Apennine Mountains

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Apennine Mountains
Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise.jpg
Highest point
Peak Corno Grande (Big Horn)
Elevation 2,912 m (9,554 ft)
Length 1,200 km (750 mi) northwest to southeast
Width 250 km (160 mi) southwest to northeast
Native name Monti Appennini
Italia fisica appennini.png
Relief Map of the Apennines
Countries Italy and San Marino
Range coordinates 43°17′N 12°35′E﻿ / ﻿43.28°N 12.58°E﻿ / 43.28; 12.58Coordinates: 43°17′N 12°35′E﻿ / ﻿43.28°N 12.58°E﻿ / 43.28; 12.58
Period Mesozoic for formation of rock,
Neogene-Quaternary for orogeny
Type of rock Apennine fold and thrust belt

The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (/ˈæpənn/; Greek: Απέννινα Όρη, Latin: Appenninus or Apenninus Mons—a singular used in the plural;[note 1] Italian: Appennini)[1] are a mountain range consisting of parallel smaller chains extending c. 1,200 km (750 mi) along the length of peninsular Italy. In the northwest they join with the Ligurian Alps at Altare. In the southwest they end at Reggio di Calabria, the coastal city at the tip of the peninsula. Since about 2000 the Ministry of the Environment of Italy, following the recommendations of the Apennines Park of Europe Project, has been defining the Apennines System to include the mountains of north Sicily, for a total distance of 1,500 kilometres (930 mi).[2] The system forms an arc enclosing the east side of the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian Seas.

The etymology most frequently repeated, because of its semantic appropriateness, is that it derives from the Celtic Penn, "mountain, summit":[1] A-penn-inus, which could have been assigned during the Celtic domination of north Italy in the 4th century BC or before. The name originally applied to the north Apennines. However, historical linguists have never found a derivation with which they are universally comfortable.[3] Wilhelm Deecke said:[4][note 2] "...its etymology is doubtful but some derive it from the Ligurian-Celtish Pen or Ben, which means mountain peak."

The mountains lend their name to the Apennine peninsula, which forms the major part of Italy.[3] They are mostly verdant, although one side of the highest peak, Corno Grande is partially covered by Calderone glacier, the only glacier in the Apennines. It has been receding since 1794.[5] The southern mountains are semi-arid. The eastern slopes down to the Adriatic Sea are steep, while the western slopes form foothills on which most of peninsular Italy's cities are located. The mountains tend to be named from the province or provinces in which they are located; for example, the Ligurian Apennines are in Liguria. As the provincial borders have not always been stable, this practice has resulted in some confusion about exactly where the montane borders are. Often but not always a geographical feature can be found that lends itself to being a border.


The Apennines are divided into three sectors: northern (Italian: Appennino settentrionale), central (Italian: Appennino centrale) and southern (Italian: Appennino meridionale).[6]


Northern Apennines[edit]

The northern Apennines consist of three sub-chains: the Ligurian (Italian: Appennino Ligure), Tuscan (Italian: Appennino Toscano) and Umbrian Apennines (Italian: Appennino Umbro).[7]

Ligurian Apennines[edit]

The plaque marking the Bocchetta di Altare



At Carcare, the main roads connect with the upper Bormida valley (Bormida di Millare) before turning west. The Scrivia, the Trebbia the Taro and the Tanaro (Tanarus), tributaries of the Po River, drain the northeast slopes. The range contains dozens of peaks. Toward the southern end the Aveto Natural Regional Park includes Monte Penna. Nearby is the highest point of Ligurian Apennines, Monte Maggiorasca at 1,780 m (5,840 ft).[7]

The main and only feasible overland route connecting the coastal plain of Liguria to the north Italian plain runs through Bocchetta di Altare. It has always been of strategic importance. Defenders of north Italy have had to control it since ancient times, as the various fortifications placed there testify. Currently however, Trenitalia, the state railway system, highly developed on the coastal plain, traverses the mountains routinely through a number of railway tunnels, such as the one at Giovi Pass.

