Cumberland Mountains

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Map showing the Cumberland Mountains
Map showing the Cumberland Mountains

The Cumberland Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern section of the Appalachian Mountains. They are located in western Virginia, eastern edges of Kentucky, and eastern middle Tennessee, including the Crab Orchard Mountains. Their highest peak, with an elevation of 4145 feet (1263 meters) [1] above mean sea level, is Black Mountain, which is located near Lynch in Harlan County, Kentucky.

According to the USGS, the Cumberland Mountain range is 131 miles long (211 km) and 20 miles wide (32 km), bounded by Russell Fork River on the northeast, Pound River and Powell River on the southeast, Cove Creek on the southwest, and Tackett Creek, Cumberland River, Poor Fork Cumberland River, and Elkhorn Creek on the northwest. The crest of the range forms the Kentucky and Virginia boundary from the Tennessee border to Russell Fork River.

Variant names of the Cumberland Mountains include Cumberland Mountain, Cumberland Range, Ouasioto Mountains, Ouasiota Mountains, Laurel Mountain, and Pine Mountain.

View of Cross Mountain in Tennessee
View of Cross Mountain in Tennessee

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[edit] Geology and physiography

The Cumberland Mountains are a physiographic section of the larger Appalachian Plateau province, which in turn is part of the larger Appalachian physiographic division.[1]

[edit] Further reading

[edit] References

  1. ^ Physiographic divisions of the conterminous U. S.. U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.

[edit] See also

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