Pontic Mountains
{{Short description|Mountain range in northern Anatolia, Turkey}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name=Pontic Mountains
| photo=Sumela Showing Location.JPG
| photo_caption=Sumela Monastery on the Pontic Mountains
| country= {{enum|Turkey|Georgia}}
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| area_km2=
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| width_km=
| highest=Mt. Kaçkar
| elevation_m=3937
| range_coordinates= {{coord|40|30|N|40|30|E|type:mountain_region:TR|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| length_km= 1000
| coordinates= {{coord|40|50|N|41|09|E|type:mountain_region:TR|format=dms|display=inline}}
| map=
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The Pontic Mountains or Pontic Alps ({{langx|tr|Kuzey Anadolu Dağları}}, meaning 'North Anatolian Mountains'), form a mountain range in northern Anatolia, Turkey. They are also known as the "Parhar Mountains" in the local Turkish and Pontic Greek languages. The term Parhar originates from a Hittite word meaning 'high' or 'summit'.[http://www.karalahana.com/english/ENCYCLOPEDIC%20DICTIONARY%20OF%20BLACKSEA.html Karadeniz Ansiklopedik Sözlük] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513094652/http://www.karalahana.com/english/ENCYCLOPEDIC%20DICTIONARY%20OF%20BLACKSEA.html |date=2008-05-13 }}. See the "Parhar" (plateau) and "Parhal" (village) articles. In ancient Greek, the mountains were called the Paryadres{{cite book|last=Strabo|author-link=Strabo|title=Geographica (35 BC – 23 AD)|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D11%3Achapter%3D12%3Asection%3D4|page=xii.4|chapter=Chapter XI}} or Parihedri Mountains.{{cite book|last=Pliny the Elder|author-link=Pliny the Elder|title=Naturalis Historia (77–79 AD)|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Pliny_the_Elder/6*.html|page=iix.25|chapter=Chapter VI}}
Etymology
The name of the mountains is derived from the Greek word Pontus ({{lang|el|Πόντος}} [{{Transliteration|el|Póntos}}]), which means 'sea'. The Pontic Mountains, or "Pontus Mountains" ({{lang|el|Πόντος Όρη}} [{{Transliteration|el|Póntos Óri}}]) in Greek, stretch along the southern coast of the Black Sea, known in antiquity as the "Euxine Sea" or simply Pontus Euxinus ({{lang|grc|Πόντος Εὔξεινος}} [{{Transliteration|grc|Póntos Éfxeinos}}]).
Geography
The range runs roughly east–west, parallel and close to the southern coast of the Black Sea. It extends northeast into Georgia, and west into the Sea of Marmara, with the northwestern spur of the Küre Mountains (and their western extension the Akçakoca Mountains) and the Bolu Mountains, following the coast. The highest peak in the range is Kaçkar Dağı, which rises to {{convert|3937|m|ft|abbr=on}}. The North Anatolian Fault and the Northeast Anatolian Fault, which are east–west-running strike-slip faults, run along the length of the range.
Ecology
The mountains are generally covered by dense forests, predominantly of conifers.
The Northern Anatolian conifer and deciduous forests is an ecoregion which covers most of the range, while the Caucasus mixed forests extend across the far-eastern end of the range, known as the Kaçkar Mountains. The narrow coastal strip between the mountains and the Black Sea, known as Pontus, is home to the Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests, which contain some of the world's few temperate rainforests.
The region is home to Eurasian wildlife such as the Eurasian sparrowhawk, golden eagle, eastern imperial eagle, lesser spotted eagle, Caucasian black grouse, red-fronted serin, and wallcreeper.{{cite book|last = Couzens|first = Dominic|title = Top 100 Birding Sites of the World|publisher = University of California Press|year = 2008|isbn = 978-0-520-25932-4|pages = 73–75}}
Winter conditions are very harsh, and snow even in summer months isn't unusual above certain elevations.{{Cite web|title=File:Koppen-Geiger Map TUR present.svg|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Koppen-Geiger_Map_TUR_present.svg|access-date=2021-03-14|website=commons.wikimedia.org|date=6 November 2018|language=en}}
The Anatolian Plateau, which lies south of the range, has a considerably drier and more continental climate than the humid and mild coast, owing to the mountains' rain shadow effect.[http://www.karalahana.com/english/rize-travel-highlands.htm Pontic Mountains and highlands] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226144110/http://www.karalahana.com/english/rize-travel-highlands.htm |date=2014-02-26 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Mountains of Turkey}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Mountain ranges of Turkey
Category:Physiographic provinces
Category:Landforms of Rize Province
Category:Important Bird Areas of Turkey
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