Emilia Romagna, painting by Frans Koppelaar.

The southeastern border of the Ligurian Apennines is the Fiume Magra, which projects into the Tyrrhenian Sea south of La Spezia, and the Fiume Taro, which runs in the opposite direction to join the Po River. The divide between the two upper river valleys is the Passo della Cisa, "Cisa Pass". Under it (two tunnels) runs the Autostrada della Cisa between Spezia and Parma.

Starting at Cisa Pass, the mountain chains turn further to the southeast to cross the peninsula along the border between the Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany regions. They are also named the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines west of the Futa pass and the Tuscan-Romagnol Apennines east of it, or just the Tuscan Apennines.[7] They extend to the upper Tiber River. The high point is Monte Cimone at 2,165 m (7,103 ft).



Since 1856 a series of tunnels have been constructed to conduct "the Bologna-Florence rail line", which is neither a single line nor a single tunnel. The Porrettana Line went into service in 1864, the Direttissima in 1934 and the High Speed in 1996.[8] A few dozen tunnels support the three of them, the longest on the High-Speed Line being the Voglia Tunnel at 16.757 km (10.412 mi).[9] The longest is on the Direttissima, the Great Apennine Tunnel, whch at 18.5 km (11.5 mi) is the longest entirely within Italy, although the Simplon Tunnel, which connects Italy and Switzerland, is longer.[note 3] Currently automobile traffic is carried by the Autostrada del Sole, Route A1, which goes through numerous shorter tunnels, bypassing an old road, originally Roman, through Futa Pass.

The southernmost limit of the Tuscan-Romagnol Apennines is approximately Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona, Campigna National Park. The three-way intersection of the borders between Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany and Marches is on the south slopes of Monte Fumaiolo, from which the Tiber originates. The mountain is the furthest south of Emilia-Romagna.

Umbrian Apennines[edit]

Source of the Tiber. An eagle has been placed on a marker there.

The Tiber River at Rome flows from northeast to southwest, projecting into the Tyrrhenian Sea at right angles to the shore. The upper Tiber, however, flows from northwest to southeast, gradually turning through one right angle clockwise. In the north Val Tevere ("Valley of the Tiber") is a deep valley separating the Umbrian Apennines on the left bank from a lesser range, the Tuscan Anti- or Sub-Apennines on its right. They and some of Val Tevere are part of Tuscany, which formerly was enclosed by the Arno River, the Tiber River and the coast, but has lost ground around the Tiber to Lazio and Umbria. Lazio extends a little way up the Tiber. Val Tevere, however, is mainly in Umbria. In the Apennines also and on the west coast is Marches.

The Val Tevere is marked on the map by Highway A1, the Autostrada del Sole, which enters it in the vicinity of Monte Rotondo north of Rome and follows the course of the river to the point where the latter flows from Lago di Cabara in the vicinity of Baschi and then goes up the valley of the Fiume Paglia. North of the lake the course of the Fiume Tevere is marked by Highway E45 almost to where the Tevere begins at Falera on the slopes of Monte Fumaiolo. That location is in Emilia-Romagna. For that entire distance the eastern slopes of the Apennines are in Marches.[note 4]

South of Monte Fumaiolo the Tevere enters Tuscany. It crosses the Umbrian border in the vicinity of San Giustino and remains in it, becoming part of the border between Umbria and Lazio in the south, entering Lazio unequivocally in the vicinity of Castello delle Formiche. Over the centuries these borders have varied, mainly at the expense of Tuscany. Consequently there has been considerable imprecision in locating the Umbrian Apennines, and therefore the highest peak in them. The major difficulty is discriminating the Umbrian of the Northern Apennines from the Umbrian-Marchean of the Central Apennines. The mountains of Umbria and Marches are so wide and so tangled, rather than parallel, that the borders are difficult to place and vary according to author. Many do not make the distinction, but one is still recognized, however uncertainly, by the Italian park service. In general, the Umbrian Apennines are located mainly in Umbria, while the great mass of mountains in Marches are considered Central Apennine.

