Chichibu Mountains

Japanese: 秩父山地 - ちちぶさんち

This mountainous area occupies most of the northern part of the Kanto Mountains. It spans Tokyo, Saitama, Nagano, Yamanashi, and Gunma. It is bounded by the Hachioji Tectonic Line, which connects Takasaki and Hachioji, the Chikuma River Tectonic Line, which runs through the upper reaches of the Chikuma River, the Katsura River to the south, and the Kabura River to the north, forming a quadrangle measuring 40-60km east to west and 80km north to south. The area near the border between Saitama, Yamanashi, and Nagano prefectures in the southwest is the highest point in this mountainous area, with the highest peak being Kitaokusenjo-dake (2,601m), which borders Kokushi-dake to the south. Other mountains include Kinpu-san and Kobushi-ga-take, and it is the source of the Arakawa, Tama-gawa, Fuefuki-gawa, and Chikuma-gawa rivers. The upper reaches of each river form deep valleys and belong to the Chichibu Tama Kai National Park. In the center, the elevation drops sharply due to faults, forming the Chichibu Basin. The strata that make up the mountain range are generally distributed in a belt from northwest to southeast, with the Chichibu Palaeozoic Formation in the center, rocks of the Nagatoro Series to the northeast, the Mesozoic Formation to the southwest, and igneous rocks, mainly granite, distributed in Yamanashi Prefecture to the southwest. The Chichibu Palaeozoic Formation contains a lot of limestone, which is mined in various places as a raw material for cement and other products, and there are limestone caves in Hibara (Okutama Town, Tokyo) and Kagemori (Chichibu City), among others.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

関東山地北部の大部分を占める山地。東京，埼玉，長野，山梨，群馬の1都4県にまたがる。東は高崎と八王子とを結ぶ八王子構造線，西は千曲川上流の千曲川構造線，南は桂川，北は鏑川に囲まれた東西 40～60km，南北約 80kmの四辺形をなす。南西部の埼玉，山梨，長野3県の県境付近は，この山地で最も標高の高い場所で，最高峰は国師岳の南に接する北奥千丈岳 (2601m) ，そのほかに金峰 (きんぷ) 山・甲武信 (こぶし) ヶ岳などの山々がそびえ，荒川，多摩川，笛吹川，千曲川などの源流地。各河川の上流部は深い渓谷をつくり，秩父多摩甲斐国立公園に属する。中央は断層によって急に高度が下がり，秩父盆地となっている。山地を構成する地層は，全般に北西－南東の方向に帯状に分布し，中央部は秩父古生層，その北東には長瀞系の岩石，南西には中生層，さらにその南西の山梨県には花崗岩を中心とした火成岩類が分布する。秩父古生層には石灰岩が多く，各地でセメントその他の原料として採掘され，日原 (東京都奥多摩町) ，影森 (秩父市) などには鍾乳洞がある。

出典　ブリタニカ国際大百科事典小項目事典ブリタニカ国際大百科事典小項目事典について　情報

<<: Chichibu Incident

>>: Chichibu Thirty-Four Temples