- Geography of the Alps
The
Alps cover a large area. This article describes the delimitation of the Alps as a whole and of subdivisions of the range, follows the course of the main chain of the Alps and discusses the lakes and glaciers found in the region.The Alps form a large mountain range dominating
Central Europe , including parts ofFrance ,Italy ,Switzerland ,Liechtenstein ,Austria ,Germany ,Slovenia and possiblyHungary (if one includes theGünser Gebirge or theÖdenburger Gebirge in the Alps). In some areas, such as the edge of the Po Basin, the edge of the range is unambiguous, but where the Alps border on other mountainous or hilly regions, the border may be harder to place. These neighbouring ranges include the Apennines, theMassif Central , the Jura, theBlack Forest , the Böhmerwald, the Carpathians, and the mountains of theBalkan Peninsula .The boundary between the Apennines and the Alps is usually taken to be the
Colle di Cadibona , at 435 m above sea level, aboveSavona on the Italian coast.The River Rhône forms a clear boundary between the
tectonic ally-formed Alps from the largely volcanically-formed Massif Central. Working upstream, the River Rhône turns to the east nearLyon , and forms part of the boundary between the Alps and the Jura that ends atLake Geneva . An area of flat ground reaches from there toLake Neuchâtel , continuing the border, with the Jura to the north-west and the Alps to the south east. From Lake Neuchâtel to its confluence with the River Rhine, the Aar forms the border.The Black Forest is separated from the Alps by the River Rhine and
Lake Constance , but exact delimitation is difficult in southern Germany, where the land gently slopes up to meet the mountains (known in German as the "Schwäbisch-Bayerisches Alpenvorland", the "Swabian-Bavarian pre-Alps").In
Austria , theDanube runs to the north of the Alps, separating it from the majority of the Böhmerwald, although some small areas, such as theDunkelsteiner Wald south of theWachau , belong geologically to the Böhmerwald despite being south of theDanube . TheWienerwald nearVienna forms the north-eastern corner of the Alps, and here the Danube passes at its closest to the Alps (seeViennese Basin ).East of Vienna, only the
Marchfeld , a 30-km wideflood plain separates the easternmost Alps from theLesser Carpathians . After Vienna, thePannonian Basin , a large area ofsteppe , meets the edge of the Alps, clearly delimiting the eastern limit of the Alps.The south-easternmost extension of the Alps is to be found in
Slovenia , includingPohorje , theKamnik Alps and theJulian Alps (the last being shared with Italy). The town ofIdrija may be taken as marking the dividing line between the Alps to the north and theKarst plateau to the south, which then leads on to the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula.The remainder of the southern edge of the Alps is clearly delimited by the basin of the
River Po .This delimitation of the Alps is, however, largely subjective and open to argument. In particular, some people restrict the use of the term "Alps" to the higher mountains in the centre of the range, relegating the surrounding hills and mountains to the status of "pre-Alps" or
foothill s. This can sometimes lead to conflicting definitions, such asMont Ventoux being considered to lie outside the Alps (there are no comparably sized mountains around it, and it is at a considerable distance from the main chain of the Alps).It is also not possible to define the Alps geologically, since the same orogenous events that created the Alps also created neighbouring ranges such as the Carpathians. See also
Geology of the Alps . The Alps are a distinct physiographic province of the larger Alpine System physiographic division, but the Alps are composed of three distinct physiographic sections, the Eaastern, Western and Southern Alps physiographic sections.Subdivision
While smaller groups within the Alps may be easily defined by the passes on either side, defining larger units can be problematic. A traditional divide exists between the
Western Alps and theEastern Alps , which uses theSplügen Pass ( _it. Passo dello Spluga) on the Swiss-Italian border, together with theRhine to the north andLake Como in the south as the defining features. While the Splügen Pass is neither the lowest nor the most important pass in the Alps, it is approximately half-way along the main chain, and makes a convenient boundary.Eastern Alps
The
Eastern Alps are commonly subdivided according to the differentlithology (rock composition) of the more central parts of the Alps and the groups at its northern and southern fringes:
* Flysch zone (up to from the Vienna woods toBregenzerwald . The Swiss Jura do geographically "not" belong to the Alps;
*Northern Limestone Alps , peaks up to 3000 m;
*Central Eastern Alps (Austria, Swiss), peaks up to 4050 m;
