Massif

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

In geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term is also used to refer to a group of mountains formed by such a structure. The massif is a smaller structural unit of the crust than a tectonic plate.

The word is taken from French (in which the word also means "massive"), where it is used to refer to a large mountain mass or compact group of connected mountains forming an independent portion of a range. One of the most notable European examples of a massif is the Massif Central of the Auvergne region of France.

List of massifs

• Adrar des Ifoghas - Mali
• Annapurna Massif - Nepal
• Armorican Massif - Brittany, France
• Atlantis Massif - part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the North Atlantic Ocean.
• Big Ben Massif - Heard Island
• Brasilia Massif - Argentina
• Chartreuse Massif - France
• Kangchenjunga Massif - India
• Kondyor Massif - Russian Federation
• Kugitangtau Ridge - Turkmenistan
• Laurentian Massif - Quebec, Canada (French: Massif des Laurentides)
• Le Massif - a ski mountain northeast of Quebec City, Canada
• Lincoln Massif - Lincoln, Vermont
• Massif Central - France
• Massif Montgris - Spain
• Massif Mountains - a high range of mountains in Haiti
• Meager Massif - British Columbia, Canada
• Logan Massif - Yukon, Canada
• Nun Kun- India
• Panchchuli Massif - India
• Tondou Massif - Africa
• Vinson Massif - Antarctica
• Vitosha Massif - Bulgaria

In mountaineering and climbing literature, a massif is frequently used to denote the main mass of an individual mountain.

The Face on Mars is also called a massif, or alternatively, an albedo feature.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday March 05, 2008 at 13:05:58 PST (GMT -0800)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation