Rhenish Massif

Rhenish Massif
Highest point
PeakGroßer Feldberg
Elevation2,881 ft (878 m)
Geography
CountriesGermany, Belgium, Luxembourg and France
StatesNorth Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse
Parent rangeCentral Uplands
Geology
OrogenyVariscan (Hercynian)
Age of rockDevonian and Carboniferous
Type of rockmetamorphic rock
Satellite image with outlines (grey-drawn outline) of the Rhenish Slate Mountains (green trees). Above left the mouth of the Rhine into the North Sea.

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).

  1. ^ Vogel, Miller and Greiling (1987).
  2. ^ Dickinson, Robert E (1964). Germany: A regional and economic geography (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, pp. 428-459. ASIN B000IOFSEQ.
  3. ^ Elkins, T H (1972). Germany (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972, pp. 226-236. ASIN B0011Z9KJA.