A mogote () is a generally isolated, steep-sided residual hill in the tropics composed of either limestone, marble, or dolomite. Mogotes are surrounded by nearly flat alluvial plains. The hills typically have a rounded, tower-like form.
Overview Mogotes are hills, isolated or linked, with very steep, almost vertical, walls, surrounded by alluvial plains in the tropics, regardless of whether the carbonate strata in which they have formed are folded or not.Neuendorf, K. K. E., J. P. Mehl, Jr., and J. A. Jackson, 2005, Glossary of Geology, 5th ed. American Geological Institute, Alexandria, Virginia. 779 p. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2002, A Lexicon of Cave and Karst Terminology with Special Reference to Environmental Karst Hydrology (2002 Edition). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Washington Office, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/R-02/003. 221 p.
Mogotes are common in tropical and subtropical karst areas around the world, specifically in southern China, the Southeast Asian countries of Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam; as well as the Caribbean, especially in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic (Los Haitises National Park).
The word mogote comes from the Basque mokoti 'sharp-pointed' (from moko 'mountain peak'). In Puerto Rico, several mogotes along a ridge are called pepinos.
Gallery
See also Bornhardt Butte Inselberg Tepui Tower karst
Areas Chocolate Hills, Philippines Hin Namno, Laos Kinta Valley, Malaysia Krabi Province, Thailand Los Haitises, Dominican Republic Northern Karst Region, Puerto Rico Phong Nha-Ke Bang, Vietnam South China Karst, China Viñales Valley, Cuba
References
Further reading