Monti Aurunci

Aurunci Mountains
Monti Aurunci
Location of the range in Italy
Highest point
Peak	Monte Petrella
Elevation	1,533 m (5,030 ft)
Coordinates	41°19′22″N 13°39′55″E / 41.32278°N 13.66528°E / 41.32278; 13.66528
Naming
Etymology	Ancient tribal name
Geography
Country	Italy
State/Province	Lazio
District	Latina, Frosinone
Range coordinates	41°21.25′N 13°39.3′E / 41.35417°N 13.6550°E / 41.35417; 13.6550Coordinates: 41°21.25′N 13°39.3′E / 41.35417°N 13.6550°E / 41.35417; 13.6550
Parent range	Apennine Mountains, Volsci Chain
Borders on	Monti Ausoni, Liri River, Garigliano river; Tyrrhenian Sea
Geology
Orogeny	Southern Apenninic Orogeny
Age of rock	Messinian of Miocene, Pliocene-
Type of rock	limestone karst

The Monti Aurunci or Aurunci Mountains is a mountain range of southern Lazio, in central Italy. It is part of the Antiappennini, a group running from the Apennines chain to the Tyrrhenian Sea, where it forms the promontory of Gaeta. It is bounded to the north-west by the Ausoni Mountains, to the north by the Liri river, to the east by the Ausente, to the south-east by the Garigliano and to the south by the Tyrrhenian sea. The line between the Aurunci and the Ausoni has not been clearly established but the Aurunci are considered by convention to be east of a line through Fondi, Lenola, Pico, S.Giovanni and Incarico. Altitudes vary from hills to the 1,533 m of Monte Petrella. Main peaks include the Redentore (1,252 m) and Monte Sant'Angelo (1,402 m). They include a Regional Park, the Parco Naturale dei Monti Aurunci, created in 1997.

The mountains take the name from the ancient tribe of the Aurunci, an offshoot of the Ausoni. Both tribes were derived from the Italic people who were called by the Romans the Volsci; hence, the Monti Lepini, the Monti Ausoni and the Monti Aurunci are also called the Volsci or Volscian Chain. Coincidentally they are all of the same karst topography and have the same orogeny, which is not quite the same as the Apennines proper.

The Monti Aurunci mainly consist of friable limestone, which becomes harder toward Gaeta. The degree of faulting and cracking is so high that the mountains retain no rainfall; it sinks in to emerge as springs (and in human times wells) on the lower flanks. The stream beds are dry except for vernal pools.