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ATLAS MOUNTAINS

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 860 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ATLAS MOUNTAINS , the See also:general name for the See also:mountain chains See also:running more or less parallel to the See also:coast of See also:North-See also:west See also:Africa. They extend 1mm Cape See also:Nun on the west to the Gulf of See also:Gabes on the See also:east, a distance of some 1500 m., traversing See also:Morocco, See also:Algeria and See also:Tunisia. To their See also:south lies the Saharan See also:desert. The Atlas consist of many distinct ranges, but they can be roughly divided into two See also:main chains: (1) the Maritime Atlas, i.e. the ranges overlooking the Mediterranean from See also:Ceuta to Cape Bon; (2) the inner and more elevated ranges, which, starting from the See also:Atlantic at Cape Ghir in See also:Sus, run south of the coast ranges and are separated from them by high plateaus. This general disposition is seen most distinctly in eastern Morocco and Algeria. The western inner ranges are the most important of the whole See also:system, and in the See also:present See also:article are described first as the Moroccan Ranges. The maritime Atlas and the inner ranges in Algeria and Tunisia are then treated under the heading Eastern Ranges. The Moroccan Ranges.—This See also:section of the Atlas, known to the inhabitants of Morocco by its See also:Berber name, Idraren Draren or the " Mountains of Mountains," consists of five distinct ranges, varying in length and height, but disposed more or less parallel to one another in a general direction from south-west to north-east, with a slight curvature towards the See also:Sahara. 1. The main range, that known as the See also:Great Atlas, occupies a central position in the system, and is by far the longest and loftiest See also:chain. It has an See also:average height of over 11,000 ft., whereas the loftiest peaks in Algeria do not exceed 8000 ft., and the highest in Tunisia are under 6000 ft. Towards the Dahra See also:district at the north-east end the fall is See also:gradual and continuous, but at the opposite extremity facing the Atlantic between Agadir and See also:Mogador it is precipitous.

Although only one or two peaks reach the See also:

line of perpetual See also:snow, several of the loftiest summits are snowclad during the greater See also:part of the See also:year. The See also:northern sides and tops of the See also:lower heights are often covered with dense forests of See also:oak, See also:cork, See also:pine, See also:cedar and other trees, with walnuts up to the limit of See also:irrigation. Their slopes enclose well-watered valleys of great fertility, in which the Berber tribes cultivate tiny irrigated See also:fields, their houses clinging to the See also:hill-sides. The See also:southern flanks, being exposed to the hot dry winds of the Sahara, are generally destitute of vegetation. At several points the See also:crest of the range has been deeply eroded by old glaciers and running See also:waters, and thus have been formed a number of devious passes. The central section, culminating in Tizi n 'Tagharat or Tinzar, a See also:peak estimated at 15,00o ft. high, maintains a mean See also:altitude of 11,600 ft., and from this great See also:mass of See also:schists and sandstones a number of secondary ridges radiate in all directions, forming divides between the See also:rivers Dra'a, Sus, Um-er-Rabfa, Sebt1, Mulwfya and Ghir, which flow respectively to the south-west, the. west, north-west, north, north-east and south-east. All are See also:swift and unnavigable, See also:save perhaps for a few See also:miles from their mouths. With the exception of the Dra'a, the streams rising on the See also:side of the range facing the Sahara do not reach the See also:sea, but See also:form marshes or lagoons at one See also:season, and at another are lost in the dry See also:soil of the desert. For a distance of too m. the central section nowhere presents any passes accessible to caravans, but south-westward two gaps in the range afford communication between the Tansfft and Sus basins, those respectively of Gindafi and Bfbawan. A few summits in the extreme south-west in the neighbourhood of Cape Ghir still exceed 22,000 ft., and although the steadily rising ground from the coast and the prominence of nearer summits detract from the apparent height, this is on an average greater than that of the See also:European See also:Alps. The most imposing view is to be obtained from the See also:plain of See also:Marrakesh, only some s000 ft. above sea-level, immediately north of the highest peaks. Besides huge masses of old schists and sandstones, the range contains extensive See also:limestone, See also:marble, See also:diorite, See also:basalt and See also:porphyry formations, while See also:granite prevails on its southern slopes.

