The greater part of Caucasia originated in the vast structural downwarp in the Earth’s crust known as the Alpine geosyncline, dating from the late Oligocene Epoch (about 28 to 23 million years ago), and the region thus reflects some of the same structural characteristics as the younger mountains of Europe.

Structurally, the Greater Caucasus represents a great uplift at the margin of the Alpine downwarp about 25 million years ago and subsequently altered by fresh cycles of erosion and uplift. Hard, crystalline, metamorphosed rocks such as schists and gneisses, as well as granites that predate the Jurassic Period (i.e., those older than about 200 million years), have been exposed at the core of the western sector, while softer, clayey schists and sandstones of Early and Middle Jurassic origin (from about 200 to 160 million years ago) have emerged in the east. The spurs of the Greater Caucasus are composed of younger limestones, sandstones, and marls. The Greater Caucasus is a zone of crustal instability, as evidenced by several extinct volcanoes (e.g., Mount Elbrus) and the earthquakes, often locally disastrous, that disturb the area.

The Kolkhida and Kura-Aras lowlands are both structural depressions linked to the Alpine geosyncline; the former is related to the formation of the Black Sea, the latter to that of the Caspian. In Kolkhida the overall surface of deposits laid down less than 25 million years ago is broken, at the foot of the mountains, by the protrusion of slightly older sedimentary rocks. Younger rocks also underlie the Kura-Aras Lowland.

The structures of the Lesser Caucasus, of the Talish Mountains, and of the Dzhavakhet-Armenian ranges likewise originated from folds uplifted from the Alpine geosyncline. While the western sector of the Lesser Caucasus and the Talish in the far southeast are formed chiefly from deposits laid down about 50 million years ago in the downwarp episode of the geosyncline, the central and eastern sectors of the Lesser Caucasus consist of sedimentary strata intruded in places with volcanic rock that are at least twice as old. Geologically recent volcanism and contact metamorphism (the intrusion of molten material and its effects on preexisting strata) have everywhere played a great role in shaping the landscape. The folded base of the Dzhavakhet Range and of the Armenian Highland, for example, is masked by volcanic debris from eruptions that occurred in the Cenozoic Era (about the past 65 million years), but to the east much older rocks emerge between the middle course of the Aras and the latitude of Lake Sevan.

Drainage

The Kura (and Aras) and Kuma rivers flow into the Caspian Sea, and the Rioni and the Inguri flow into the Black Sea. In the spring, when snow and ice begin to melt, the rivers of the Greater Caucasus and some of those of the Lesser Caucasus begin a flood cycle that may last six months. Other Transcaucasian rivers are characterized by shorter-term spring flooding, while the rivers of the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus generally have summer floods as well. The karst regions along some spurs of the Greater Caucasus contain rivers that intermittently plunge beneath the earth into caverns within the soluble limestone bedrock.

Lake Sevan in the eastern Lesser Caucasus is the largest lake of Transcaucasia; its overflow drains into the Hrazdan River, a tributary of the Aras. The higher elevations of the Greater Caucasus contain numerous small mountain lakes, while a number of saltwater lakes occur in the arid regions of northeastern Transcaucasia.

The Greater Caucasus has more than 2,000 glaciers, which occupy only a tiny fraction of its total area. Some seven-tenths of them occur on the cooler northern face, with a concentration on the higher central slopes. The largest—notably Dykhsu, Bezengi, and Karaugom glaciers on the northern face and Lekzyr and Tsanner glaciers in western Georgia—are often seven miles or so long. The desolate flanks of Mount Elbrus are streaked by many glaciers.

Climate

Standing on the border between the temperate midlatitude and the subtropical climatic zones, the Greater Caucasus accentuates this climatic difference by impeding the movement of cold air masses from the north into Transcaucasia. Average temperatures in January range from 39 to 43 °F (4 to 6 °C) in Kolkhida and from 34 to 37 °F (1 to 3 °C) in eastern Transcaucasia. In summer the temperature differences between north and south are slight, while there is a contrast between the west (average temperatures 73 to 79 °F [23 to 26 °C]), with its cooler maritime climate, and the more continental east (77 to 84 °F [25 to 29 °C]).

Kolkhida has a humid subtropical climate with mild winters, hot and humid summers, and a relatively large annual rainfall of 47 to 71 inches (1,200 to 1,800 millimetres). In the southeast the climate of the Länkäran Lowland is also humid subtropical but with a dry season at the start of the summer; and the Kura-Aras Lowland has a dry subtropical climate (annual rainfall of 8 to 16 inches that is lower in the east) with mild winters and hot summers. The Middle Aras Trough in the Armenian Highland has a climate similar to that of the lowland downstream but not as warm.

In the Greater Caucasus, temperatures decrease and the growing season becomes correspondingly shorter with an increase in altitude, and more total precipitation falls on the mountain slopes than on the neighbouring plains. Above an altitude of about 6,500 feet, a westerly air current prevails, strengthening maritime influences and greatly moderating climatic conditions; average air temperatures reach 18 °F (−8 °C) in January and 55 °F (13 °C) in August. As the Greater Caucasus range stands at an angle to the westerly air currents, the heaviest precipitation, reaching more than 160 inches, accumulates on the south- and southwest-facing slopes. In the higher elevations, a cold, alpine climate with high humidity prevails, and perennial snow cover shrouds the highest crests. Along the northern Black Sea coast, the climate is Mediterranean, with mild, rainy winters and dry summers.

The northern slopes of the Lesser Caucasus facing toward the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus have a climate similar to that of the latter at corresponding altitudes, with rainfall concentrated in the west. On the slopes of the Talish Mountains in the southeast, the climate is humid, with annual precipitation reaching 67 inches. The Armenian Highland, despite its proximity to the Black Sea, has a more continental climate than that of the Greater Caucasus at corresponding altitudes; at 6,500 feet, for example, the average monthly temperature in the Armenian Highland is 10 °F (−12 °C) in January and 64 °F (18 °C) in July. Snow cover throughout the southern highlands lasts four to five months, and annual precipitation averages about 20 inches with a spring maximum. Overall, the climate of the upland plateaus is moderately cold and continental, giving rise to semiarid steppe landscapes, whereas the climate of the heights is more humid and alpine, with cool summers and cold, prolonged winters.