massif

[Little_Girl]

a block of the earths crust bounded by faults and shifted to form peaks of a mountain range

[Jacobanade]

A principal mountain mass.

[Ernesto]

A massif is a large, compact area of a planets crust, typically a mountainous region, that is made up of a single block of the earths crust, which has been moved or deformed as a unit. The term is often used in geology to refer to a section of the earths crust that is demarcated by faults and flexures.

[Couch Potatoe]

In geology, a massif is a section of a planets crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term is also used to refer to a group of mountains formed by such a structure.
In mountaineering and climbing literature, a massif is frequently used to denote the main mass of an individual mountain. The massif is a smaller structural unit of the crust than a tectonic plate and is considered the fourth largest driving force in geomorphology.
The word is taken from French, where it is used to refer to a large mountain mass or compact group of connected mountains forming an independent portion of a range. One of the most notable European examples of a massif is the Massif Central of the Auvergne region of France.
The Face on Mars is an example of an extraterrestrial massif.
Massifs may also form underwater such as with the Atlantis Massif.

[CarinMusic]

ma-sēf, n. a central mountain-mass; an orographic fault-block. [Fr.]