Caucasus Mountains
Topic: World Physical Features and Natural Regions · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Caucasus Mountains are a range of young fold mountains between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Fold mountains are tall, sharp-peaked ranges that form where plates push into each other. The range crosses Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is part of the Alpine-Himalayan belt. By custom, it is often taken as part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. This boundary decides which peak counts as Europe's highest.
Example
Mount Elbrus (about 5,642 m) stands in the Caucasus, in Russia. It is a dormant volcano, which means it has not erupted for a long time but could erupt again. It is usually taken as Europe's highest peak.
Don't confuse with
- Ural Mountains: also part of the Europe-Asia boundary, but they are old, worn-down, rounded mountains. The Caucasus is young and sharp-peaked.
- Carpathians: another range of the Alpine-Himalayan belt, but in central and eastern Europe, far west of the Black Sea.