The Caucasus Mountains and Caves

The Caucasus Mountains  have a rich geology in different types of rocks. These rocks include igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic dating from the "Precambrian to the Paleozoic times". These high peaked mountains have moraines; soil and rock that is formed from glacial debris. The Caucasus mountains also wide valleys making it such an exotic location. From what I understand the mountains were not formed from volcanic activity but rather from "tectonic plate collisions from the Arabian plates moving northward with respect to the Eurasian plates".Though the Caucasus Mountains may have been formed form tectonic plate collisions, there is evidence of igneous rock, which means there are traces of magma and volcanic activity.



http://www.culturaenmovimientobolivia.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Sochi-the-City-of-Sea-and-Mountains.jpg
The Caucasus Mountains



The northern side of the Caucasus is mainly made of limestone. In the middle of these mountains there are beautiful caves. One of the well known caves is in Abkhazia, near Scohi, and is called “The New Athos Cave”. These caves are an outcome of "deposits and subsoil waters" that had washed the limestone from the mountains, thus producing the underground cave. As you can see in the picture below, “The New Athos Cave” has stone vaults that are fairly high, it also includes a waterfall, and is illuminated for the tourists. A beautiful place to visit.



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A magnificent ski resort in the city of the future. The Krasnaya Polyana as seen below, is rich of nature and beauty. In the picture below, we can see evidenc of joint; or cracks in the mountains, also we can see biological organic acids such as mosses on the rocks.

 

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Krasnaya Polyana(ski resort in Sochi)



Information on "The New Athos Cave" was found on the website below.

http://www.advantour.com/georgia/new-athos/new-athos-cave.htm

The information of the Caucasus Mountains was found on the follwoing website.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus_Mountains

Geography 1202 Introduction

Welcome! My name is Ustina Barsikyan, I am currently a sophomore studying finance at the University of Colorado at Denver.

This semester I will be researching the geographical components that make up the beauty of Sochi, Russia. Sochi's beautiful features are composed of the Black Sea in the south and the snow peaked Caucasus Mountains in the north.

Sochi, Russia

 I chose this location because it is my hometown. I was born and raised in the city of Sochi where I recall the sweetest memories of the amazing landscapes that make up this beautiful city. Currently Sochi is preparing to host the 2014 Winter Olympics. The exotic features of the city made it a tough to beat candidate during the selection process.

During the course of the semester I will study the geography of this city and hope to gain knowledge of the different physical geographical aspects that make this city the "gateway to the future". I will do this by applying concepts that I learn in Geography 1202.