556 Dr. Du Riclie Preller — The Carrara Marble District. 



ellipsoidal dome whose cupola reached an elevation of over 6,000 feet 

 above sea-level. The initial pressure having been exerted on this part, 

 as indeed on the whole of the Ligurian littoral from the south-west, 

 viz. from the Mediterranean, it is on the side of that littoral that the 

 Apuan Alps are marked by steep and precipitous declivities up to 

 45 degrees, while on its eastern side they fall away more gradually 

 to the Serchio valley at an average inclination of 20 degrees. 

 Accordingly, denudation and the formation of deeply cut narrow- 

 valleys by fluviatile and atmospheric agency proceeded much more 

 rapidly on the western side, which therefore exhibits a series of 

 sharply defined peaks denuded, in their upper parts, of vegetation 

 and imparting to the range its imposing, conspicuously rugged, and 

 Alpine character. On the eastern side, on the other hand, where the 

 process of denudation was less rapid, the mountains, with one or two 

 exceptions, have preserved their dome- or loaf-shaped summit outlines 

 with steep sides, and also more of their original elevation, for it is 

 here that the whole range reaches its maximum altitudes in Monte 

 Pisanino and the neighbouring Monte Tambura. The direction of 

 pressure is also evidenced by the fact that the strata on the western 

 side are much more highly crystalline and resistant than the more 

 fine-grained and softer eastern strata, which, consequently, have been 

 all along the line greatly folded, bent over towards the east, and at 

 many points totally reversed. 



The range is thus composed of two series of mountains, viz. of 

 the pizzi or peaks of the western, and of the panie or loaf-shaped 

 eastern series, the former being about 24 kilometres, the latter about 

 12 kilometres in length, and the two running, not exactly parallel, 

 but converging towards each other. The natural alignment of the 

 range may therefore be described roughly as that of a two-pronged 

 fork as shown in the plan (Fig. V), the intervening space between 

 the two pron«s being occupied by the Ami Valley, about 7 kilometres 

 in greatest width at its upper end. The ends of the two prongs are 

 marked by Monte Sagro (Carrara) on the west and by Monte Pisanino 

 on the east; the junction of the two prongs coincides with Monte 

 Altissimo in the Seravezza division, and the southern end of the fork 

 extends towards Pania della Croce and Monte Forato in the Stazzema 

 division. The altitudes of the principal Western Pizzi and the 

 Eastern Panie, which are marked in the plan, are as follows : — 



Western Series, 24 km. Eastern Series, 12 km. 



m. m. 



n , mm /Monte Sagro 1749 Monte Pisanino 1946^ n 



Carrara | Pizzo d>TJcello 1782 ? Cavallo 18g9 [Carrara 



Mo c„ /Cresta Gamerone 1800 ,, Tambura 1890 I a ° , 



MaSsa \Monte Grondilice 1805 „ Sella 1723J Massa - 



Seravezza ,, Altissimo 1549 ,, Fiocea 1711^ 



C ,, Corchia 1677 ,, Sumbra 1765 1 - . 



Stazzema \ Pania della Croce 1859 ,, Freddone 1487 f m * 



[Monte Forato 1230 ,, Eonchi 1350 J 



1 This very conspicuous mountain, one of the highest of the series, is really 

 a pizzo, its summit being a ridge not more than 10 yards long and barely 2 feet 

 wide. Monte Forato is, as its name implies, remarkable for the great natural 

 arched opening just below its summit. 



