Location of Vosges Mountains

Typical landscape in Vosges mountains (Chajoux valley, La Bresse, France)

Waterfall in the eastern Vosges

Lac de Schiessrothried, a glacial lake in the Vosges

The Vosges (IPA: [voːʒ]) or Vosges Mountains^[1] are a mountain range in eastern France, stretching along the west side of the Rhine valley in a north-north-east direction, from Belfort to Saverne. A glacial lake is a Lake with origins in a melted Glacier. Glacial lakes can be green as a result of pulverized minerals ( Rock flour) that support A mountain is a Landform that extends above the surrounding Terrain in a limited area with a peak This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge Belfort (Beffert is a town and commune of northeastern France, Préfecture (capital of the Territoire de Belfort Saverne (Saverne savɛʁn Alsatian: Zawere, pronounced; Zabern is a town and commune of France in the région of Geographically, the Vosges mountains are completely located in France with the Col de Saverne separating it from the Palatinate Forest, which is parly considered to belong to the massif from a geological point of view. Geography (from Greek γεωγραφία - geografia) is the study of the Earth and its lands features inhabitants and phenomena This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Col de Saverne ( Pass of Saverne or Saverne Pass) is a natural pass in the Vosges mountains, near Saverne, which permits travel The Palatinate Forest (Pfälzerwald is a low-mountain region in southwestern Germany, located in Palatinate in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Geology (from Greek γη gê, "earth" and λόγος Logos, "speech" lit The Vosges in their southern portion are mainly made of granite, with some porphyritic masses and a kind of red sandstone (up to more than 500 metres in meters first--> in thickness) that bears the French name of grès Vosgien. Granite (ˈɡrænɪt is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, Felsic, igneous rock. Porphyry is a variety of Igneous rock consisting of large-grained Crystals such as Feldspar or Quartz, dispersed in a fine-grained Sandstone is a Sedimentary rock composed mainly of Sand -size Mineral or rock grains. The Lower Vosges are a sandstone plateau ranging from 300 to 600 m (1000 to 1850 ft. ) high.

Orographically the range is divided south to north into three sections: the Higher Vosges (Hautes Vosges), extending in the southern part of the range from Belfort to the valley of the Bruche; the Central Vosges (31 miles), between the Bruche and the Col de Saverne; the Lower Vosges (30 miles), between the Col de Saverne and the source of the Lauter. Orography is the average height of land measured in geopotential meters, over a certain domain Bruche is a large suburb of Warrington, England. It forms the old border of Poulton and Warrington Bruche is a large suburb of Warrington, England. It forms the old border of Poulton and Warrington The rounded summits of the Hautes Vosges are called ballons ("balloons").

The highest points are located in the Hautes Vosges: the Grand Ballon (also called Ballon de Guebwiller) rises to 1424 m (4,670 ft), the Storckenkopf to 1366 m (4,481 ft), the Hohneck to 1364 m (4,475 ft), and the Ballon d'Alsace to 1247 m (4,091 ft). Le Grand Ballon ( German: Großer Belchen; translates as big balloon) is the apex of the Vosges mountains, located 25  Kilometres Ballon d'Alsace Elsässer Belchen (el 1247 m is a mountain at the border of Alsace, Lorraine, and Franche-Comté. The Col de Saales, between the Higher and Central Vosges, reaches nearly 1900 ft. high, both lower and narrower than the Higher Vosges, with Mont Donon (1008 m, 3307 ft. Mont Donon is the highest peak in the northern Vosges. It is a Category 2 climb in the Tour de France. ) being the highest point of this section. There is a remarkable similarity between the Vosges and the corresponding range of the Black Forest on the other side of the Rhine: both lie within the same degrees of latitude, have similar geological formations and are characterized by forests on their lower slopes, above which are open pastures and rounded summits of a rather uniform altitude; furthermore, both exhibit steeper slopes towards the Rhine and a more gradual descent on the other side. For the suburb of Adelaide, please see Black Forest South Australia; for the CDP in Colorado, please see Black Forest Colorado. This occurs because both the Vosges and the Black Forest were formed by isostatic uplift, in a response to the opening of the Rhine Graben. Upper Rhine Graben is a major extensional Rift system in Central Europe, straddling the border between France and Germany. The Rhine Graben is a major extensional basin. When such basins form, the thinning of the crust causes uplift immediately adjacent to the basin. The amount of uplift decreases with distance from the basin, causing the highest range of peaks to be immediately adjacent to the basin, and the increasingly lower mountains to stretch away from the basin.

