The Sudetes ( ; pl, Sudety; german: Sudeten; cs, Krkonošsko-jesenická subprovincie), commonly known as the Sudeten Mountains, is a geomorphological subprovince in

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the ...

, shared by

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

. They consist mainly of

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

s and are the highest part of Bohemian Massif. They stretch from the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

capital of

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

in the northwest across to the region of Lower Silesia in Poland and to the Moravian Gate in the Czech Republic in the east. Geographically the Sudetes are a '' Mittelgebirge'' with some characteristics typical of high mountains. Its plateaus and subtle summit relief makes the Sudetes more akin to mountains of Northern Europe than to the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, ...

. In the west, the Sudetes border with the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. The westernmost point of the Sudetes lies in the Dresden Heath (''Dresdner Heide''), the westernmost part of the West Lusatian Hill Country and Uplands, in Dresden. In the east of the Sudetes, the Moravian Gate and Ostrava Basin separates from the Carpathian Mountains. The Sudetes' highest mountain is Mount Sněžka/Śnieżka , which is also the highest mountain of the

, Bohemia,

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is spli ...

, and

Lower Silesian Voivodeship Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province, in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. The voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Wrocław, Legnica, Wałb ...

, in the

Giant Mountains The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše or Karkonosze (Czech: , Polish: , german: Riesengebirge) are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Mass ...

, lying on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland. Mount

Praděd Praděd (; german: Altvater; pl, Pradziad; literally "great grandfather") () is the highest mountain of the Hrubý Jeseník mountains, Moravia, Czech Silesia and Upper Silesia and is the fifth-highest mountain of the Czech Republic. The highest ...

(1,491 m/4,893 ft) in the Hrubý Jeseník mountains is the highest mountain of

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. Th ...

. Lusatia's highest point (1,072 m/3,517 ft) lies on Mount Smrk/Smrek in the Jizera Mountains, and the Sudetes' highest mountain in Germany, which is also the country's highest mountain east of the river

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Rep ...

, is Mount

Lausche Lausche ( cs, Luž) is the highest peak of the Lusatian Mountains and the highest mountain in the German part of the Upper Lusatia region at . The conical mountain A conical hill (also cone or conical mountain) is a landform with a distinc ...

/Luž (793 m/2,600 ft) in the Zittau Mountains, the highest part of the Lusatian Mountains. The most notable rivers rising in the Sudetes are

, Oder, Spree, Morava, Bóbr,

Lusatian Neisse The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.Eastern Neisse, Jizera and Kwisa. The highest parts of the Sudetes are protected by national parks;

Karkonosze The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše or Karkonosze (Czech: , Polish: , german: Riesengebirge) are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Mas ...

and Stołowe (Table) in Poland and Krkonoše in the Czech Republic. The Sudeten Germans (the German-speaking inhabitants of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

) as well as the

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...

(the border regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and

Czech Silesia Czech Silesia (, also , ; cs, České Slezsko; szl, Czeski Ślōnsk; sli, Tschechisch-Schläsing; german: Tschechisch-Schlesien; pl, Śląsk Czeski) is the part of the historical region of Silesia now in the Czech Republic. Czech Silesia is ...

they inhabited) are named after the Sudetes.

Etymology

The name ''Sudetes'' is derived from ''Sudeti montes'', a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

ization of the name ''Soudeta ore'' used in the '' Geographia'' by the Greco-Roman writer

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of import ...

(Book 2, Chapter 10) c. AD 150 for a range of mountains in

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north ...

in the general region of the modern Czech Republic. There is no consensus about which mountains he meant, and he could for example have intended the Ore Mountains, joining the modern Sudetes to their west, or even (according to Schütte) the Bohemian Forest (although this is normally considered to be equivalent to Ptolemy's Gabreta forest). The modern Sudetes are probably Ptolemy's Askiburgion mountains. Ptolemy wrote "Σούδητα" in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, which is a neuter plural. Latin ''mons'', however, is a masculine, hence Sudeti. The Latin version, and the modern geographical identification, is likely to be a scholastic innovation, as it is not attested in classical Latin literature. The meaning of the name is not known. In one hypothetical derivation, it means ''Mountains of

Wild Boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

s'', relying on

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, ...

