Southern Carpathians

Group of mountain ranges in southern Romania

Southern Carpathians

Romanian: Carpații Meridionali

Negoiu Peak 2,535 metres (8,317 ft)

Highest point
Peak| Moldoveanu
Elevation| 2,544 m (8,346 ft)
Coordinates| 45°30′N 24°15′E﻿ / ﻿45.500°N 24.250°E﻿ / 45.500; 24.250
Geography

Location of the Southern Carpathians in Romania

Country| Romania
Parent range| Carpathians
Geology
Orogeny| Alpine orogeny
Rock age| Mostly Triassic

The Southern Carpathians (also known as the Transylvanian Alps;[1][2] Romanian: Carpații Meridionali [karˈpatsij ˌmeridi.oˈnalʲ]; Hungarian: Déli-Kárpátok) are a group of mountain ranges located in southern Romania.[3] They cover the part of the Carpathian Mountains located between the Prahova River in the east and the Timiș and Cerna Rivers in the west. To the south they are bounded by the Balkan Mountains in eastern Serbia.

## Heights

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Lake Vidraru in the Făgăraș Mountains

The Southern Carpathians are the second highest group of mountains in the Carpathian Mountain range (after Tatra), reaching heights of over 2,500 meters. Although considerably smaller than the Alps, they are classified as having an alpine landscape. Their high mountain character, combined with great accessibility, makes them popular with tourists and scientists.

The highest peaks are:

* Moldoveanu Peak, 2,544 metres – Făgăraș Mountains
* Negoiu, 2,535 metres – Făgăraș Mountains
* Parângu Mare, 2,519 metres – Parâng Mountains
* Omu Peak 2,514 metres – Bucegi Mountains
* Peleaga, 2,509 metres – Retezat Mountains

Despite the heights, some of the most accessible passages in the Carpathians in Romania are along the rivers, which cross the mountain range (the Olt River) or form wide valleys (along the Prahova River Valley or along the Jiu River Valley).

## Geology

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The South Carpathians represent an intricate pile of tectonic nappes, overthrusted from west eastwards during the Austrian (Middle Cretaceous) and Laramian paroxysmal phases, corresponding to various plate fragments. The napes are (from west eastwards): the Supragetic, Getic, Severin and Danubian Units. The Getic Nappe was identified by Murgoci (1905),[4] while the general understanding over the Alpine structure of the South Carpathians was later refined by Codarcea (1940),[5] Codarcea et al. (1961),[6] Năstăseanu et al. (1981),[7] Săndulescu (1984),[8] Săndulescu and Dimitrescu (2004),[9] and Mutihac (1990).[10] The first to apply the global tectonics concepts for the Romanian Carpathians were Rădulescu and Săndulescu (1973).[11]

The Supragetic, Getic Nappes as well as the Danubian Units represent units with both a metamorphic basement and a sedimentary cover, while the Severin Nappe includes only a sedimentary sequence. The Getic Nappe and the Danubian Units sediments include a Palaeozoic sequence (Upper Carboniferous, Lower Permian) and a Mesozoic sequence (Lowermost Jurassic – Middle Cretaceous). The Supragetic Nappe comprises mainly metamorphosed rocks (gneisses, micashists), while the Severin Nappe includes only Upper Jurassic – Lower Cretaceous sediments.

## Mountain ranges

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Moldoveanu peak (2544 m) is the highest in Romania and one of the highest peaks of the Carpathians[12] Lake Bucura in the Retezat Mountains

From east to west, four mountain groups can be identified, separated by different river valleys.

* Bucegi Mountains group – between the Prahova and Dâmbovița Rivers.
* Bucegi Mountains (Munții Bucegi)
* Piatra Craiului (literally: "Rock of the King")
* Leaotă Mountains (Munții Leaotă)
* Făgăraș Mountains group – between the Dâmbovița River and the Olt River.
* Făgăraș Mountains (Munții Făgărașului)
* Iezer Mountains (Munții Iezer; literally: "Mountains of the Deep Lake")
* Cozia Mountains (Munții Cozia)
* Parâng Mountains group – between the Olt River and the Jiu River.
* Parâng Mountains (Munții Parâng)
* Șureanu Mountains (Munții Șureanu/M. Sebeșului)
* Cindrel Mountains (Munții Cindrel/M. Cibinului)
* Lotru Mountains (Munții Lotrului; literally: "Mountains of the Thief")
* Căpățână Mountains (Munții Căpățânii; literally: "Mountains of the Skull")
* Retezat-Godeanu Mountains group – between the Jiu River and the Timiș and Cerna Rivers.
* Retezat Mountains (Munții Retezat; literally: "Hewed Mountains")
* Godeanu Mountains (Munții Godeanu)
* Vâlcan Mountains (Munții Vâlcan)
* Mehedinți Mountains (Munții Mehendinți)
* Cerna Mountains (Munții Cernei)
* Țarcu Mountains (Munții Țarcu; literally: "Pen Mountains").
* Poiana Ruscă Mountains

The first two groups are steepest on the North side, and the last two are steepest on the South side.[citation needed]

