Hill chain

A hill chain, sometimes also hill ridge, is an elongated line of hills that usually includes a succession of more or less prominent hilltops, domed summits or kuppen, hill ridges and saddles and which, together with its associated lateral ridges and branches, may form a complex topographic structure. It may occur within a hill range, within an area of low rolling hill country or on a plain. It may link two or more otherwise distinct hill ranges. The transition from a hill chain to a mountain chain is blurred and depends on regional definitions of a hill or mountain. For example, in the UK and Ireland a mountain must officially be 600 m (2,000 ft) or higher,[1][2] whereas in North America mountains are often (unofficially) taken as being 1,000 ft (300 m) high or more.[3]

The Malvern Hills, a hill chain rising from the plain in west-central England

The chain-like arrangement of hills in a chain is a consequence of their collective formation by mountain building forces or ice age earth movements. Hill chains generally have a uniform geological age, but may comprise several types of rock or sediment.

Hill chains normally form a watershed. They are crossed by roads that often use a natural saddle in the terrain.

Examples

• the Argonne hill chain, in France.[4]
• the Fläming south of Berlin in Germany.[5]
• the Malvern Hills in central England.[6]
• the ridge between the Taunus and Vogelsberg, which lies south of Giessen and forms the watershed between the Lahn valley and the Wetterau in Germany.

See also

• Mountain chain

References

1. • Nuttall, John & Anne (2008). England. The Mountains of England & Wales. 2 (3rd ed.). Milnthorpe, Cumbria: Cicerone. ISBN 978-1-85284-037-2.
     - "Survey turns hill into a mountain". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
   • "A Mountain is a Mountain – isn't it?". www.go4awalk.com. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
   • "mountain". dictionary.reference.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
   • Wilson, Peter (2001). "Listing the Irish hills and mountains" (PDF). Irish Geography. Coleraine: University of Ulster. 34 (1): 89. doi:10.1080/00750770109555778. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2013.
2. "What is a "Mountain"? Mynydd Graig Goch and all that..." Metric Views. Archived from the original on 30 March 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
3. "What is the difference between lake and pond; mountain and hill; or river and creek?". USGS. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
4. Leggiere 2007, p. 122. sfn error: no target: CITEREFLeggiere2007 (help)
5. Bünz 2008, p. 131. sfn error: no target: CITEREFBünz2008 (help)
6. _ 1940, p. 61. sfn error: no target: CITEREF_1940 (help)

Literature

• _ (1940). Proceedings/Geologists' Association. Vol. 51.
• Bünz, Enno (2008). Ostsiedlung und Landesausbau in Sachsen. Leipzig: LUV.
• Leggiere, Michael V. (2007). The Fall of Napoleon, Vol. 1. Cambridge: CUP.

External links