*su-, "pig". A better etymology perhaps is from Latin sudis, plural sudes, "spines", which can be used of spiny fish or spiny terrain.

Subdivisions

The Sudetes are usually divided into: * Eastern Sudetes, in the Czech Republic and Poland ** Golden Mountains ** Hanušovice Highlands ** Hrubý Jeseník with Mt.

, ** Mohelnice Depression ** Nízký Jeseník ** Opawskie Mountains ** Śnieżnik Mountains **

Zábřeh Highlands Zábřeh (; german: Hohenstadt) is a town in Šumperk District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Dolní Bušínov, Hněvkov, Pivonín and Václavov are administrativ ...

Central Sudetes The Central Sudetes ( cs, Orlická oblast or ''Střední Sudety'', pl, Sudety Środkowe, german: Mittelsudeten) are the central part of the Sudetes mountain range on the border of the Czech Republic and Poland. They stretch from the Nysa Kłodz ...

, in the Czech Republic and Poland ** Orlické Mountains with Mt.

Velká Deštná Velká Deštná (german: Deschneyer Großkoppe) is the highest mountain of the Central Sudetes and the Orlické Mountains, Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically ...

, ** Podorlicko Uplands ** Broumov Highlands ** Kłodzko Valley ** Bystrzyckie Mountains ** Bardzkie Mountains **

Stołowe Mountains The Stołowe Mountains (; in English known as the Table Mountains, pl, Góry Stołowe, cs, Stolové hory, german: Heuscheuergebirge) are mountain range in Poland and the Czech Republic, part of the Central Sudetes. The Polish part of the rang ...

** Owl Mountains ** Krucze Mountains ** Stone Mountains ** Waldenburg Mountains * Western Sudetes, in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland ** Frýdlant Hills **

with Mt. Sněžka, ** Giant Mountains Foothills ** Ještěd–Kozákov Ridge ** Jizera Mountains **

Kaczawskie Mountains The Katzbach Mountains or Kaczawskie Mountains ( pl, Góry Kaczawskie; german: Katzbachgebirge) are a mountain range, roughly 30 kilometres long, in the Western Sudetes in Poland. It is located within the Polish province of Lower Silesia. It ...

** Kaczawskie Foothills ** Lusatian Mountains ** Lusatian Highlands **

Lusatian Gefilde Lusatian may refer to: * Lusatian languages (''Sorbian languages'') * Lusatians (people) (''Sorbs'') * Lusatia (''Sorbia'') * Lusatian culture The Lusatian culture existed in the later Bronze Age and early Iron Age (1700 BC – 500 BC) in most ...

West Lusatian Foothills West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

** East Lusatian Foothills ** Rudawy Janowickie ** Jelenia Góra Valley ** Zittau Basin * Sudeten Foreland **

Strzegom Hills Strzegom (german: Striegau) is a town in Świdnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the Gmina Strzegom administrative district (gmina). It lies approximately north-west of Świdnica, and west of th ...

** Świdnicka Plain **

Ślęża Massif The Ślęża (; german: Zobten or ''Zobtenberg'', later also ''Siling'') is a mountain in the Sudeten Foreland ( pl, Przedgórze Sudeckie) in Lower Silesia, from Wrocław, southern Poland. This nature reserve built mostly of granite is 718 ...

** Niemczańsko-Strzelińskie Hills ** Podsudeckie Depression ** Žulová Hilly Land **

Vidnava Lowland Vidnava (, pl, Widnawa) is a town in Jeseník District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,200 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Etymology The town ...

High Sudetes ( pl, Wysokie Sudety, cs, Vysoké Sudety, german: Hochsudeten) is together name for the ranges of

, Hrubý Jeseník and

Snieznik Mountains The Snieznik Mountains, sometimes also Śnieżnik Mountains ( pl, Masyw Śnieżnika, cs, Králický Sněžník, german: Glatzer Schneegebirge) are a massif in the Eastern Sudetes on the border of the Czech Republic and Poland. On the Polish side ...

Climate

The highest mountains, those located along the Czech-Polish border have annual

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hai ...

s around 1500 mm. The Table Mountains that reach 919 m have precipitations ranging from 750 mm at lower locations to 920 mm in the upper parts with July being the rainiest month. Snow cover at the Table Mountains typically last 70 to 95 days depending on altitude.

