Skanderbeg Mountains

Skanderbeg Mountains
Vargmalet Perëndimore
View of Mali i Velës from the highlands of Mirditë
Highest point
Elevation1,974 m (6,476 ft)
Coordinates41°32′28″N 19°52′47″E / 41.541079°N 19.879821°E / 41.541079; 19.879821
Dimensions
Length100 km (62 mi)
Geography
Skanderbeg Mountains is located in Albania
Skanderbeg Mountains
Skanderbeg Mountains
Country Albania
RegionCentral Mountain Region
Geology
Rock age(s)Triassic, Jurassic, Ordovician, Cretaceous, Paleogene
Mountain typemountain range
Rock type(s)limestone, flysch

Skanderbeg Mountains (Albanian: Vargmalet e Skënderbeut), also known as Vargmalet Perëndimore, are a prominent mountain range situated in the northwestern section of the Central Mountain Region of Albania. The range stretches approximately 100 km (62 mi), making it the longest in the country. It extends from the Gjadër river valley in the northwest to the Shkumbin river valley in the southeast; and from the trough of Mat in the east, to the plains between Lezhë, Tirana and Lower Shkodër in the west.[1]

The eastern side of the range is composed primarily of limestone from the Triassic-Jurassic era, separated into distinct blocks, while the western side is composed of limestone from the Ordovician and the Cretaceous-Paleogene eras, forming belts amid the Paleogene flysch. Ultrabasic rocks are also present, and the older flysch appears in the form of surface bands on the eastern side of the range.[2]

  1. ^ Kabo, Mevlan (1991). Gjeografia Fizike e Shqipërisë (1.2 ed.). Tiranë: Qendra e Studimeve Gjeografike. p. 592.
  2. ^ Buda, Aleks (1985). Fjalori Enciklopedik Shqiptar. Tiranë: Akademia e Shkencave e RPSSH. p. 1245.