Acolingeomorphologyis the lowest point on a mountainridgebetween twopeaks.[1]It may also be called agaporpass.[1]Particularly rugged and forbidding cols in the terrain are usually referred to asnotches.They are generally unsuitable asmountain passes,but are occasionally crossed bymuletracks or climbers' routes. Derived from the Frenchcol( "collar, neck" ) fromLatincollum,"neck",[2]the term tends to be associated more with mountain than hill ranges.[3]The distinction with other names for breaks in mountain ridges such assaddle,wind gapor notch is not sharply defined and may vary from place to place. Manydouble summitsare separated by prominent cols.
The height of a summit above its highest col (called thekey col) is effectively a measure of a mountain'stopographic prominence.
Cols lie on the line of thewatershedbetween twomountains,often on a prominent ridge orarête.For example, the highest col in Austria, theObere Glocknerscharte( "Upper Glockner Col",3,766m (AA)) lies between theKleinglockner(3,783 m above sea level (AA)) andGrossglockner(3,798 m above sea level (AA)) mountains, giving the Kleinglockner a minimum prominence of 17 metres.[4]
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Brèche de Rolandin thePyrenees -
The Peuterey Ridge on theMt. Blancmassif. From left to rightAiguille Noire de Peuterey(3773 m),Brèche-sud(3429 m), theDames Anglaises(3601 m),Brèche-central,L'Isolée,Brèche-nord(3491 m),Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey(4112 m) andCol de Peuterey(3934 m) -
TheSouth ColofMt. Everest,at 7,906 m (25,938 ft) the upper staging point for attempts on its summit.
See also
edit- Arête– Narrow ridge of rock which separates two valleys
- Saddle (landform)
References
edit- ^abWhittow, John (1984).Dictionary of Physical Geography.London: Penguin, 1984, p. 103.ISBN0-14-051094-X.
- ^"col",inTrésor de la langue française informatisé[Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
- ^Chambers 21st Century Dictionary,Allied.
- ^Willi End, Hubert Peterka (1990).Alpenvereinsführer Glockner- und Granatspitzgruppe.Munich: Bergverlag Rudolf Rother.ISBN3-7633-1258-7.
External links
edit
- Illustrated Glossary of Alpine Mountain Landforms: Col.Retrieved 16 August 2015.