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Alvand Granite
Alvand is a subrange of the Zagros Mountains in western Iran located south of the city of Hamadan in Hamadan Province. Its summit has an elevation of . The main body of the Alvand range extends for about 50 km from east to west, while their maximum north-south width is about 30 km. Formed as part of the Zagros orogeny in the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous, the mountains rise sharply from the surrounding plains and are scored by many deep valleys. The mountains are mostly granite and diorite, which are types of intrusive rock. The area was once covered by a light oak forest, but extensive deforestation in historical times has reduced this to only a small area, mostly in the valleys. Today, the higher altitudes have a sparse cover of grass, while grass cover grows more thickly around springs and streams. One important plant that commonly grows in the Alvand valleys is the ''gavar'' or Astragalus, goat's thorn, which produces the gum known as tragacanth which is used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ultra Prominent Peak
An ultra-prominent peak, or Ultra for short, is a mountain summit with a topographic prominence of or more; it is also called a P1500. The prominence of a peak is the minimum height of climb to the summit on any route from a higher peak, or from sea level if there is no higher peak. There are approximately 1,524 such peaks on Earth. Some well-known peaks, such as the Matterhorn and Eiger, are not Ultras because they are connected to higher mountains by high cols and therefore do not achieve enough topographic prominence. The term "Ultra" originated with earth scientist Steve Fry, from his studies of the prominence of peaks in Washington (state), Washington in the 1980s. His original term was "ultra major mountain", referring to peaks with at least of prominence. Distribution Currently, 1,518 Ultras have been identified above sea level: 639 in Asia, 356 in North America, 209 in South America, 120 in Europe (including 12 in the Caucasus), 84 in Africa, 69 in Oceania, and 41 in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