Vegetation

Settlement, logging and clearance has left forest pockets in the foothills with dense and continuous forest being found in the upper parts of the mountains. Due to logging in the last centuries little remains of the broad-leaf trees like

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engl ...

sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the ancient Greek ' (''sūkomoros'') meaning "fig-mulberry". Species of trees known as sycamore: * '' Acer pseudoplat ...

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

and

littleleaf linden ''Tilia cordata'', the small-leaved lime or small-leaved linden, is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to much of Europe. Other common names include little-leaf or littleleaf linden, or traditionally in South East England, pry or p ...

that were once common in the Sudetes. Instead

Norway spruce ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very clo ...

was planted in their place in the early 19th century, in some places amounting to

monoculture In agriculture, monoculture is the practice of growing one crop species in a field at a time. Monoculture is widely used in intensive farming and in organic farming: both a 1,000-hectare/acre cornfield and a 10-ha/acre field of organic kale a ...

s. To provide more space for spruce plantations various peatlands were drained in the 19th and 20th century. Some spruce plantations have suffered severe damage as the seeds used came from lowland specimens that were not adapted to mountain conditions. Silver fir grow naturally in the Sudetes being more widespread in past times, before clearance since the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Ren ...

and subsequent industrial pollution reduced the stands. Many arctic-alpine and alpine

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...

s have a

disjunct distribution In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but considerably separated from each other geographically. The causes are varied and might demonstrate either the expansion or contraction of a s ...

being notably absent from the central Sudetes despite suitable habitats. Possibly this is the result a warm period during the

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

(last 10,000 years) which wiped out cold-adapted vascular plants in the medium-sized mountains of the central Sudetes where there was no higher ground that could serve as refugia. Besides altitude the distribution of some alpine plants is influenced by soil. This is the case of ''

Aster alpinus ''Aster alpinus'', the alpine aster or blue alpine daisy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the mountains of Europe (including the Alps), with a subspecies native to Canada and the United States. This herbac ...

'' that grows preferentially on

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an a ...

ground. Other alpine plants such as '' Cardamine amara'', '' Epilobium anagallidifolium'', '' Luzula sudetica'' and '' Solidago virgaurea'' occur beyond their altitudinal zonation in very humid areas. Peatlands are common in the mountains occurring on high plateaus or in valley bottoms. Fens occur at slopes.

Timber line

The higher mountains of the Sudetes lie above the timber line which is made up of Norway spruce. Spruces in wind-exposed areas display features such as flag tree disposition of branches, tilted stems and elongated stem cross sections. Forest-free areas above the timber line have increased historically by

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then land conversion, converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban area, urban ...

yet lowering of the timber line by human activity is minimal. Areas above the timber line appear discontinuously as "islands" in the Sudetes. At Krkonoše the timber line lies at ''c''. 1230 m a.s.l. while to the southeast in the Hrubý Jeseník mountains it lie at ''c''. 1310 m a.s.l. Part of the Hrubý Jeseník mountains have been above the timber line for no less than 5000 years. Mountains rise considerably above the timber line, at most 400 m, a characteristic that sets the Sudetes apart of other '' Mittelgebirge'' of

Geology

Geological research has been hampered by the multinational geography of the Sudetes with and the limitation of studies to state boundaries.

Bedrock

The

igneous Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma o ...

and

metamorphic Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, cau ...

rocks of the Sudetes originated during the Variscan orogeny and its aftermath. The Sudetes are the northeasternmost accessible part of Variscan orogen as in the North European Plain the orogen is buried beneath sediments. Plate tectonic movements during the Variscan orogeny assembled together four major and two to three lesser

tectonostratigraphic terrane In geology, a terrane (; in full, a tectonostratigraphic terrane) is a crust fragment formed on a tectonic plate (or broken off from it) and accreted or " sutured" to crust lying on another plate. The crustal block or fragment preserves its own ...

s. The assemblage of the terranes ought to have involved the closure of at least two ocean basins containing

oceanic crust Oceanic crust is the uppermost layer of the oceanic portion of the tectonic plates. It is composed of the upper oceanic crust, with pillow lavas and a dike complex, and the lower oceanic crust, composed of troctolite, gabbro and ultramafi ...

