Bokovoi

a mountain range of the Greater Caucasus, extending from the northern side parallel to the Glavnyi, or Vodorazdel’nyi Range. The Bokovoi Range consists of individual mountain masses separated by the upper reaches of the rivers of the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus. The Bokovoi Range can be traced from the headwaters of the Laba almost to the eastern end of the mountain system. It consists of two nonmerging parts. The western part ends near the Ardon River; the eastern part, coinciding with the line of the greatest elevations of the eastern half of the Greater Caucasus, is a continuation of the Glavnyi, or Vodorazdel’nyi Range (its western half). The highest peaks of the central part of the Greater Caucasus belong to the Bokovoi Range (Mount El’brus, 5,642 m, and Mount Dykhtau, 5,203 m), as well as most of the major peaks of its eastern half, such as Kazbek (5,033 m) and Tebulosmta (4,493 m). The western part of the Bokovoi Range is composed of Paleozoic and Triassic sedimentary rock; the central part, of Upper Proterozoic and Paleozoic crystalline schist and granite; and the eastern part, of Jurassic argillaceous schist. Alpine topography is typical of the crest. High-mountain meadows cover the massifs of the Bokovoi Range, and there is considerable glaciation in the central parts.