Climate

Meteorologically, the difference between the eastern and western slopes of the range is very marked, the annual rainfall being much higher and the mean temperature being much lower in the latter than in the former. Meteorology (from Greek grc μετέωρος metéōros, "high in the sky" and grc -λογία -logia) is the Interdisciplinary On the eastern slope vineyards reach to a height of 400 m (1300 ft. ); on the other hand, its only rivers are the Ill and other shorter streams. "Riverine" redirects here For the use of that term in Maritime geography, see there The Ill (all capitals ILL pronounced) is a River in Alsace, in north-eastern France. The Moselle, Meurthe and Sarre rivers all rise on the Lorraine side. The Moselle (Moselle Mosel Musel is a River flowing through France, Luxembourg and Germany. The Meurthe is a River in north-eastern France, right tributary to the river Moselle. The Saar ( French: Sarre) is a River in northeastern France and western Germany, and a right tributary of the Moselle River Lorraine (Lothringen is one of the 26 régions of France. It is the only administrative region with two cities of equal importance Metz and Nancy Moraines, boulders and polished rocks testify the existence of ancient glaciers which formerly covered the Vosges. Moraine refers to any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris (soil and rock which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions such as those "Glacial" and "Glaciation" redirect here For the geological periods see Glacial period. The lakes are surrounded by pines, beeches and maples, and green meadows provide pasture for large herds of cattle, with views of the Rhine valley, Black Forest and the distant, snow-covered Swiss mountains. A lake (from Latin lacus) is a Terrain feature (or Physical feature) a body of Liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the Acer ( maple) is a Genus of Trees or Shrubs They are variously classified in a family of their own the Aceraceae, or

History

On the lower heights and buttresses of the main chain on the Alsatian side are numerous castles, generally in ruins, testifying the importance of this crucial crossroads of Europe, hotly contested for centuries. Alsace (Alsace alzas Alsatian and Elsass pre-1996 German: Elsaß; Alsatia is one of the 26 Regions of France, located on the eastern At several points on the main ridge, especially at St Odile above Ribeauvillé (German: Rappoltsweiler), are the remains of a wall of unmortared stone with tenons of wood, 6 to 7 ft. Not to be confused with Ribeauville, in the Aisne department Ribeauvillé ( Alsatian: Rappschwihr; Rappoltsweiler is thick and 4 to 5 ft. high, called the Mur Païen (Pagan Wall). It was used for defence in the Middle Ages and archaeologists are divided as to whether it was built by the Romans, or before their arrival. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western From 1871 to 1918 the Vosges were the main border line between the French Third Republic and the Prussian-led German Empire. The demarcation line streched from the Ballon d'Alsace to Mont Donon with the lands east of it being incorporated into Germany as part of Alsace-Lorraine. Ballon d'Alsace Elsässer Belchen (el 1247 m is a mountain at the border of Alsace, Lorraine, and Franche-Comté. Mont Donon is the highest peak in the northern Vosges. It is a Category 2 climb in the Tour de France. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Alsace-Lorraine (Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen generally Elsass - Lothringen) was a territorial entity created by the German Empire in 1871 The range saw relatively limited action during WWI, remaining a largely static front, and was the site of brief but sharp fighting between French-American and German forces during WWII in the fall of 1944. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wehrmacht (literally "defense force" was the name of the unified Armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945 World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Nowadays Vosges, a department of France, is named after the range. Vosges (voːʒ is a French department, named after the Vosges mountain range. In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division

References and notes

External links

• Illustrated article on the Vosges battlefields of WW1 at Battlefields Europe