and marine sediments. This is reflected in the ophiolites, MORB-basalts, blueschists and

eclogite Eclogite () is a metamorphic rock containing garnet ( almandine- pyrope) hosted in a matrix of sodium-rich pyroxene ( omphacite). Accessory minerals include kyanite, rutile, quartz, lawsonite, coesite, amphibole, phengite, paragonite, ...

s that occur in-between terranes. Various terranes of the Sudetes are likely extensions of the Armorican terrane while other terranes may be the fringes of the ancient Baltica continent. One possibility for the amalgamation of terranes in the Sudetes is that the Góry Sowie-Kłodzko terrane collided with the Orlica-Śnieżnik terrane causing the closure of a small oceanic basin. This event led to

obduction Obduction is a geological process whereby denser oceanic crust (and even upper mantle) is scraped off a descending ocean plate at a convergent plate boundary and thrust on top of an adjacent plate. When oceanic and continental plates converge, ...

of the Central Sudetic ophiolite in the Devonian period. In the Early Carboniferous the joint Góry Sowie-Kłodzko-Orlica-Śnieżnik terrane collided with the Brunovistulian terrane. This last terrane was part of the

Old Red Continent Laurasia () was the more northern of two large landmasses that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from around (Mya), the other being Gondwana. It separated from Gondwana (beginning in the late Triassic period) during the breakup of Pan ...

and could correspond either to Baltica or the eastern tip of the narrow Avalonia terrane. Also by the Early Carboniferous the Saxothuringian terrane collided with the Góry Sowie-Kłodzko-Orlica-Śnieżnik terrane closing the Rheic Ocean. Once the main phase of deformation of the orogeny was over basins that had formed in-between metamorphic rock massifs were filled by

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particle ...

in the

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, w ...

and Carboniferous periods. During and after sedimentation large

granitic A granitoid is a generic term for a diverse category of coarse-grained igneous rocks that consist predominantly of quartz, plagioclase, and alkali feldspar. Granitoids range from plagioclase-rich tonalites to alkali-rich syenites and from quart ...

plutons intruded the crust. Viewed in a map today these plutons make up about 15% the Sudetes. Granites are of S-type. The granites and grantic-gneisses of

Izera The Jizera ( pl, Izera; german: Iser) is a river that begins on the border between Poland and the Czech Republic (in the Liberec Region in northern Bohemia) and ends in Central Bohemian Region. It is 167.0 km long, and its basin area is about ...

in the west Sudetes are disassociated from orogeny and thought to have formed during

rift In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-grabe ...

ing along a passive continental margin. The Karkonosze Granite, also in the west Sudetes, have been dated to have formed ''c''. 318 million years ago at the beginning of the Variscan orogeny. The Karkonosze Granite is intruded by somewhat younger

lamprophyre Lamprophyres () are uncommon, small-volume ultrapotassic igneous rocks primarily occurring as dikes, lopoliths, laccoliths, stocks, and small intrusions. They are alkaline silica- undersaturated mafic or ultramafic rocks with high magne ...

dykes. A NW-SE to WNW-ESE oriented

strike-slip fault In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tecton ...

—the Intra-Sudetic fault— runs through the length of the Sudetes. The Intra-Sudetic fault is parallel with the Upper Elbe fault and

Middle Oder fault Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

. Other main faults at the sudetes are also NW-SE oriented, dextral and of strike slip type. These include the Tłumaczów-Sienna Fault and the Marginal Sudetic Fault.

Volcanism and thermal waters

There are remnants of lava flows and volcanic plugs in the Sudetes. The

volcanic rock Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin. Like all rock types, the concept of volcan ...

s making up these

outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficia ...

s are of

mafic A mafic mineral or rock is a silicate mineral or igneous rock rich in magnesium and iron. Most mafic minerals are dark in color, and common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, and biotite. Common mafic rocks includ ...

chemistry and include basanite and represent episodes of volcanism in the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but ...

and

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

periods. Volcanism affected not only the Sudetes but also parts of the Sudetic foreland being part of a SW-NE oriented Bohemo-Silesian Belt of volcanic rocks.

