Edough Massif

Mountain range in Algeria

Annaba, Skikda ( َAlgeria )

Parent rangeTell AtlasGeologyOrogenyAlpine orogenyAge of rockMioceneType of rockCrystalline metamorphic

Tamazight
Tifinagh	ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ ⵏ ⴷⴷⵓⵖ
Latin	Adrar n Dduɣ

The Edough Massif, Edough Mountains or Djebel Edough (Arabic: جبل إيدوغ, romanized: Ǧabal Īdūḡ; Berber languages: ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ ⵏ ⴷⴷⵓⵖ) is a mountain range of the Maghreb area in Northern Africa.^[2]

Geography

These mountains are a segment of the Tell Atlas alpine chain of eastern Algeria that is part of the wider Atlas Range. The Edough Massif stretches between the Cap de Garde and the Cap de Fer.

The highest point of the massif is the Bou Zizi (1008 m), located between Annaba and El Marsa.

Geologically, these mountains are a Miocene crystalline metamorphic core complex.^[3]

Ecology

The Edough Massif has a Mediterranean forest cover where the cork oak (Quercus suber), a hardy Mediterranean tree, predominates. Snow is not rare in the winter and the mountains are often covered with fog, which allows ferns to grow among the undergrowth.

The forest of the Edough Massif is very vulnerable to wildfires. Vast surfaces have been burned in the last decades.^[4]

The Edough Massif was the last home of the lion (Panthera leo) in North Africa. The last lion of Algeria was killed in the Edough Massif in 1890.^[5] The massif is also the natural habitat of the Edough ribbed newt (Pleurodeles poireti), an endangered species. The vulnerable North African Fire Salamander (Salamandra algira) is also found in the range. Edoughnura, a genus of springtails belonging to the Neanuridae subfamily, is named after this range.^[6]

Features

References

^ Google Earth
^ "Arab Encyclopedia – الأطلس (جبال) Atlas Mountains Massif de l'Atlas". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
^ Caby, R; Hammor, D; Delor, C (2001), "Metamorphic evolution, partial melting and Miocene exhumation of lower crust in the Edough metamorphic core complex, west Mediterranean orogen, eastern Algeria", Tectonophysics, 342 (3–4): 239, doi:10.1016/S0040-1951(01)00166-4
^ Vegetation and description
^ Last North African lion Archived 2007-11-01 at the Wayback Machine
^ Edoughnura rara n.gen., n.sp., an enigmatic genus of Neanurinae