Massif synonyms

The apex is occupied by a massif of crystalline rocks.

These two channels carry the rush of mountain streams from the western slopes of the massif right across the axis of the mountains and through the intervening barrier of minor ridges to the plains of the Indus.

The following ranges belong to the Transmontane system, which is the southern extension of the mountains of Galicia: Peneda (4728 ft.), forming the watershed between the river Lima and the lower Minho; the Serra do Gerez (4817 ft.), which rises like a gigantic wall between the Lima and the Homem, and sends off a spur known as the Amarella, Oural and Nora, south-westward between the Homem and the Cavado; La Raya Seca, a continuation of Gerez, which culminates in Larouco (4390 ft.) and contains the sources of the Cavado; Cabreira (4196 ft.), which contains the sources of the river Ave and separates the basin of the Tamega from that of the Cavado; Marao (4642 ft.), Villarelho (3547 ft.) and Padrella (3763 ft.), forming together a large massif between the rivers Tamega, Tua and Douro; and Nogueira (4331 ft.) and Bornes (3944 ft.), which divide the valley of the Tua from that of the Sabor.

The cordilleras, divided into two great parallel chains, with flanking ranges and spurs to the east, reach their greatest breadth at this point and form the massif of the Andean system.