Mantle A mantle is a piece of clothing, a type of cloak. Several other meanings are derived from that. Mantle may refer to: *Mantle (clothing), a cloak-like garment worn mainly by women as fashionable outerwear **Mantle (vesture), an Eastern Orthodox ve ...

xenolith A xenolith ("foreign rock") is a rock fragment ( country rock) that becomes enveloped in a larger rock during the latter's development and solidification. In geology, the term ''xenolith'' is almost exclusively used to describe inclusions in i ...

s have been recovered from the lavas of a volcano at Ještěd-Kozákov Ridge in the Czech western Sudetes. These pyroxenite xenoliths arrived to surface from approximate depths of 35, 70 and 73 km and indicate a complex history for the mantle beneath the Sudetes. There are thermal springs in the Sudetes with measured temperatures of 29 to 44 °C. Drilling has revealed the existence of waters at 87 °C at depths of 2000 m. These modern waters are believed to be associated to the Late Cenozoic volcanism in Central Europe.

Uplift and landforms

The Sudetes forms the NE border of the Bohemian Massif. In detail the Sudetes is made up of a series of massifs that are rectangular and rhomboid in plan view. These mountains corresponds to horsts and domes separated by basins, including

graben In geology, a graben () is a depressed block of the crust of a planet or moon, bordered by parallel normal faults. Etymology ''Graben'' is a loan word from German, meaning 'ditch' or 'trench'. The word was first used in the geologic contex ...

s. The mountains took their present form after the Late Mesozoic retreat of the seas from the area which left the Sudetes subject to denudation for at least 65 million years. This meant that during the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...

and

Early Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configurat ...

8 to 4 km of rock was eroded from the top of what is now the Sudetes. Concurrently with the Cenozoic denudation the climate cooled due to the northward drift of Europe. The collision between Africa and Europe has resulted in the deformation and uplift of the Sudetes. As such the uplift is related to the contemporary rise of the Alps and

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The ...

. Uplift was accomplished by the creation or reactivation of numerous faults leading to a reshaping of the relief by renewed erosion. Various "hanging valleys" attest to this uplift. Block tectonics has uplifted or sunken crustal blocks. While the Late Cenozoic uplift has uplifted the Sudetes as a whole some

s precede this uplift. Pielgrzymy - fotopolska

Weathering Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with water, atmospheric gases, and biological organisms. Weathering occurs '' in situ'' (on site, with little or no movemen ...

during the Cenozoic led to the formation of an etchplain in parts of Sudetes. While this etchplain has been eroded various landforms and weathering mantles have been suggested to attest its former existence. At present the mountain range shows a remarkable diversity of landforms. Some of the landforms present are

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

s, inselbergs, bornhardts, granitic domes, tors, flared slopes and

weathering pit A panhole is a depression or basin eroded into flat or gently sloping cohesive rock.Twidale, C.R., and Bourne, J.A., 2018''Rock basins (gnammas) revisited. ''Géomorphologie: Relief, Processus, Environnement, Articles sous presse, Varia, mis en l ...

s. Various escarpments have originated from faults and may reach heights of up to 500 m. To the northeast the Sudetes is separated from the Sudetic foreland by a sharp

mountain front A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...

made up of an escarpment linked to the Sudetic Marginal Fault. Near Kaczawa this escarpment reaches 80 to 120 m in height. The relative influence of

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Quaternary tectonic movements and erosion in shaping the mountain landscape may vary along the northern front of the Sudetes. During the

Quaternary glaciation The Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, is an alternating series of glacial and interglacial periods during the Quaternary period that began 2.58 Ma (million years ago) and is ongoing. Although geologists describ ...

s the

was the most glaciated part of the Sudetes. Evidence of this are its glacial cirques and the glacial valleys that develop next to it. The precise timing of the glaciations in the Sudetes is poorly constrained. Parts of the Sudetes remained free from

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

ice developing

permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surfac ...

soils and

periglacial Periglaciation (adjective: "periglacial", also referring to places at the edges of glacial areas) describes geomorphic processes that result from seasonal thawing of snow in areas of permafrost, the runoff from which refreezes in ice wedges and ...

landforms such as rock glaciers,

nivation Nivation is the set of geomorphic processes associated with snow patches. The primary processes are mass wasting and the freeze and thaw cycle, in which fallen snow gets compacted into firn or névé. The importance of the processes covered b ...