The presence of enormous glaciers in the See also:

Ice See also:Age is attested by the moraines at the Atlantic end, and by other indications farther east. The best-known passes are: (I) The Bfbawan in the upper See also:Wad Sus See also:basin (4150 ft.); (2) the Gindafi, giving See also:access from Marrakesh to Tarudant, rugged and difficult, but See also:low; (3) the Tagharat, difficult and little used, leading to the Dra'a valley (11,484 ft.); (4) the Glawi (7600 ft.); (5) Tizi n 'Tilghemt (7250 ft.), leading to Tafilet (See also:Tafilalt) and the Wad Ghfr. 2. The lower portion of the Moroccan Atlas (sometimes called the See also:Middle Atlas), extending north - east and east from an undefined point to the north of the Great Atlas to near the frontier of Algeria, is crossed by the pass from See also:Fez to Tafilalt. Both slopes are wooded, and its forests are the only parts of Morocco where the See also:lion still survives. From the north this range, which is only partly explored, presents a somewhat See also:regular See also:series of snowy crests. 3. The See also:Anti-Atlas or See also:Jebel Saghru, also known as the Lesser Atlas, running parallel to and south of the central range, is one of the least elevated chains in the system, having a mean altitude of not more than 5000 ft., although some peaks and even passes exceed 6000 ft. At one point it is pierced by a See also:gap scarcely five paces wide with walls of variegated See also:marbles polished by the transport of goods. As to the relation of the Anti-Atlas to the Atlas proper at its western end nothing certain is known. The two more or less parallel ranges which See also:complete the western system are less important:--(4) the Jebel Bani, south of the Anti-Atlas, a low, narrow rocky See also:ridge with a height of 3000 ft. in its central parts; and (5) the Mountains of Ghaiata, north of the Middle Atlas, not a continuous range, but a series of broken mountain masses from 3000 to 3500 ft. high, to the south of Fez, Taza and See also:Tlemcen. The Eastern Ranges.—The eastern See also:division of the Atlas, which forms the backbone of Algeria and Tunisia, is adequately known with the exception of the small portion in Morocco forming the See also:province of Er-Rif.

The lesser range, nearer the sea, known to the See also:

French as the Maritime Atlas, calls for little detailed See also:notice. From Ceuta, above which towers Jebel Musa—about 2800 ft.—to See also:Melilla, a distance of some 15o m., the Rif Mountains See also:face the Mediterranean, and here, as along the whole coast eastward to Cape Bon, many rugged rocks rise boldly above the general level. In Algeria the Maritime Atlas has five See also:chief ranges, several mountains rising over 5000 ft. The Jurjura range, extending through Kabylia from See also:Algiers to See also:Bougie, contains the peaks of Lalla Kedija (7542 ft.), the culminating point of the maritime chains, and Babor (6447 ft.). (See further ALGERIA.) The Mejerda range, which extends into Tunisia, has no heights exceeding 3700 ft. It was in these coast mountains of Algeria that the See also:Romans quarried the celebrated Numidian marbles. The southern or main range of the Eastern division is known by the French as the Saharan Atlas. On its western extremity it is linked by secondary ranges to the mountain system of Morocco. The Saharan Atlas is essentially one chain, though known under different names: Jebel K'sur and Jebel See also:Amur on the west, and Jebel Aures in the east. The central part, the Zab Mountains, is of lower See also:elevation, the Saharan Atlas reaching its culminating point, Jebel Shellia (7611 ft. above the sea), in the Aures. This range sends a See also:branch northward which joins the Mejerda range of the Maritime Atlas, and another branch runs south by Gafsa to the Gulf of Gabes. Here See also:Mount Sidi All bu Musin reaches a height of 5700 ft., the highest point in Tunisia.