Horses on Monte Nerone

Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary defines the Umbrian Apennines to extend from the "sources of the Tiber" to Scheggia Pass, bounded on the east by the border between Umbria and Marches, which runs along the divide. Similarly the Alto Tevere begins near the border between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna. The pass is the point where the Roman Via Flaminia crosses the divide, at 575 metres (1,886 ft). Starting from Rimini on the Adriatic coast the old road follows the coast south to Fano, then turns inland and goes up the Fiume Metauro to Ponti di Traiano, then up the Fiume Candigliano to Acqualagna, and by the Fiume Burano to Cagli (ancient Cales). Here the Via Flaminia turns south, approximated today by highway SP3, which climbing the flanks of Monte Fiume arrives at last at the pass. This is the southernmost limit of the Umbrian Apennines, according to the dictionary.[7] The pass goes down to Gualdo Tadino (Tadinium). Gubbio is east of the Val Tevere.

The region specified by the dictionary includes Monte Nerone, 1,526 m (5,007 ft), which is actually in Marches. South of the pass the same chain is in Umbria and includes a number of parklands considered by the Italians to be in the northern Apennines. The LOTO Project (Landscape Opportunities for Territorial Organization), a recent pilot study for regional landscape planning undertaken by the European Institute of Cultural Routes, an agency of the European Union,[10] simply calls it "the Apennine Ridge" of "the Umbria Region," which it locates in "the central and northern mountains of the Apennines."[11] The western part of this range is considered by some to be the Umbrian Apennines; it includes Parco del Monte Cucco, 1,566 m (5,138 ft), which includes the pass, the road and the Umbrian side of the ridge south to Fossato di Vico. Further south are Parco del Monte Subasio around Assisi and Parco di Colfiorito on the border with Marches.

Central Apennines[edit]

Gran Sasso and Campo Imperatore


Based on rock type and orogenic incidents, the northern segment of the arc is divided into the Outer Northern Apennines (ONA) and the Inner Northern Apennines (INA).[12] The inner are located in Tuscany and Umbria and correspond well with the geography, comprising the Apuan Alps and Umbrian Apennines. The outer comprise the outer Ligurian, Tuscan-Emilian and half the Central Apennines, which are the eastern half of the divide marked by the Umbria-Marches border. The Central Apennines, also called the High Apennines, are therefore divided into the Umbrian-Marchean (Italian: Appennino Umbro-Marchigiano) or Roman Apennines in the north and the Abruzzi Apennines (Italian: Appennino Abruzzese) in the south.[7]

Umbrian-Marchean Apennines[edit]

A natural border exists between the Northern Apennines and the Central Apennines: a klippen zone, or band of isolated Liguride rocks, follows the Val Marecchia ("Valley of the Marecchia River") to the Marches-Tuscany border and passes through the Monti Rognosi and Arezzo in Tuscany.[12] If extended the line would touch the northern tip of Corsica, but it is only relevant on the east slopes of the Apennines, where it is located just south of the border between Marches and Emilia-Romagna. The west border of the Umbrian-Marchean Apennines (or "Umbro-Marchean") runs through Cagli. They extend south to the Tronto River, the south border of the ONA.

In the northeast of the range, the Republic of San Marino is located on the slopes of Monte Titano. The highest peak, Monte Vettore, at 2,478 m (8,130 ft), is part of the Monti Sibillini, incorporated into Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini. Further inland is Parco Sasso Simone e Simoncello[13] and further south Parco naturale regionale Gola della Rossa di Frasassi, in which are the Gola della Rossa ("Canyon of the Red") and Frasassi Caves. The Italian Park Service calls it the "Green Heart" of Italy. The region is heavily forested, such as the Riserva Naturale Statale Gola del Furlo, where Furlo Pass on the Via Flaminia is located. Both the Etruscans and the Romans constructed tunnels here.