hollows, patterned ground,

blockfield A blockfieldWhittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, pp. 66 and 190. . (also spelt block fieldLeser, Hartmut, ed. (2005). ''Wörterbuch Allgemeine Geographie'', 13th ed., dtv, Munich, pp. 107 and 221. ...

solifluction Solifluction is a collective name for gradual processes in which a mass moves down a slope (" mass wasting") related to freeze-thaw activity. This is the standard modern meaning of solifluction, which differs from the original meaning given to ...

landforms, blockstreams, tors and

cryoplanation In geomorphology, cryoplanation or is a term used to both describe and explain the formation of plains, terraces and pediments in periglacial environments. Uncertainty surrounds the term, and the effectiveness of the cryoplanation process is he ...

terraces. The occurrence or not of these periglacial landforms depends on altitude, the steepness and direction of slopes and the underlying rock type.

Mass wasting

Other than

debris flow Debris flows are geological phenomena in which water-laden masses of soil and fragmented Rock (geology), rock rush down mountainsides, funnel into stream channels, entrain objects in their paths, and form thick, muddy deposits on valley floors. ...

s there is little contemporary

mass wasting Mass wasting, also known as mass movement, is a general term for the movement of rock or soil down slopes under the force of gravity. It differs from other processes of erosion in that the debris transported by mass wasting is not entrained in ...

in the mountains.

Avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and ear ...

s are common in the Sudetes.

History

The area around the Sudetes had by the 12th century been relatively densely settled with agriculture and settlements expanding further in the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around AD ...

from the 13th century onward. The majority of settlers were Germans from neighbouring Silesia, founding typical '' Waldhufendörfer''. As this trend went on

thinning Thinning is a term used in agricultural sciences to mean the removal of some plants, or parts of plants, to make room for the growth of others. Selective removal of parts of a plant such as branches, buds, or roots is typically known as prunin ...

of forest and deforestation had turned clearly unsustainable by the 14th century. In the 15th and 16th centuries agriculture had reached the inner part of Table Mountains in the

. Destruction and degradation of the Sudetes forest peaked in the 16th and 17th centuries with demand of firewood coming from glasshouses that operated through the area in the early modern period. Some limited form of

forest management Forest management is a branch of forestry concerned with overall administrative, legal, economic, and social aspects, as well as scientific and technical aspects, such as silviculture, protection, and forest regulation. This includes management fo ...

begun in the 18th century while in the industrial age demand for firewood was sustained by metallurgic industries in the settlements and cities around the mountains. In the 19th century the

had an economic boom with sandstone quarrying and a flourishing tourism industry centered on the natural scenery. Despite this there was at least since the 1880s a trend of depopulation of villages and hamlets which continued into the 20th century. Since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

various areas that were cleared of forest have been re-naturalized. Industrial activity across Europe has caused considerable damage to the forests as acid rain and

heavy metals upright=1.2, Crystals of lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals are generally defined as metals with relatively high density, densities, atomi ...

has arrived with westerly and southwesterly winds. Silver firs have proven particularly vulnerable to industrial

soil contamination Soil contamination, soil pollution, or land pollution as a part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activit ...

Sudetes and "Sudetenland"

After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the name ''

'' came into use to describe areas of the

First Czechoslovak Republic The First Czechoslovak Republic ( cs, První československá republika, sk, Prvá česko-slovenská republika), often colloquially referred to as the First Republic ( cs, První republika, Slovak: ''Prvá republika''), was the first Czechoslo ...

with large

ethnic German , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

populations. In 1918, the short-lived rump state of German-Austria proclaimed a Province of the Sudetenland in northern

and

Austrian Silesia Austrian Silesia, (historically also ''Oesterreichisch-Schlesien, Oesterreichisch Schlesien, österreichisch Schlesien''); cs, Rakouské Slezsko; pl, Śląsk Austriacki officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, (historically ''Herzogth ...

around the city of

Opava Opava (; german: Troppau, pl, Opawa) is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. It lies on the river Opava. Opava is one of the historical centres of Silesia. It was a historical capital of ...

