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Main Mountain Ranges in Italy

Alps Appenines

Compositio

n

Very hard, compact, resistent Sedimentary rock

Subject to erosion caused by

rain,wind, changes in temperatureElevation Very high, impressive lower

Peaks Sharp peaks

Highest peaks (Western Alps)= MontBlanc 4807 m and Monte Rosa 4663 m

Eastern Alps = Dolomites limestoneDeclared World Heritage Site by

UNESCO in 2009

Soft peaks

Highest peaks= Gran Sasso dItalia(Abruzzo), Mount Etna (Sicily)

Location Extend in an arch shape from Liguria to

Friuli Venezia Giulia,

1300 km long

Run through the entire peninsula from

the northwest in Liguria to the

southeast in Calabria and Sicily

Natural border to the north with France,

Switzerland, Austria , Slovenia and in part

with Germany and Lichtenstein

Other Minor Moutain Chains or groups:

1. Apuanan Alps (Tuscany)run along the Ligurean Tyrrhenian coast

2. Mount Amianta (Tuscany)ancient extinct volcano

limestone

3. Antiappenines (Campagna)

4. The Prealps (from Lombardy to Fiuli) is a group of mountains and hills that degradetowards thePadana plain.

Mountain Ranges in Sardinia: occupied by hilly highland and low mountain ranges

do not reach 200 m in height

rounded peaks caused by erosion

older than Alps and Appenines

Punta Marmora 1834 m (Gennargentu range)highest peak

Answer the questions:

1. What kind of rock the Alps/Appenines made of?

2. Which mountain chain is higher?

3. How does each chain extend

4. Which countries do the Alps border?

5. What are the highest peaks in the Alps/Appenines?

6. Which mountain chains are made of limestone?

7. Name other minor chains. Where are they?

8. What are the differences between the mountain chains in Sardinia and the rest of Italy?

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Plains

Very little territory in Italy is flat. ThePadana Plain, the largest of the plains is 46000 sq. m inarea. Ten thousand years ago it was a marine basin: the Adriatic sea flowed through the Alps and

the Northern Appenines. Slowly this large gulf (Padana gulf) was filled with loam, sand,

gravel and other material eroded from the mountains and transported into the Po Valley and itstributaries.

Other plains: Val Arno Inferiore (Tuscany)

Maremma (betweenTuscany and Latium)

Agro Pontino (Latium)

Terra di Lavoro (Campania)

Tavoliere delle Puglie

Plain of Catania (Sicily)

Campidano (Sardinia)

Italys Glaciers

Throughout history there have been periods of strong climate changes: starting from 2 million years

ago until today there have been

Periods of cooling most of the mountains and valleys

were covered by extensive ice sheets

Periods of warming (as today)

o the less than 200 alpine glaciers found at the top

of the highest peaks and at the top of some valleys,

have shrunk

The Valle DAosta has the most number of glaciers. They are found between Gran Paradiso,Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa while in the Central Alps the largest glaciers lie on the Bernina, the

Ortles and the Adamello mountains. Among the Eastern Alps the only important glacier is the

Marmolada glacier.. The Appennine chain does not have glaciers, excluding the remains of the

perennial glacier found on the Gran Sasso dItalia- the Calderone glacier.

Match the underlined terms in the text with their corresponding Italian equivalents.

Basin estendersi attraverso

Sedimentary rock catena montuosa

Limestone rimpicciolirsi

Peak scorrere attraverso

Mountain Chain limoRun through valle

Flow through tra

Run along ghiaia

Extinct giacere, trovarsi, essere situato

Flat estendersi lungo

Ice sheets sabbia

Shrink vetta

Loam affluente

Lie calotte

Among estinto

Gravel roccia sedimentariaValley piatto

Tributary bacino