Editing Mount Monadnock (section)

==Bio-geography, ecology, and geology==
[[Image:Vaccinium vitis-idaea 20060824 003.jpg|right|thumb|The [[Vaccinium vitis-idaea|mountain cranberry]] thrives on Mount Monadnock.]]
[[File:Billings Fold Mount Monadnock NH.jpg|right|thumb|The [[Marland P. Billings|Billings]] fold in quartzite and schist of the Devonian Littleton Formation]]
[[Image:USGSmonadnock.JPG|thumb|USGS reference mark on the summit]]

Due to fires in the early 19th century which burned a majority of the top {{convert|300|ft|-1}} around the summit, there is little soil cover on the peak and surrounding uplands. Soils are mapped as Rock Outcrop over a large area around the summit, while low-lying areas have classic [[podzol]] stony fine sandy loam profiles usually mapped as Lyman or Tunbridge series.<ref>https://casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/gmap/ University of California SoilWeb</ref> Although the mountain has recovered to the degree that its landscape appears natural, Mount Monadnock is an example of a mountain which has an artificial [[tree line]], occurring well below the climatic tree line of similar mountains in the region.<ref>Baldwin, Henry I. "The Induced Timberline of Mount Monadnock, N.&nbsp;H.", ''Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club'', Vol.&nbsp;104, No.&nbsp;4, pp. 324–333.</ref>

From the base to the summit, floral [[species]] diminish with increasingly shallow soil levels. The summit is home to many different specialized sub-alpine species which can retain moisture for long periods of time. Alpine and sub-alpine species include [[sorbus|mountain ash]], [[eriophorum|cotton grass]], [[Kalmia angustifolia|sheep laurel]], [[Minuartia groenlandica|mountain sandwort]], and the [[Vaccinium vitis-idaea|mountain cranberry]]. [[Krummholz]], trees stunted by harsh weather, are found on Mount Monadnock, as are several [[bog|alpine bogs]]. Lower elevations on Mount Monadnock are clad in [[northern hardwood forest]] species; middle elevations support stands of [[Picea rubens|red spruce]]. Before the fires, Mount Monadnock was totally covered in a red spruce forest. Since the summit has been barren of soil cover, red spruce have been slowly ascending back towards the top in a process known as [[ecological succession]].<ref name="baldwin"/>

The mountain is largely composed of 400-million-year-old [[schist]] and [[quartzite]] [[rock (geology)|rock]] primarily associated with the [[Devonian]] [[Littleton Formation]], which extends south into Massachusetts and north into the [[White Mountains (New Hampshire)|White Mountains]].<ref>[[Raymo, Chet]] and [[Maureen Raymo|Maureen E.]] ''Written in Stone: A Geologic History of the Northeastern United States''. Globe Pequot, Chester, Connecticut, 1989.</ref> At lower elevations on the mountain, and stratigraphically below the Littleton Formation, the bedrock is from the [[Silurian]] period, consisting of Rangeley Formation schists, Perry Mountain Formation quartzites, the Francestown Formation [[granulite]], and the Warner Formation granulite. Structurally, the mountain is part of an overturned [[syncline]]&nbsp;– called a fold [[nappe]]&nbsp;– that was caused by the compressional forces of the [[Acadian orogeny]]. Dramatic small- to medium-scale metamorphic folds are visible on many of the rock faces of the mountain, including the famous Billings Fold (a recumbent syncline found about {{convert|450|ft}} west of the summit), shown in the 1942 edition of [[Marland P. Billings]]' ''Structural Geology''.<ref>Thompson, Peter J., "Geology of Mount Monadnock, New Hampshire", in West, David P. and Bailey, Richard H., eds., ''Guidebook for Geological Field Trips in New England'', Geological Society of America, United States, 2001</ref> In addition to impressive folds, the Devonian Littleton Formation shows large [[pseudomorph]]s of [[sillimanite]] after [[andalusite]] that occur as {{convert|4|in|mm|0|adj=mid|-long}} "turkey tracks".<ref name="baldwin"/>

===Climate===
Mount Monadnock has a [[humid continental climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]] ''Dfb'') with [[subarctic climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]] ''Dfc'')  characteristics.