(''Troppau''). The term was used in a wider sense when on 1 October 1933 Konrad Henlein founded the Sudeten German Party and in Nazi German parlance ''Sudetendeutsche'' ( Sudeten Germans) referred to all autochthonous ethnic

Germans in Czechoslovakia German Bohemians (german: Deutschböhmen und Deutschmährer, i.e. German Bohemians and German Moravians), later known as Sudeten Germans, were ethnic Germans living in the Czech lands of the Bohemian Crown, which later became an integral part ...

. They were heavily clustered in the entire mountainous periphery of Czechoslovakia—not only in the former Moravian ''Provinz Sudetenland'' but also along the northwestern Bohemian borderlands with German Lower Silesia,

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

and

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

, in an area formerly called German Bohemia. In total, the German minority population of interwar Czechoslovakia numbered around 20% of the total national population. Sparking the Sudeten Crisis,

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

got his future enemies Britain and France to concede the ''Sudetenland'' with most of the Czechoslovak border fortifications in the 1938

Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...

, leaving the remainder of Czechoslovakia shorn of its natural borders and buffer zone, finally occupied by Germany in March 1939. After being annexed by Nazi Germany, much of the region was redesignated as the ''

Reichsgau Sudetenland The Reichsgau Sudetenland was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1939 to 1945. It comprised the northern part of the ''Sudetenland'' territory, which was annexed from Czechoslovakia according to the 30 September 1938 Munich Agreement. ...

''. After

, most of the previous population of the Sudetes was forcibly expelled on the basis of the

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement (german: Potsdamer Abkommen) was the agreement between three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union on 1 August 1945. A product of the Potsdam Conference, it concerned t ...

and the

Beneš decrees The Beneš decrees, sk, Dekréty prezidenta republiky) and the Constitutional Decrees of the President of the Republic ( cz, Ústavní dekrety presidenta republiky, sk, Ústavné dekréty prezidenta republiky) were a series of laws drafted by t ...

, and the region was resettled by new Polish and Czechoslovak citizens. A considerable proportion of the Czechoslovak populace thereafter strongly objected to the use of the term ''Sudety''. In the Czech Republic the designation ''Krkonošsko-jesenická subprovincie'' is used in academic context and usually only the discrete Czech names for the individual mountain ranges (e.g. Krkonoše) appear, as under Subdivisions above.

Economy and tourism

Part of the economy of the Sudetes is dedicated to tourism.

Coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

towns like

Wałbrzych Wałbrzych (; german: Waldenburg; szl, Wałbrzich; sli, label= Lower Silesian, Walmbrig or ''Walmbrich''; cs, Valbřich or ) is a city located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland. From 1975–1998 it was the capital of W ...

have re-oriented their economies towards tourism since the decline of mining in the 1980s. As of 2000 scholar Krzysztof R. Mazurski judged that the Sudetes, much like the Poland's Baltic coast and the

, were unlikely to attract much foreign tourism.

Sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

has been quarried in Sudetes during the 19th and 20th centuries. Likewise

has also been quarried to such degree untouched volcanoes are scarce. Sandstone labyrinths have been a notable tourist attraction since the 19th century with considerable investments being done in projecting trails some of which involve rock engineering. In the Sudetes there are many

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, B ...

s with sanatoria. In many places the developed tourist base – hotels, guest houses, ski infrastructure. The nearest international airports are Dresden Airport in

and Copernicus Airport in

Wrocław Wrocław (; , . german: Breslau, , also known by other names) is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, roughly ...

Notable towns

Notable towns in this area include: ;Poland *

* Jelenia Góra *

Świdnica Świdnica (; german: Schweidnitz; cs, Svídnice; szl, Świdńica) is a city in south-western Poland in the region of Silesia. As of 2019, it has a population of 57,014 inhabitants. It lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, being the seventh larges ...

* Dzierżoniów * Zgorzelec * Bielawa *

Kłodzko Kłodzko (; cz, Kladsko; german: Glatz; la, Glacio) is a historic town in south-western Poland, in the region of Lower Silesia. It is situated in the centre of the Kłodzko Valley, on the Eastern Neisse river. Kłodzko is the seat of Kłodzk ...

* Jawor * Świebodzice * Nowa Ruda * Lubań * Kamienna Góra *

Bogatynia Bogatynia (; German: ''Reichenau in Sachsen'') is a town in Zgorzelec County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 16,460. Geography The municipal area forms Poland's "Turoszów ...

