|
===Topography===
[[File:Banyas BW 9.jpg|thumb|Banyas waterfall at the foot of Mount Hermon]]
The area is hilly and elevated, overlooking the [[Jordan Rift Valley]] which contains the [[Sea of Galilee]] and the [[Jordan River]], and is itself dominated by the {{cvt|2,814|m|ft}} tall [[Mount Hermon]].<ref name="Earth Tales">{{Cite book |last=Conserva |first=Henry T. Conserva|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Earth_Tales/tTQGBMpQW50C?hl=en&gbpv=0 ''|title=Earth Tales: New Perspectives on Geography and History.'' {{google book |bookIDyear= tTQGBMpQW50C2001 |pageisbn= 1979780759649729 |Linktext= online copy |notextpage= yes197}}</ref><ref name="CIA World Factbook" /> The Sea of Galilee at the southwest corner of the plateau<ref name=EdgarSMarshall/> and the [[Yarmouk River]] to the south are at elevations well below sea level<ref name="CIA World Factbook">{{citeCite web |date=2 December 2021 |title=Syria |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/syria/ |titlewebsite=The World Factbook |workpublisher=cia.gov |date=2 December 2021CIA}}</ref> (the sea of Galilee at about {{cvt|200|m|ft}}).<ref name=EdgarSMarshall/>
[[Topography|Topographically]], the Golan Heights is a plateau with an average altitude of {{convert|1,000 metres|m}},<ref name="CIA World Factbook" /> rising northwards toward Mount Hermon and sloping down to about {{cvt|400|m|ft}} elevation along the Yarmouk River in the south.<ref name=EdgarSMarshall/> The steeper, more rugged topography is generally limited to the northern half, including the foothills of Mount Hermon; on the south the plateau is more level.<ref name="EdgarSMarshall">{{Cite book |last=Marshall |first=Edgar S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aTqU-YskSpwC&pg=PA32 |title=Israel: Current Issues and Historical Background |author=Edgar S. Marshall |publisher=[[Nova Publishers|Nova Science Publishers]] |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-59033-325-9 |page=32}}</ref>
There are several small peaks on the Golan Heights, most of them volcanic cones, such as: Mount Agas ({{cvt|1,350 |m|disp=comma}}), [[Mount Dov]]/Jebel Rous ({{cvt|1,529 |m|disp=comma}}; northern peak {{cvt|1,524 |m|disp=comma}}),<ref>Yigal{{Cite book |last=Kipnis, [|first=Yigal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rPZBjtXWjhAC&pg=RA1-PT19 |title=The Golan Heights: Political History, Settlement and Geography since 1949] {{Webarchive|publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-136-74099-2 |access-date=9 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214024652/https://books.google.com/books?id=rPZBjtXWjhAC&pg=RA1-PT19 |archive-date=14 December 2022 }}, Routledge 2013, {{ISBN|978-1-136-74099-2}}, accessed 9 August 2019</ref> Mount Bental ({{cvt|1171 |m|disp=comma}}) and opposite it Mount Avital ({{cvt|1204 |m|disp=comma}}), Mount Ram ({{cvt|1188 |m|disp=comma}}), and [[Tal Saki]] ({{convert|594 |m|disp=comma}}).
====Subdivisions====
The broader Golan plateau exhibits a more subdued topography, generally ranging between {{cvt|120 and 520|m|ft}} in elevation. In Israel, the Golan plateau is divided into three regions: northern (between the Sa'ar and Jilabun valleys), central (between the Jilabun and [[Daliyot River|Daliyot]] valleys), and southern (between the Daliyot and Yarmouk valleys). The Golan Heights is bordered on the west by a rock escarpment that drops {{cvt|500|m|ft}} to the [[Jordan River|Jordan River valley]] and the [[Sea of Galilee]]. In the south, the incised Yarmouk River valley marks the limits of the plateau and, east of the abandoned railroad bridge upstream of [[Hamat Gader]] and [[Al Hammah]], it marks the recognised international border between Syria and Jordan.<ref>[{{Cite web |date=30 December 1969 |title=Jordan—Syria Boundary |url=http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS094.pdf FSU.edu] {{webarchive |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327062139/http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS094.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2009 }}: |series=International Boundary Study Number 94, 30 December 1969. Jordan—Syria Boundary. |publisher=US Department of State, p. |page=12 |via=[[Florida State University]] |volume=94}}</ref>
===Climate and hydrology===
|