Abruzzi Apennines[edit]





Southern Apennines[edit]

The Mount Pollino







Vegetative zones[edit]


The number of vascular plant species in the Apennines has been estimated at 5,599 — 728 of which (23.6%) are in the treeline ecotone. Hemicryptophytes predominate in the entire Apennine chain.[15]

Alpine zone[edit]








Formation of rocks[edit]

Apennine orogeny[edit]





According to the older theories (originating from the 1930–70's) of Dutch geologists including Van Bemmelen, compression and extension can and should occur simultaneously at different depths in a mountain belt. In these theories, these different levels are called "Stockwerke". More recent work in geotectonics and geodynamics of the same school of Geoscientists (Utrecht and Amsterdam University) by Vlaar, Wortel, and Cloetingh, and their disciples, extended these concepts even further into a temporal realm. They demonstrated that internal and external forces acting upon the mountain belt (e.g., slab pull and intra-plate stress field modulations due to large scale reorganisations of the tectonic plates) result in both longer episodes and shorter phases of general extension and compression acting both upon and inside mountain belts and tectonic arches (See e.g. for extensive reviews, bibliography and discussions on the literature: Van Dijk (1992),[20] Van Dijk and Okkes (1991),[21] Van Dijk & Scheepers (1995),[22] and Van Dijk et al. (2000a)[23]).

Compressional zone[edit]




Extensional zone[edit]


Stability of terrain[edit]



Glacial ice[edit]


Major peaks[edit]

The Apennines include 21 peaks over 1,900 m (6,200 ft), the approximate tree line. Most of these peaks are located in the Central Apennines.[16]

Corno Grande
Monte Vettore
Name Height
Corno Grande 2,912 m (9,554 ft)
Monte Amaro (Montagna della Majella) 2,793 m (9,163 ft)
Monte Velino 2,486 m (8,156 ft)
Monte Vettore 2,476 m (8,123 ft)
Pizzo di Sevo 2,419 m (7,936 ft)
Monte Terminillo 2,217 m (7,274 ft)
Monte Sibilla 2,173 m (7,129 ft)
Monte Cimone 2,165 m (7,103 ft)
Monte Cusna 2,121 m (6,959 ft)
Montagne del Morrone 2,061 m (6,762 ft)
Monte Prado 2,053 m (6,736 ft)
Monte Miletto 2,050 m (6,730 ft)
Alpe di Succiso 2,017 m (6,617 ft)
Monte Pisanino 1,946 m (6,385 ft)
Corno alle Scale 1,915 m (6,283 ft)
Monte Alto 1,904 m (6,247 ft)
La Nuda 1,894 m (6,214 ft)
Monte Maggio 1,853 m (6,079 ft)
Monte Giovarello 1,760 m (5,770 ft)
Monte Catria 1,701 m (5,581 ft)
Monte Gottero 1,640 m (5,380 ft)
Monte Pennino 1,560 m (5,120 ft)
Monte Nerone 1,525 m (5,003 ft)
Monte Fumaiolo 1,407 m (4,616 ft)

See also[edit]


  3. ^ Claims of being the longest or second-longest in the world have been soon outdated. See List of longest tunnels in the world.
  4. ^ Ancient Umbria included most of Marches (which did not then exist) except for the Adriatic coast and did not include Val Tevere, which belonged to Etruria all the way to the Tyrrhenian Sea. Names of regions and the geographical features associated with them; for example, "the Tuscan Hills" depend on the historical period.


