Amba Aradam is a

table mountain Table Mountain (; ) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, cableway or hik ...

in northern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Located in the Debub Misraqawi (Southeastern) Zone of the

Tigray Region The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...

, between

Mek'ele Mekelle (), or Mek'ele, is a List of zones of Ethiopia, special zone and capital city, capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta province, Enderta Awrajja, awraja in Tigray Province, Tigray. It is locate ...

and Addis Abeba, it has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of . The name in Tigrinya is ''Imba Aradom'', but international usage in geology ( Amba Aradam Formation) and history (battles in the 1930s) have coined the name ''Amba Aradam''.

Geology

Rock sample 1 Amba Aradam sst Imba Aradom 1

The outcropping

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bed ...

consists of

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

, sub-horizontally layered or slightly inclined, marine varicoloured marls and marly clays with interbedded

limestones Limestone is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Limestone forms when these ...

, sandstones and

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

layers, that are part of the Agula Shales Formation. These are unconformably overlain by

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

continental conglomerates,

sandstones Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains, cemented together by another mineral. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed o ...

and

laterite Laterite is a soil type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by intensive and prolo ...

levels, belonging to the Amba Aradam Formation, which is obviously named after the mountain. The unconformity is due to a planation episode which followed the pre-Cretaceous

marine regression A marine regression is a geological process occurring when areas of submerged seafloor are exposed during a drop in sea level. The opposite event, marine transgression, occurs when flooding from the sea covers previously-exposed land. Descript ...

Dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grain ...

sills and laccolites of

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

age are interlayered within the Agula Shales. Small dolerite necks are exposed on the westernmost edge of the upper escarpment and west of the Amba Aradam summit. Rock sample 1 Amba Aradam sst Imba Aradom 2

Rock sample 1 Amba Aradam sst Imba Aradom 2

Vegetation

The present-day spontaneous vegetation is dominated by Juniperus procera,

Eucalyptus camaldulensis ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as river red gum, is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae, and is Endemism, endemic to Australia. It is a tree with smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flow ...

and Podocarpus gracilior, although farming and grazing have reduced it to a sparse shrub cover, except for limited areas around churches where the holy character of the places allows their preservation.

Settlements

Human settlements are scattered around the main relief, being usually located on the most favourable topographic situations, such as flat surfaces and foot slopes, where

colluvial Colluvium (also colluvial material or colluvial soil) is a general name for loose, unconsolidated sediments that have been deposited at the base of hillslopes by either rainwash, sheetwash, slow continuous downslope creep, or a variable combina ...

deposits allow subsistence farming. Major town on the foot of the mountain is Hintalo, which used to be capital of

Tigray The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...

in the 19th century, after which large parts of the town were abandoned. Ruins of the abandoned quarters were observed in 1868 and are still present nowadays.

History

The mount is famous for the Battle of Enderta that the Italians fought in order to capture Amba Aradam on 15 February 1936, and for the massacre three years later, as an action against the '' Arbegnoch'', or Ethiopian partisans. Between 9–11 April 1939, a group of ''Arbegnoch'', led by Abebe Aregai, had taken refuge in the Amezena Washa (Cavern of the Rebels), which was in Amba Aradam. The party included members of the ''Arbegnoch'', but also their relatives, wounded, and other refugee non-combatants. On 9 April 1939, the chemical platoon of the Granatieri di Savoia Division attacked the ''Arbegnoch'' using bombs with poison gas, killing most of those inside. Only fifteen persons succeeded in escaping from the cave. Those who continued the resistance inside the cave were killed with flamethrowers. The extent of the cave made it difficult to explore for the remaining members of the resistance who were still within, so the Italian military command gave the order to seal it with explosives: Paolo Rumiz, ''La Repubblica'', 22 Maggio 2006.

References

{{reflist Mountains of Ethiopia Tigray Region Aradam