Abkhaz Ridge or Chkhalta Ridge ( ab , Aҧsnytәi ashkhaӡқua, '' Apsnytvi ridge ''; ka , აფხაზეთის ქედი, '' Apkhazetiskedi '' Instructions for the Russian transfer of geographical names of the Georgian SSR. - M., 1972. - P. 10.) —
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...
in
Abkhazia
Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which v ...
, on the southern slopes of
Greater Caucasus
The Greater Caucasus ( az, Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; ka, დიდი კავკასიონი, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; russian: Большой Кавказ, ''Bolshoy Kavkaz'', sometimes translat ...
. Ridge provides
drainage divide
A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a sing ...
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
and basins of the Amtkeli, Jambali, Kuabchari and Zimi rivers.
Geography
The ridge serves as an eastern continuation of the
, from which it is separated by a low cofferdam pass Amtkel, in the area of which the river Kelasur begins, the valley of which separates southern spurs of two ridges. It stretches in accordance with the direction of folding parallel to the Main Caucasian (Dividing) ridge, from which it is separated by the upper reaches of the
Bzyb River
The Bzyb or Bzipi ( or ; ka, ბზიფი, Bzipi; ab, Бзыҧ, Bzyṗ; russian: Бзыбь, Bzybj) is one of the two largest rivers of Abkhazia, along with the Kodori, and the twelfth longest river in Georgia. The river valley has rich biod ...
and the valley Chkhalta River.
The length of the ridge is about 60 km, the height is up to 3026 m. Notable mountain peaks: (3026 m),Mta Shkhap’izga 3026 m GeoNames (2638 m),Gora Shaudidi ca. 2526 m GeoNames (2670 m),Gora Atsgara 2670 m GeoNames Zurgia (2295 m) and others. A ridge with sharp mountain glacial forms (traces of significant ancient glaciation), modern glaciation is insignificant: three
cirque glacier
A cirque glacier is formed in a cirque, a bowl-shaped depression on the side of or near mountains. Snow and ice accumulation in corries often occurs as the result of avalanching from higher surrounding slopes.
If a cirque glacier advances far enou ...
s with a total area of no more than 1 km2. The gentle southern slopes are cut by deep
canyon
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cut ...
Jampal
The Yambina were an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Queensland, whose traditional lands lie inland (westwards) some distance from Mackay.
Country
Yambina lands included Logan Creek south of Avon Downs. They ran east to the Denh ...
, as well as their tributaries. In the middle part of the northern slope, there are several high-mountainous lakes belonging to the Chkhalta basin.
The mountains consist of porphyry from the Jura and
mica schist
Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...
. The slopes are covered with
spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ( taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the sub ...
-
fir
Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The genus is most closely related to ...
and
beech
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engl ...
oval forests, in the ridge part there are mountain meadows. Karst new phenomena are widespread: underground rivers,
cave
A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...
Gagra Range
Gagra Range (; ka, გაგრის ქედი, tr; russian: Гагрский хребет, Gagrskij hrebet) is a mountain range of the Greater Caucasus in Abkhazia, Georgia.The range runs between the valleys of the Bzyb and Psou rivers to ...