Check list of referred works (work in progress):

[1] [2] [4] [20] [21] [22] [23]

Reference list:

  1. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879). "Apenninus". A Latin Dictionary. Oxford; Medford: Clarendon Press; Perseus Digital Library. 
  2. ^ a b Gambino, Roberto; Romano, Bernardino (2000-2001). Territorial strategies and environmental continuity in mountain systems: The case of the Apennines (Italy). World Commission on Protected Areas. 
  3. ^ a b Lake 1911, p. 161.
  4. ^ a b Deecke 1904, p. 23
  5. ^ a b Pederotti 2003, p. 75
  6. ^ Martini 2001, p. 3.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster 2001, p. 59.
  8. ^ Lunardi 2008, pp. 413–414.
  9. ^ Lunardi 2008, pp. 425–437.
  10. ^ "cultural routes and landscapes, a common heritage of Europe". European Institute of Cultural Studies. Archived from the original on 22 March 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2010. 
  11. ^ Camicia, Sandra (ed.). "Umbria Region - Apennine Mountain Range" (pdf). LOTO - Landscape Opportunities for Territorial Organization. p. 69. Retrieved 9 March 2010. 
  12. ^ a b Barchi 2001, p. 216.
  13. ^ "Parks, Reserves and other Protected Areas in the Marches". Parks.it. 1995-2010. Retrieved 15 March 2010. 
  15. ^ Pederotti 2003, p. 79.
  16. ^ a b Pederotti 2003, p. 73.
  17. ^ James, Kristen (2004). Determining the source for the magmas of Monte Amiata (Central Italy) using strontium, neodymium, and lead isotopes. Carleton Geology Department: Geology Comps Papers. Liberal Arts Scholarly Repository (LASR). pp. 3–4. "During the Neogene and into the Quaternary the region around Amiata underwent a general NNE contraction .... This compression also created the Apennine orogeny of east-central Italy .... This area was brought above sea level during a doming phase during the Middle Pliocene." 
  18. ^ Ollier, Cliff; Pain, Colin (2000). The origin of mountains. London: Routledge. p. 77. "Apennine thrusts move in from the south, and Southern Alps thrust in from the north, but instead of collisional compression there is subsidence and horizontal sedimentation." 
  19. ^ a b Margheriti 2006, p. 1120.
  20. ^ a b van Dijk, J.P. (1992). "Late Neogene fore-arc basin evolution in the Calabrian Arc (Central Mediterranean). Tectonic sequence stratigraphy and dynamic geohistory. With special reference to the geology of Central Calabria". Geologica Ultrajectina 92: 288. 
  21. ^ a b van Dijk, J.P.; Okkes, F.W.M. (1991). "Neogene tectonostratigraphy and kinematics of Calabrian Basins. implications for the geodynamics of the Central Mediterranean". Tectonophysics 196 (1-2): 23–60. Bibcode:1991Tectp.196...23V. doi:10.1016/0040-1951(91)90288-4. 
  22. ^ a b van Dijk, J.P.; Scheepers, P.J.J. (1995). "Neogene rotations in the Calabrian Arc. Implications for a Pliocene-Recent geodynamic scenario for the Central Mediterranean". Earth Sci. Rev. 39 (3-4): 207–246. Bibcode:1995ESRv...39..207V. doi:10.1016/0012-8252(95)00009-7. 
  23. ^ a b van Dijk, J.P.; Bello, M.; Brancaleoni, G.P.; Cantarella, G.; Costa, V., Frixa, A., Golfetto, F., Merlini, S., Riva, M., Toricelli, S., Toscano, C., and Zerilli, A. (2000). "A new structural model for the northern sector of the Calabrian Arc". Tectonophysics 324 (4): 267–320. Bibcode:2000Tectp.324..267V. doi:10.1016/S0040-1951(00)00139-6. 
  24. ^ a b Margheriti 2006, p. 1124.
  25. ^ Trigila, Alessandro; Iadanza, Carla (2008). "Landslides in Italy: Special Report 2008" (pdf). Rome: Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA). pp. 15–16. 


  • Margheriti, Lucia et al (August/October 2006). "The subduction structure of the Northern Apennines: results for the RETREAT seismic deployment". Annals of Geophysics 49 (4/5). 

External links[edit]