## Gallery

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* Bucegi as seen from Postavaru massif

* Caraiman Cross on mountain top

* Coștila 400 meters high wall

* View from Bușteni

* Scara summit in Bucegi Mountains

* The Sphinx of Bucegi

* Piatra Craiului Mountains

* Jepii Mici Peak in Bucegi Mountains

* Lake Bâlea in Făgăraș Mountains

* Challenging hiking trail

* Podragu Lake

* Transfăgărășan alpine road

* Regular footpath in Făgăraș Mountains

* Custura Sărătii (in the center of the photo)

* La Zaplaz landmark

* Piatra Craiului ridge in winter

* Landscape in Parâng Mountains

* Parâng alpine scenery

* Shelter in Parâng mountains

* One of many Parâng glacial lakes

* Glacial lakes in the Retezat Mountains

* Bucura Peak in the distance

* Sunset on Retezat Peak

* Salvamont shelter in Retezat

* Waterfall in Retezat National Park

* Bucura Lake

## See also

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* Romanian Carpathians
* Divisions of the Carpathians
* Iron Gates, at the South-Western end
* Prahova Valley, at the Eastern end

## References

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1. ^ Comănescu, Laura, & Alexandru Nedelea. 2016. Geomorphosites Assessments of the Glacial and Periglacial Landforms from Southern Carpathoans. In: Maria Radoane & Alfred Vespremeanu-Stroe (eds.), Landform Dynamics and Evolution in Romania, pp. 215–248. Cham: Springer, p. 202.
2. ^ Quinn, Joyce Ann, & Susan L Woodward. 2015. Earth's Landscape: An Encyclopedia of the World's Geographic Features. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, p. 138.
3. ^ Carpathians.pl Archived 2010-04-06 at the Wayback Machine
4. ^ Murgoci, G.M., 1905. Sur l'existence d'une grande nappe de recouvrement dans les Carpathes meridionales. C. R. Acad. Sci., 7: 31.
5. ^ Codarcea , A., 1940. Vues nouvelles sur la tectonique du Banat meridional et du Plateau de Mehedinți. D. S. Inst. Geol. Rom., 20: 1–74.
6. ^ Codarcea, A., Răileanu, G., Pavelescu, L., Gherasi, N., Năstăseanu, S., Bercia, I. and Mercus, D., 1961. Guide des excursions. Carpates Meridionales, București, 130 pp.
7. ^ Năstăseanu, S., Bercia, I., Iancu, V., Vlad and Hârtopanu, I., 1981. The structure of the South Carpathians (Mehedinți – Banat Area). Guidebooks series, 22. IGR, Bucuresti, 3–100 pp.
8. ^ Săndulescu, M., 1984. Geotectonica României. Editura Tehnică, București, 336 pp.
9. ^ Săndulescu, M. and Dimitrescu, R., 2004. Geological structure of the Romanian Carpathians, Florence, 48 pp.
10. ^ Mutihac, V., 1990. Structura geologică a teritoriului României. Editura Tehnică, Bucharest, 419 pp.
11. ^ Rădulescu, D. and Săndulescu, M., 1973. The plate-tectonics concept and the geological structure of the Carpathians. Tectonophysics, 16: 155–161.
12. ^ "Moldoveanu : Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering : SummitPost". www.summitpost.org. Retrieved 2020-10-07.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Southern Carpathians.

* Pictures and landscapes from the Southern Carpathians

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Divisions, Groups, and Ranges of the Carpathian Mountains

Western Carpathians|

| Inner Western|

* Slovak Ore Mountains
* Fatra-Tatra Area
* Slovak Central Mountains
* Lučenec-Košice Depression
* Mátra-Slanec Area and North Hungarian Mountains

|

Outer Western|

* South-Moravian Carpathians
* Central Moravian Carpathians
* Slovak-Moravian Carpathians
* Western Beskidian Piedmont
* Western Beskids (Eastern section, Central section)
* Podhale-Magura Area

Eastern Carpathians|

| Inner Eastern|

* Vihorlat-Gutin Area
* Bistrița Mountains
* Căliman-Harghita Mountains
* Giurgeu-Brașov Depression

|

Outer Eastern|

* Central Beskidian Piedmont
* Central Beskids
* Eastern Beskids (Polonynian Beskids)
* Moldavian-Muntenian Carpathians

Southern Carpathians|

* Bucegi Mountains
* Făgăraș Mountains group
* Parâng Mountains group
* Retezat-Godeanu Mountains group

Western Romanian Carpathians|

* Apuseni Mountains
* Poiana Ruscă Mountains
* Banat Mountains

Serbian Carpathians|

* Homolje Mountains
* Kučaj Mountains
* Devica
* Rtanj
* Deli Jovan

Adjacent regions|

* Transylvanian Plateau (Transylvanian Plain)
* Outer Subcarpathian depressions

Grouping by country|

* Hungarian Carpathians
* Polish Carpathians
* Romanian Carpathians
* Serbian Carpathians
* Slovak Carpathians
* Ukrainian Carpathians

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* FAST

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Czech Republic
* Israel

Other|

* Yale LUX

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