A
Little Geography
The Golan has two geographically distinct
sections-the Hermon Range in the north and the
Golan plateau in the south. The former is one of
the highest mountain ranges in Israel; In the
entire region, in fact. Actually, only seven
percent of the range lies in Israel: the rest is
divided equally between Syria and Lebanon. The
total length of the range is 80 kilometers, and
Its width varies between 17 and 23 kilometers.
The summit of the Hermon Range, Mount Hermon in
Syria, is 2,814 meters above sea level The
range's second highest peak, Mitzpeh Shlagim in
Israel, is 2,224 meters above sea level.
Parts
of the Golan Plateau
are covered with
natural
forests of oak and
pistachio trees. |
The Golan plateau
begins Immediately to the south of the Hermon
Range. It is a startlingly large, sixty-
kilometer-long, basalt-covered tableland, sliced
off by deep canyons at its edges. The plateau
slopes gently from north to south, descending
from 1,200 meters above sea level on its northern
edge to 300 meters above sea level at its
southern rim. The area to the west of the Golan,
however, encompassing the Hula Valley and the Sea
of Galilee (the Kinneret), is 200 meters below
sea level, and the dramatic disparity creates
some majestic scenery along the sharp escarpment
that marks the Golan's western border. On that
side of the Golan, water courses down ravines and
canyons to basalt waterfalls that hurl the melted
snows of winter into a series of deep secluded
pools.
The basalt on the Golan comes from a series of
now extinct volcanoes whose thumb-like contours
and craters dot the Golan. serving as good scenic
lookouts alongthe flat plateau. Volcanic activity
on the Golan has also resulted in geological
formations created by the lava that once flowed
out of the volcanoes, as well as a myriad of
paleornagnetic phenomena.
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