The Králický Sněžník Mountains or Śnieżnik Mountains (, , ) is a

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

and

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 aris ...

in the

Eastern Sudetes The Eastern Sudetes (, or ''Jesenická oblast'') are the eastern part of the Sudetes mountains on the border of the Czech Republic and Poland. They stretch from the Kłodzko Valley and the Eastern Neisse River in the west down to the Moravian ...

on the border of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Geomorphology

The Králický Sněžník Mountains is a mesoregion of the

within the

Sudetes The Sudetes ( ), also known as the Sudeten Mountains or Sudetic Mountains, is a geomorphological subprovince of the Bohemian Massif province in Central Europe, shared by the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany. They consist mainly of mountain rang ...

in the

Bohemian Massif The Bohemian Massif ( or ''Český masiv'', or ''Böhmisches Massiv'') is a geomorphological province in Central Europe. It is a large massif stretching over most of the Czech Republic, eastern Germany, southern Poland and northern Austria. Th ...

. All the highest mountains are located close to the Czech–Polish border or on the Czech side. The largest mountains are: *

Králický Sněžník Králický Sněžník () or Śnieżnik () is a mountain on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland. With , it is the highest mountain of the Králický Sněžník Mountains. Etymology The name ''Sněžník'' or ''Śnieżnik'' derives ...

, *Mały Śnieżnik, *Sušina, *Hraniční skály, *Podbělka, *Černá kupa, *Stříbrnická, *Babuše, *Uhlisko, *Slamník,

Geography

The territory has an area of , of which in Poland and in the Czech Republic. Three main European watersheds pass through the Králický Sněžník Mountains and they meet at Klepáč mountain (1,145 m). Králický Sněžník forms an important hydrographic node, its territory belongs to three seas – the Black, North and Baltic Seas. The Morava River, which originates below the peak of Králický Sněžník, drains its waters into the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

. The stream Lipkovský potok with its tributaries flows into the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. The waters of the

Eastern Neisse The Eastern Neisse, also known by its Polish name of Nysa Kłodzka (, ), is a river in southwestern Poland, a left tributary of the Oder, with a length of 188 km (21st longest) and a basin area of 4,570 km2 (3,742 in Poland). Prior to Wo ...

and its tributaries flow into the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. Due to the terrain, there are no significant settlements here.

Geology

The territory of the massif is mainly formed by metamorphosed rocks –

gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...

and

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

. Other rocks that occur here are crystalline

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and dolomite,

amphibole Amphibole ( ) is a group of inosilicate minerals, forming prism or needlelike crystals, composed of double chain tetrahedra, linked at the vertices and generally containing ions of iron and/or magnesium in their structures. Its IMA symbol is ...

schist,

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...

and quartzite schist.

Marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

serpentinite Serpentinite is a metamorphic rock composed predominantly of serpentine group minerals formed by serpentinization of mafic or ultramafic rocks. The ancient origin of the name is uncertain; it may be from the similarity of its texture or color ...

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, zoisit ...

can be found in small quantities.

Protection of nature

On the Polish side the mountain range is largely covered by the

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

called Śnieżnik Landscape Park. On the Czech side, an area of is protected as a national nature reserve.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kralicky Sneznik Mountains Sudetes Mountain ranges of Poland Mountain ranges of the Czech Republic