* Strzegom * Boguszów-Gorce *

Ząbkowice Śląskie Ząbkowice Śląskie ( ; german: link=no, Frankenstein in Schlesien; szl, Ślůnske Zůmbkowicy) is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of Ząbkowice Śląskie County and of a local municipality called ...

* Kowary *

Bystrzyca Kłodzka Bystrzyca Kłodzka ( cs, Kladská Bystřice, german: Habelschwerdt) is a historic town in Kłodzko County, in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in southwestern Poland. It is the administrative seat of Gmina Bystrzyca Kłodzka. As of December 2021, th ...

* Głuchołazy ;Czech Republic * Liberec *

Jablonec nad Nisou Jablonec nad Nisou (; german: Gablonz an der Neiße) is a city in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 45,000 inhabitants. It is the second-largest city in the region. It is a local centre for education, and is known for its glas ...

* Trutnov *

Náchod Náchod (; german: Nachod) is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 19,000 inhabitants. It is known both as a tourist destination and centre of industry. The town centre with the castle complex is well preserved ...

* Vrchlabí * Šumperk * Zábřeh * Jeseník *

Krnov Krnov (; german: Jägerndorf, pl, Karniów or ''Krnów'') is a town in Bruntál District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts The town is made up of town parts of Pod Bezr ...

* Bruntál ;Germany *

Görlitz Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and is the largest town in Upper Lusa ...

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Bu ...

Zittau Zittau ( hsb, Žitawa, dsb, Žytawa, pl, Żytawa, cs, Žitava, Upper Lusatian Dialect: ''Sitte''; from Slavic "''rye''" (Upper Sorbian and Czech: ''žito'', Lower Sorbian: ''žyto'', Polish: ''żyto'')) is the southeasternmost city in the Ger ...

Radeberg Radeberg is a small town in the district of Bautzen, Saxony, Germany. It is located approximately 20 kilometres north-east of Dresden. The town has an Evangelical and a Roman Catholic church, and an old castle. History Radeberg was mentioned ...

* Kamenz * Löbau

Gallery

Śnieżne Kotły, Karkonosze.jpg, Śnieżne Kotły Pielgrzymy.jpg, Pielgrzymy SzczeliniecWielki.jpg, "Hell" on Szczeliniec Wielki, Table Mountains Sokolik-FilarZachodni.JPG, Góry Sokole Widok na Sokole Góry.JPG, Góry Sokole Masyw Starościnskich Skał.JPG, Rudawy Janowickie MG 2763-HDR (tz).jpg, Colourful lakelets Szczeliniec Wielki @.jpg, Table Mountains 2006.02 Organy1.jpg, Małe Organy Myśliborskie Trojmezí CZ-PL-DE.jpg,

Tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

of Germany, Czech Republic, and Poland in the Eastern Upper Lusatia Blick auf den Berg Oybin in Zittauer Gebirge... 2H1A9113WI.jpg, Monastery ruins on the

Oybin Oybin ( hsb, Ojbin) is a municipality in the Görlitz district, in Saxony, Germany, located very close to the border of the Czech Republic. Following the defeat of the Protestant armies by the Habsburgs in the Battle of the White Mountain in ...

Luzicke hory Hvozd Oybin.jpg, Zittau Mountains with the Hochwald mountain Oybin, der Felsen "brütende Henne".jpg, Rock formation Broody Hen (''Brütende Henne'') on the Töpfer Töpfer1.jpg, Rock Gate (''Felsentor'') Felsformation in Farbe.jpg, '' Czorneboh'' rock formation Ještěd , letecký pohled.jpg, Ještěd–Kozákov Ridge Velky a Maly Roudny02.JPG, Extinct volcanoes in Nízký Jeseník Raspenava - pohled od křížku u rybníka Netík na severní svahy Jizerských hor (Krásná Máří, Svinské čelo).jpg, View towards the Jizerskohorské bučiny National Nature Reserve

Notes

References

External links

Orographic map with Sudetes highlighted

{{Authority control Mountain ranges of Poland Mountain ranges of the Czech Republic Sudetenland Mountain ranges of Saxony Horsts (geology)