This article is about a geological formation. For the Valgrind tool, see
Valgrind.
In geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term is also used to refer to a group of mountains formed by such a structure. In mountaineering and climbing literature, a massif is frequently used to denote the main mass of an individual mountain. The massif is a smaller structural unit of the crust than a tectonic plate.
The word is taken from French (in which the word also means "massive"), where it is used to refer to a large mountain mass or compact group of connected mountains forming an independent portion of a range. One of the most notable European examples of a massif is the Massif Central of the Auvergne region of France.
The Face on Mars is an example of an extraterrestrial massif.[1]
[edit] List of massifs
-
[edit] Africa
[edit] Antarctica
[edit] Europe
[edit] North America
[edit] Oceania
[edit] South America
[edit] Submerged
[edit] References
