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The Rwenzori Mountains, previously called the Ruwenzori Range (spelling changed c. 1980 to conform more closely with the local name "Rwenjura"), and sometimes the Mountains of the Moon, is a mountain range of eastern Equatorial Africa, located on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Rwenzori mountains support glaciers and are the source of the Nile river. The Rwenzori Mountains reach heights up to 5,109 m (16,761 ft) at . The highest Rwenzori peaks are permanently snow-capped, and along with Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya are the only such ones in Equatorial Africa. Rwenzori Mountains National Park and Virunga National Park are located in the range. == Geology == The mountains formed about three million years ago in the late Pliocene, as a result of an uplifted block of crystalline rocks including: gneiss, amphibolite granite, and quartzite. They are on the flanks of the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. This uplift divided the paleolake Obweruka and created three of the present-day African Great Lakes: Lake Albert, Lake Edward,〔 and Lake George. The range is about 120 km (75 mi) long and 65 km (40 mi) wide. It consists of six massifs separated by deep gorges: Mount Stanley (5,109m), Mount Speke (4,890m), Mount Baker (4,843m), Mount Emin (4,798m), Mount Gessi (4,715m) and Mount Luigi di Savoia (4,627m). Mount Stanley is the largest and has several subsidiary summits, with Margherita Peak being the highest point. The rock is metamorphic, and the mountains are believed to have been tilted and squeezed upwards by plate movement. They are in an extremely humid area, and frequently enveloped in clouds. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rwenzori Mountains」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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