{{Short description|Table mountain in Ethiopia}} <!-- Infobox begins here; main text of article is below --> {{Infobox mountain | name = Amba Aradam | other_name = | image = | image_alt = | image_caption = | elevation_m = 2756 | elevation_ref = | prominence_m = | prominence_ref = | map = Ethiopia |map_relief=1 | map_alt = | map_caption = Location in Ethiopia | label_position = left | listing = | location = Debub Misraqawi Zone, Tigray Region, Ethiopia | range = | coordinates = {{coord|13|20|N|39|31|E|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | coordinates_ref = | topo_map = | type = | age = | volcanic_arc/belt = | last_eruption = | first_ascent = | easiest_route = }} <!-- Infobox ends; main text of article begins on next line --> '''Amba Aradam''' is a table mountain in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Debub Misraqawi (Southeastern) Zone of the Tigray Region, between Mek'ele and Addis Ababa, it has a latitude and longitude of {{coord|13|20|N|39|31|E|type:mountain}} and an elevation of {{convert|2756|m|ft|0}}.
The name in Tigrinya is ''Imba Aradom'', but international usage in geology (Amba Aradam Formation) and history (battles in the 1930s) have coined the name ''Amba Aradam''.
==Geology== [[File:Rock sample 1 Amba Aradam sst Imba Aradom 1.jpg|thumb|Rock sample of Amba Aradam sandstone with slickensides, collected along a fault at the northern edge of the mountain]] The outcropping bedrock consists of Jurassic, sub-horizontally layered or slightly inclined, marine varicoloured marls and marly clays with interbedded limestones, sandstones and gypsum layers, that are part of the Agula Shales Formation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Levitte |first1=D |title=The geology of Mekele. Report on the geology of the central part of sheet ND 37-11 |date=1970 |publisher=Geological Survey of Ethiopia |location=Addis Ababa}}</ref> These are unconformably overlain by Cretaceous continental conglomerates, sandstones and laterite levels, belonging to the Amba Aradam Formation,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shumburo |first1=M. |title=The Amba Aradam formation (formerly the Upper Sandstone) |date=1968 |publisher=Mobil Petroleum Ethiopia Inc.}}</ref> which is obviously named after the mountain. The unconformity is due to a planation episode which followed the pre-Cretaceous marine regression.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Coltorti |first1=M. |last2=Dramis |first2=F. |last3=Ollier |first3=C. |title=Planation surfaces in Northern Ethiopia |journal=Geomorphology |date=2007 |volume=89 |issue=3–4 |pages=287–296 |doi=10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.12.007 }}</ref> Dolerite sills and laccolites of Oligocene age<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Justin-Visentin |first1=E. |title=Petrografia, chimismo e petrogenesi dei corpi subvulcanici di Macallè (Tigrai Etiopia) |journal=Memorie dell'Istituto di Geologia e Mineralogia, Universita di Padova |date=1974 |volume=31 |pages=1–33}}</ref> are interlayered within the Agula Shales. Small dolerite necks are exposed on the westernmost edge of the upper escarpment and west of the Amba Aradam summit.<ref name="Coltortietal2009">{{cite journal |last1=Coltorti |first1=M. |last2=Pieruccini |first2=P. |last3=Ogbagabriel Berakhi |last4=Dramis |first4=F. |last5=Asfawossen Asrat |title=The Geomorphological Map of Mt. Amba Aradam Southern Slope (Tigray, Ethiopia) |journal=Journal of Maps |date=2009 |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=56–65 |doi=10.4113/jom.2009.1043 |s2cid=129046585 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[File:Rock sample 1 Amba Aradam sst Imba Aradom 2.jpg|thumb|Rock sample of Amba Aradam sandstone with conglomeratic facies, collected along a fault at the northern edge of the mountain]]
==Vegetation== The present-day spontaneous vegetation is dominated by Juniperus procera, Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Podocarpus gracilior, although farming and grazing have reduced it to a sparse shrub cover, except for limited areas around churches where the holy character of the places allows their preservation.<ref name="Coltortietal2009"/>
==Settlements== Human settlements are scattered around the main relief, being usually located on the most favourable topographic situations, such as flat surfaces and foot slopes, where colluvial deposits allow subsistence farming.<ref name="Coltortietal2009"/> Major town on the foot of the mountain is Hintalo, which used to be capital of Tigray in the 19th century, after which large parts of the town were abandoned.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Markham |first1=C. |last2=Prideaux |first2=W. |title=A history of the Abyssinian expedition |date=1869 |publisher=Macmillan}}</ref> Ruins of the abandoned quarters were observed in 1868 and are still present nowadays.
==History== The mount is famous for the Battle of Enderta that the Italians fought in order to capture Amba Aradam on 15 February 1936.
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Mountains of Ethiopia Category:Tigray Region Aradam