Vuorijono

Vuorijono is a Finnish geographical term used to describe an elongated, connected series of mountains that forms a continuous crest. It denotes a landscape feature where several individual peaks are aligned along a common crest line, typically extending over tens to hundreds of kilometers. Vuorijonot arise primarily through tectonic processes: crustal shortening and uplift during orogeny create the core topography, sometimes accompanied by magmatic activity; subsequent erosion and glaciation refine the profile of the range, producing prominences, ridges, cols, and valleys.

The boundary of a vuorijono is not always sharply defined, as ranges grade into adjacent highlands or lowlands. The crest orientation depends on the regional tectonic structure and can run in various directions, with the range often segmented into subranges. The term is generic and used in Finnish geography to describe similar features worldwide, from long European chains to the major global mountain belts such as the Andes, Himalayas, Alps, and Rockies. In field guides and maps, vuorijono may refer to the entire belt or to a particularly prominent segment within it.

Related concepts include mountain range and orogeny. The Finnish term does not imply a single geologic origin; rather, it characterizes a morphological type that can result from diverse tectonic settings.