| Rhenish Massif | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Highest point | |
| Peak | Großer Feldberg |
| Elevation | 2,881 ft (878 m) |
| Geography | |
| Countries | Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and France |
| States | North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse |
| Parent range | Central Uplands |
| Geology | |
| Orogeny | Variscan (Hercynian) |
| Rock age(s) | Devonian and Carboniferous |
| Rock type | metamorphic rock |
The Rhenish Massif,[1] Rhine Massif[2] or Rhenish Uplands[3] (German: Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, pronounced [ˈʁaɪnɪʃəs ˈʃiːfɐɡəˌbɪʁɡə] : 'Rhenish Slate Uplands') is a geologic massif in western Germany, eastern Belgium, Luxembourg and northeastern France. It is drained centrally, south to north by the river Rhine and a few of its tributaries.
West of the indent of the Cologne Bight it has the Eifel and the Belgian and French Ardennes; east is its greatest German component, the Süder Uplands. The Hunsrück hills form its southwest. The Westerwald is an eastern strip. The Lahn-Dill area is a small central zone and the Taunus Mountains form the rest, the south-east.
The massif hosts the Middle Rhine Valley (Rhine Gorge), a UNESCO World Heritage site linked to the lowest parts of the Moselle (German: Mosel, Luxembourgish: Musel).
- ^ Vogel, Miller and Greiling (1987).
- ^ Dickinson, Robert E (1964). Germany: A regional and economic geography (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, pp. 428-459. ASIN B000IOFSEQ.
- ^ Elkins, T H (1972). Germany (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972, pp. 226-236. ASIN B0011Z9KJA.