Maoke Mountains

Maoke Mountains (Indonesian Pegunungan Maoke), mountain chain in Indonesia, on the western half of the island of New Guinea. The Maoke are part of a mountain system that crosses New Guinea from east to west. They dominate the center of Papua, the easternmost province of Indonesia, and are separated in the north from a lower mountain range—the Van Rees Mountains—by a valley 322 km (200 mi) long. To the south the Maoke drop sharply to a marshy floodplain along the Arafura Sea. The Lorentz, Baliem, and Digul rivers drain the southern slopes, forming several large deltas along the Arafura coast. Geologically, the Maoke consist of sandstone rocks and slates from the Paleozoic Era, overlaid by a younger mixture of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. The glacier-capped Puncak Jaya, Indonesia’s highest peak, rises 5,030 m (16,503 ft) in the range. Other peaks include Puncak Mandala (4,700 m/15,420 ft) and Puncak Trikora (4,750 m/15,584 ft). Narrow bands of coniferous forests and other kinds of alpine vegetation are found just below 4,400 m (about 14,500 ft), the highest level of plant growth. The lower slopes are covered by an extensive evergreen rain forest, where hardwood trees, palms, orchids, and ferns grow. The rain forest receives about 3,600 to 5,100 mm (about 140 to 200 in) of rain annually.