 |  | G E O G R A P H Y |
| Geographical situation |
The Mátra Mountains are part of the Northern Mountain Range and belong by origin to the largest young volcanic zone of Europe. They are situated between the valleys of River Tarna and River Zagyva. Although this mountain range is not of the largest area, the two highest peaks of the country can be found here: Kékes rises to 1014 metres and Galyatető to 964 metres.
The Mátra Mountains can be divided into several readily distinguishable parts. The highest point of the Western Mátra is Muzsla. The so-called Central Mátra consists of the plateau of Mátrabérc (Mátra ridge) and the groups of the volcanic cones of Galyatető and Kékestető. Steep, rugged slopes, screes, talus slopes and slides alternate with one another, covered with closed beech forests. Gentler slopes and parallel valleys flow down to the south, the largest of which is the so-called Nagy-völgy (Great Valley). The 'main entrance' to the Mátra Mountains was formed in parallel with the valley of Nagy-patak (Great Stream), ranging from Mátrafüred to Mátraháza. From the vineyard-covered landscape of the foot of the Mátra travellers can arrive at the wooded mountains in a flash. To the east, after the steep escarpment of the 898-metre-high Saskő (Eagle Stone), the 650-750-metre-high peaks of the Eastern Mátra follow one another. The northern part of the mountain range is called Mátralába (the Mátra's feet). This is a hilly area covered with 250-400-metre-high small volcanic cones, with mostly cultivated arable lands. |
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| Geological past |
The formation of the Mátra is a consequence of several phases of volcanic activity, which lasted for several million years with long intervals.
The volcanic activities of the first phase are connected to the beginning of the Tertiary period (Eocene), and their relicts can be found on the northern edge of the mountain range. (The mineral resources of Recsk are copper, lead, silver and gold.) The main mass of the mountain range was formed in the second phase, during Miocene. The volcano must have been 25 kilometres wide and 2000-2500 metres high. The traces of post-volcanic activities in the third phase can be seen on the western and north-western edge of the mountain range. As a result of these post-volcanic activities, an intact lava plateau buried the volcanic formations that evolved earlier in the eastern part of the mountain range and determined the present forms that can be observed in the area of Kékes in the Central Mátra. In the third phase, ruin volcanos were formed, whose remnants determine the topographical features of the mountain range today (Világos, Tóthegyes, Ágasvár, Muzsla, Sár-hegy). Since its evolution, the Mátra has almost constantly been eroding, but in varying degrees; the dominating height of its surface is 700-800 metres which is occassionally interrupted by peaks of 850-1000 metres. |
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Mineral resources of the Mátra Mountains
| During the volcanic post-activities in the Mátra Mountains, minerogenesis took place to a considerable extent within the fissures and crevices that were formed in the volcanic rocks in the course of sudden chilling. Mining for ore in the vicinity of Gyöngyösoroszi and in Recsk were of international significance.
A large amount of copper, pyrite, calcite, haematite, gypsum, gold and silver was found in the area of Recsk and Sirok, pyrite in Mátraszentimre, chalcopyrite and calcite in Parádsasvár, chalcedony in Mátrakeresztes, aragonite in the vicinity of Kisnána, opal in Mátrafüred, and cinnabar, antimony glance (stibnite), haematite and barite in Gyöngyössolymos. |
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| Caves of the Mátra Mountains |
 Pyroxene-andesite that constitutes the Mátra was not favourable to the formation of caves. Due to tectonic movements, however, smaller cavities evolved, the largest of which is Csörgő-lyuk (Rattling-hole) near Ágasvár. The formation of this cave was a result of faults. Its entrance is an 8-metre-deep hole that leads to a relatively small chamber. Branches of 25, 30 and 40 metres divide from here and at the end of the deepest branch another chamber can be found. |
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| Fossils of the Mátra Mountains |
The volcanic structure of the Mátra was not favourable to the preservation of fossils, on the peripheries, however, one can find impressive remains both in the area of the diatomite mine in Szurdokpüspöki and further away, in the vicinity of Mátraszolos. The site of fossils deposited on the southern foot of the mountains is less spectacular but rather significant (the vicinity of Rózsaszentmárton and Visonta). The preserved fossils, remains of plants, nummulites, remains of shells and snails and imprints of fish prove that there used to be a warm sea with lagoons here. The coal reserves that can be found at the foot of the Mátra indicate that a marshy forest rich in plants (pinaceae, alder, beech, oak, salicaceae) covered this area in the last phase of the Miocene. At the time of the last ice age, cool climate was already dominant in the mountain range, which is demonstrated by the remains of numerous creatures. Among these, the most famous find is the almost intact skeleton of a mammoth found in the vicinity of Mátraderecske.
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| Soil of the Mátra Mountains |
In the Mátra, there are brown forest soils, adequate with the bedrock, formed on andesite. On areas at the foot of the mountains, chernozem-brown soil alternates with brown earth. At higher altitudes, these are succeeded by clay-inwashed brown forest soil that can become podsolised to varying degrees. On the loess layer that covers the western side of the mountain range, chernozem-brown forest soil can be found.
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| Waters of the Mátra Mountains |
The Mátra is relatively rich in water. The springs and their water discharge depend on the geological structure of the mountains and the given conditions of precipitation. The stratovolcanic makeup of the mountain range and the low permeability of andesite that constitutes its main mass help precipitation come to the surface in the form of springs. Several springs broke out along the fault lines in the higher regions where precipitation is more frequent, and more springs can be found here than in the lower elevations of the southern slopes that have less precipitation. The mineral water springs near Parád, locally referred to as 'csevice' waters, are consequences of the post-volcanic effects that exist even today. The only waterfall in the Mátra, in Ilona-völgy (Ilona Valley), pours down deep from a height of 8 metres.
 The lakes of the mountain range are of no real significance. Most of the former natural standing waters have almost completely turned into marshlands. The Pisztrángos-tó (Trout Lake), Koris-mocsár (Kőris Marshland), Fekete-tó (Black Lake), Sás-tó (Sedge Lake) and Szent Anna-tó (Saint Anna Lake) are remnants of the past. The artificial reservoires have a larger water surface and, thus, a greater impact on their environment (reservoires at Csórrét, Köszörű-völgy and Hasznos). |
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