In the `Saharan Atlas the passes leading to or from the desert are numerous, and in most instances easy. Both in the east (at Batna) and the west (at See also:

Ain Sefra) the mountains are traversed by See also:railways, which, starting from Mediterranean seaports, take the traveller into the Sahara. See also:History and Exploration.—The name Atlas given to these mountains by Europeans—but never used by the native races—is derived from that of the mythical See also:Greek See also:god represented as carrying the globe on his shoulders, and applied to the high and distant mountains of the west, where Atlas was supposed to dwell. From See also:time immemorial the Atlas have been the See also:home of Berber races, and those living in the least accessible regions have retained a measure of See also:independence throughout their recorded history. Thus some of the mountain districts of Kabylia had never been visited by Europeans until the French military expedition of 1857. But in general the Maritime range was well known to the Romans. The Jebel Amur was traversed by the See also:column which seized El Aghuat in 1852, and from that time See also:dates the survey of the mountains. The See also:ancient See also:caravan route from See also:Mauretania to the western See also:Sudan crossed the lower Moroccan Atlas by the pass of Tilghemt and passed through the See also:oasis of Tafilalt, formerly known as Sajilmasa [" Sigilmassa "], on the east side of the Anti-Atlas. The Moroccan system was visited, and in some instances crossed, by various European travellers carried into See also:slavery by the See also:Salli rovers, and was traversed by Rene Caille in 1828 on his See also:journey home from See also:Timbuktu, but the first detailed exploration was made by See also:Gerhard See also:Rohlfs in 1861–1862. Previous to that almost the only See also:special See also:report was the misleading one of Lieut. See also:Washington, attached to the See also:British See also:embassy of 1837, who from insufficient data estimated the height of Mount Tagharat, to which he gave the indefinite name of Miltsin (i.e. Mud et-Tizin, " See also:Lord of the Peaks "), as 11,400 ft. instead of about 15,000 ft.

In 1871 the first scientific expedition, consisting of Dr (after-wards See also:

Sir) J. D. See also:Hooker, Mr See also:John See also:Ball and Mr G. Maw, explored the central part of the Great Atlas with the special See also:object of investigating its See also:flora and determining its relation to that of the mountains of See also:Europe. They ascended by the Ait Mfzan valley to the Tagharat pass (11,484 ft.), and by the Amsmiz valley to the See also:summit of Jebel Tezah (11,972 ft.). In the Tagharat pass Mr Maw was the only one of the party who reached the See also:water-See also:shed; but from Jebel Tezah a See also:good view was obtained south-See also:ward across the great valley of the Sus to the Anti-Atlas, which appeared to be from 9000 to ro,000 ft. high. Dr Oskar See also:Lenz in 1879–188o surveyed a part of the Great Atlas north of Tarudant, determined a pass south of Iligh in the Anti-Atlas, and penetrated thence across the Sahara to Timbuktu. He was followed in 1883–1884 by Vicomte Ch. de Foucauld, whose extensive itineraries include many districts that had never before been visited by any Europeans. Such were parts of the first and middle ranges, crossed once; three routes over the Great Atlas, which was, moreover, followed along both flanks for nearly its whole length; and six journeys across the Anti-Atlas, with a general survey of the See also:foot of this range and several passages over the Jebel Bani. Then came See also:Joseph See also:Thomson, who explored some of the central parts, and made the highest ascent yet achieved, that of Mount Likimt, 13,150 ft., but See also:broke little new ground, and failed to See also:cross the main range (1888); and See also:Walter B. See also:Harris, who explored some of the southern slopes and crossed the Atlas at two points during his expedition to Tafilalt in 1894. In 1901 and again in 1905 the See also:marquis de Segonzac, a Frenchman, made extensive journeys in the Moroccan ranges.

He crossed the Great Atlas in its central section, `explored its southern border, and, in part, the Middle and Anti-Atlas ranges. A member of his expeditions, de Flotte Rocquevaire, made a triangulation of part of the western portion of the main Atlas, his labours affording a basis for the co-ordination of the See also:

work of previous explorers.

End of Article: ATLAS MOUNTAINS

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