Massif

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In geology, a massif is a section of a planet\'s crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term is also used to refer to a group of mountains formed by such a structure. The massif is a smaller structural unit of the crust than a tectonic plate.

The word is taken from French (in which the word also means "massive"), where it is used to refer to a large mountain mass or compact group of connected mountains forming an independent portion of a range. One of the most notable European examples of a massif is the Massif Central of the Auvergne region of France.

List of massifs

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• Adrar des Ifoghas - Mali
• Annapurna Massif - Nepal
• Armorican Massif - Brittany, France
• Atlantis Massif - part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the North Atlantic Ocean.
• Big Ben Massif - Heard Island
• Brasilia Massif - Argentina
• Chartreuse Massif - France
• Kangchenjunga Massif - India
• Kondyor Massif - Russian Federation
• Kugitangtau Ridge - Turkmenistan
• Laurentian Massif - Quebec, Canada (French: Massif des Laurentides)
• Le Massif - a ski mountain northeast of Quebec City, Canada
• Lincoln Massif - Lincoln, Vermont
• Massif Central - France
• Massif Montgris - Spain
• Massif Mountains - a high range of mountains in Haiti
• Meager Massif - British Columbia, Canada
• Logan Massif - Yukon, Canada
• Nun Kun- India
• Panchchuli Massif - India
• Tondou Massif - Africa
• Vinson Massif - Antarctica
• Vitosha Massif - Bulgaria

In mountaineering and climbing literature, a massif is frequently used to denote the main mass of an individual mountain.

The Face on Mars is also called a massif, or alternatively, an albedo feature.[1]

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