Blue Mountains
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Blue Mountains
, AustraliaBlue Mountains, region of New South Wales, SE Australia. Located W of Sydney, this elevation is actually a plateau forming part of the Great Dividing Range.
Blue Mountains
, United StatesBlue Mountains, uplifted, eroded part of the Columbia Plateau, c.6,500 ft (1,980 m) high, NE Oreg. and SE Wash. Lava flows cover much of the surface. The upper, wooded slopes are used for lumbering. Recreation and livestock grazing are the mountains' principal economic uses. Rock Creek Butte, 9,105 ft (2,775 m) high, is the highest point in the Blue Mts. The Blue Mountains were a major physical obstacle for those who once traveled the Oregon Trail.
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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Blue Mountains
mountains in Australia; part of the Great Dividing Range (New South Wales), west of Sydney. They are flat-topped and strongly dissected, with steep slopes, and have elevations to 1,360 m. The deep valley of the Cox’s River divides the Blue Mountains into a western part, composed of folded limestone with karst relief formations, and the eastern part, which is composed of sandstones. The wet eastern slopes are covered with eucalyptus forests, and the valleys are overgrown with treelike ferns. On the dry western slopes there are sparse eucalyptus forests and savanna.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.