View source for Main ridge of the Taunus

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[[File:Wiesbaden Herbstpanorama.jpg|thumb|330px|The [[Anterior Taunus]] and Taunus main ridge near [[Wiesbaden]]]]
[[File:Eichkopf vom Atzelberg aus gesehen.jpg|thumb|330px|View from [[Atzelberg]] along the main ridge with [[Großer Feldberg]] in the center of the background]]
The '''main ridge of the Taunus''' ({{langx|de|Taunushauptkamm}}) is a 75-kilometre-long [[ridgeline]] in the [[High Taunus]] mountain in Germany, whose geological core consists of veins of hard [[Taunus quartzite]]. The ridge separates the steeply descending [[Anterior Taunus]] to the south from the more gradually descending upland of the [[Hintertaunus]] or [[Farther Taunus]] in the north. The [[drainage divide|watershed]] between the [[Upper Rhine]] and [[River Main]] to the south and the [[Middle Rhine]] tributaries of the [[Wisper]] and [[Lahn]] to the north, runs for long sections along the main ridge. Several of the rivers flowing southwards have broken through the rock of the [[Taunus#Taunus ridge|Taunus ridge unit]] in several places so the watershed is diverted a few kilometres to the north.
The main ridge of the Taunus is also a watershed that, especially in the cooler six months of the year and during [[temperature inversion|inversion]] weather conditions, separates the fog in the [[Upper Rhine Plain]] from clearer weather in the north. When the prevailing winds are from the northwest, the ridge receives a lot of precipitation and shelters the [[Rhine-Main region]], giving it a mild climate.
== Route ==
[[File:Taunus Naturräumliche Gliederung mit Relief.png|thumb|Natural regions of the Taunus]]
The main crest of the Taunus runs from southwest to northeast from the [[Middle Rhine]] to the [[Wetterau]] in the following natural region sections:<ref>[http://atlas.umwelt.hessen.de/servlet/Frame/atlas/naturschutz/naturraum/karten/30_31.htm ''Taunus & Gießen-Koblenzer Lahntal.'' Caution: link without return] Umweltatlas Hessen des Hessischen Landesamtes für Umwelt und Geologie: Die Naturräume Hessens und ihre Haupteinheiten </ref>
* 301 ''[[High Taunus]]''
** 301.0 ''[[Niederwald bei Rüdesheim|Niederwald]]''
** 301.1 ''[[Rheingau Hills]]'' (''Rheingaugebirge'')
** 301.2 ''[[Wiesbaden]] High Taunus''
** 301.3 ''[[Großer Feldberg|Feldberg]]-Taunus Crest''
** 301.4 ''[[Winterstein (Taunus)|Winterstein]]-Taunus Crest''
** 301.5 ''[[Bad Nauheim|Nauheim]] Taunus Spur''
The main ridge of the Taunus incorporates the crest of the [[Hunsrück]] west of the Rhine and the heights of [[Bingen Forest]].
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== Literature ==
*Alexander Stahr, Birgit Bender: ''Der Taunus-Eine Zeitreise''. Stuttgart, 2007, {{ISBN|978-3-510-65224-2}}
*Eugen Ernst: ''Der Taunus – Ein L(i)ebenswertes Mittelgebirge''. Frankfurt, 2009, {{ISBN|978-3-7973-1146-7}}
*Alexander Stahr: ''Die Böden des Taunuskamms. Entwicklung-Verbreitung-Nutzung-Gefährdung''. Munich, 2014, {{ISBN|978-3-8993-7180-2}}
{{Coord|50.174699|N|8.304977|E|type:mountain_elevation:878.5_region:DE-HE_dim:75000|display=title|format=dms}}
[[Category:High Taunus]]