley of the Serchio, rise to a maximum height of 1,946 m. They contain the famous marble quarries of Carrara. The greater part of Tuscany, however, is taken up by lower hills, which form no part of the Apennines, being divided from the main chain by the valleys of the Arno, Chiana and Paglia, Towards the west they are rich in minerals and chemicals, which the Apennines proper do not produce.
Umbrian Apennines
The Umbrian Apennines extend from the sources of the Tiber to (or perhaps rather beyond) the pass of Scheggia near Cagli, where the ancient Via Flaminia crosses the range. The highest point is the Monte Catria (1,701 m). The chief river is the Tiber itself: the others, among which the Foglia (Pisaurus), Metauro and Esino (This river (anc. Aesis) was the boundary of Italy proper in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC) may be mentioned, run north-east into the Adriatic, which is some 50 km from the highest points of the chain. This portion of the range is crossed near its southern termination by a railway from Foligno to Ancona (which at Fabriano has a branch to Macerata and Civitanova Marche, on the Adriatic coast railway), which may perhaps be conveniently regarded as its boundary. (The Monte Conero, to the south of Ancona, was originally an island of the Pliocene sea.) By some geographers, indeed, it is treated as a part of the central Apennines.
Central Apennines
The central Apennines are the most extensive portion of the chain, and stretch as far as the valley of the Sangro (Sangrus). To the north are the Monti Sibillini, the highest point of which is the Monte Vettore (2,476 m). Farther south three parallel chains may be traced, the westernmost of which (the Monti Sabini) culminates to the south in the Monte Viglio (2,156 m), the central chain in the Monte Terminillo (2,217 m), and farther south in the Monte Velino (2,486), and the eastern in the Gran Sasso d'Italia (2,912 m), the highest summit of the Apennines, and the Majella group (Monte Amaro, 2,793 m).
Between the western and central ranges are the plain of Rieti, the valley of the Salto, and the Lago Fucino; while between the central and eastern ranges are the valleys of Aquila and Sulmona. The chief rivers on the west are the Nera, with its tributaries the Velino and Salto, and the Aniene, both of which fall into the Tiber. On the east there is at first a succession of small rivers which flow into the Adriatic, from which the highest points of the chain are some 20 km distant, such as the Potenza, Chienti, Tenna, Tronto, Tordino, Vomano an others. The Pescara, which receives the Aterno from the north-west and the Gizio from the south-east, is more important; and so is the Sangro.
The central Apennines are crossed by the railway from Rome to Castelammare Adriatico via Avezzano and Sulmona: the railway from Orte to Terni (and thence to Foligno) follows the Nera valley; while from Terni a line ascends to the plain of Rieti, and thence crosses the central chain to Aquila, whence it follows the valley of the Aterno to Sulmona. In ancient times the Via Salaria, Via Caecilia and Via Valeria-Claudia all ran from Rome to the Adriatic coast. The volcanic mountains of the province of Rome are separated from the Apennines by the Tiber valley, and the Monti Lepini, or Volscian mountains, by the valleys of the Sacco and Liri.
Southern Apennines
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