Gagra Range (; ka, გაგრის ქედი, tr; ; ) is a

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 aris ...

of the

Greater Caucasus The Greater Caucasus, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; is the major mountain range of the Caucasus Mountains. It stretches for about from west-northwest to east-southeast, from the Taman Peninsula of the Black Sea to the Absheron Peninsula of t ...

Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

.The range runs between the valleys of the Bzyb and

Psou The Psou (; ; ka, ფსოუ; ; ) is a river in the West Caucasus, bordering the Gagra Range to the east. It flows along the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and forms a part of the border between Georgia (country), Georg ...

rivers to the south of the Caucasus Major, in a general North-South direction. The highest elevation is 3,357 m ( Mount Agepsta). The Gagra Range approaches the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

close to the city of

Gagra Gagra ( ka, გაგრა; Russian language, Russian and ) is a town in Abkhazia/Georgia (country), Georgia, sprawling for 5 km on the northeast coast of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. Its subtropical climate made Ga ...

and plays an important role in moderating the climate of that resort by blocking cold, continental winds from the north and east. The range is mostly made up of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, with pronounced

karst topography Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

, and is characterized by many deep

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, 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 t ...

s created by rivers. The deepest

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

in the world, the

Veryovkina Cave Veryovkina Cave (also spelled Verëvkina Cave, , ) is a cave in Abkhazia, a disputed region of Georgia_(country), Georgia. At deep, it is the deepest-known cave on Earth. Veryovkina is in the Arabika Massif, in the Gagra Range, Gagra mountain ra ...

, is located in the Arabika Massif of the Gagra Range. A highway to Lake Ritsa, the deepest lake in

(116 m), runs by the range, along the Bzyb, Iupshara and Gega rivers.

Notes

References

{{Abkhazia-geo-stub Mountain ranges of Georgia (country) Mountain ranges of the Caucasus Mountain ranges of Abkhazia

See also

Notes

References