*Southern Limestone Alps , peaks up to 3500 m.The border between theCentral Alps and the Southern Limestone Alps is thePeriadriatic Seam . The Northern Limestone Alps are separated from the Central Eastern Alps by the Grauwacken Zone.However, the geologic subdivision, based on
tectonics , suggests a different system:
* The "Helvetic system" in the north (including the Jura mountains),
* the "Penninic system": mainly Central Alps (Engadine and "Tauern window") and Flysch Alps,
* the "Austroalpine system": Northern Limestone Alps, Graywacke-Schist zone, Central Crystalline,
* the Southern Alps (Southern Limestone Alps and other chains south of the Periadriatic Seam)
* south of a hugegeologic fault ("alpine-dinaric seam") parts of theDinarides .Western Alps
The Western Alps are commonly subdivided into the following:
*Ligurian Alps (fromSavona toColle di Tenda )
*Maritime Alps (from Colle di Tenda toColle de la Maddalena )
*Cottian Alps (from Colle de la Maddalena toCol du Mont Genevre )
*Dauphiné Alps (from Col du Mont Genevre toCol du Mont Cenis )
*Graian Alps (from Col du Mont Cenis to the Little Saint Bernard Pass)
*Chablais Alps (fromLake Geneva to theCol des Montets )
*Pennine Alps (from the Little St. Bernard Pass to theSimplon Pass )
*Lepontine Alps (from Simplon Pass toSplügen Pass )
*Bernese Alps (north of theRhône to theGrimsel Pass )
*Urner Alps (from Grimsel Pass to theReuss river)
*Glarus Alps (north-east ofOberalp Pass )
*Appenzell Alps (north ofSargans )Within the Eastern Alps, the most widely used subdivision is the Alpenvereins-Einteilung (="alpine club's arrangement"), which divides the region into about seventy small areas. See
Northern Calcareous Alps ,Central Eastern Alps andSouthern Calcareous Alps for details.Italian traditional subdivision of the Alps
Italian kids are taught in the primary schools this traditional subdivision of the Alps: Marittime (
Maritime Alps ), Cozie (Cottian Alps ), Graie (Graian Alps ), Pennine (Pennine Alps ), Lepontine (Lepontine Alps ), Retiche (Rhaetian Alps ), Carniche (Carnic Alps ), Giulie (Julian Alps ). Usually, to help the kids remember this subdivision, they are taught the following sentence, composed by the first syllables of the subdivisions' names: "MA CO(n) GRA(n) PEN(a) LE RECA GIU" (meaning 'but with great pain he brings them down').Main Chain
The "main chain of the Alps" follows the watershed from the
Mediterranean Sea to theWienerwald , passing over many of the highest and most famous peaks in the Alps. The most important passes and peaks which it crosses are given below (mountains are indented, passes unindented). From the Colle di Cadibona toCol de Tende it runs westwards, before turning to the north-west and then, near the Colle de la Maddalena, to the north. Upon reaching the Swiss border, the line of the main chain heads approximately east-north-east, a heading it follows until its end nearVienna .
*Colle di Cadibona (ITA, 435 m)
*Colle di Tenda / Col de Tende (FRA / ITA, 1908 m)
*Colle della Maddalena / Col du Larche (FRA / ITA, 1994 m)
**Monte Viso (FRA / ITA, 3841 m)
*Col du Mont Genèvre (FRA / ITA, 1854 m)
*Col de Fréjus (FRA / ITA, 2537 m)
*Col du Mont Cenis (FRA / ITA, 2084 m)
**Aiguille de la Grande Sassière (FRA / ITA, 3748 m)
*Little St Bernard Pass (FRA / ITA, 2157 m)
**Mont Blanc / Monte Bianco (FRA / ITA, 4808 m, highest point in the Alps)
*Great St. Bernard Pass (SUI / ITA, 2469 m)
**Matterhorn / Monte Cervino (SUI} / ITA, 4478 m)
**Monte Rosa (SUI / ITA, 4634 m)
*Simplon Pass (SUI, 2005 m)
**Blinnenhorn (SUI / ITA, 3374 m)
*Saint Gotthard Pass (SUI, 2044 m)
**Rheinwaldhorn (SUI, 3402 m)
*Splügen Pass / Passo dello Spluga (SUI / ITA, 2113 m)
*Maloja Pass (SUI, 1809 m)
**Piz Bernina (SUI / ITA, 4049 m)
*Fuorn Pass (SUI, 2419 m)
**Piz Sesvenna (SUI / ITA, 3205 m)
*Resia Pass (AUT / ITA, 1504 m)
**Weißkugel (AUT / ITA, 3738 m)
*Timmelsjoch / Passo del Rombo (AUT / ITA, 2491 m)
**Zuckerhütl (AUT, 3507 m, highest point in theStubaier Alpen )
*Brenner Pass (AUT / ITA, 1371 m)
**Hochfeiler (AUT / ITA, 3509 m)
**Großvenediger (AUT, 3666 m)
**Großglockner (AUT, 3798 m, highest mountain in Austria)
*Hochtor (AUT, 2575 m)
**Ankogel (AUT, 3246 m)
*Radstädter Tauern (AUT, 1739 m)
**Hochgolling (AUT, 2863 m)
*Schober Pass (AUT, 849 m)
**Hochschwab (AUT, 2277 m)
*Gerichtsberg (AUT, 581 m)
**Schöpfl (AUT, 893 m, highest point in theWienerwald )
*Danube , 160 mSome of the highest peaks in the Alps, however, fall to one side or other of the main chain. These include:
*Barre des Écrins (FRA, 4102 m, highest point in theDauphiné Alps )
*Gran Paradiso (ITA, 4061 m, highest point in theGraian Alps )
*Finsteraarhorn (SUI, 4274 m, highest point of the Berner Oberland)
*Jungfrau (SUI, 4158 m, Berner Oberland)
*Ortler / Cima Ortles (ITA, 3905 m)
*Marmolada (ITA, 3343 m, highest point in theDolomites )
*Tödi (SUI, 3614 m, highest point of theGlarus Alps )
*Triglav (SLO, 2863 m, highest point in theJulian Alps ).For more detailed lists of passes, please see the articles about individual areas of the Alps.
Glaciers
Several
glacier s are located in the Alps, the longest of which is theAletsch Glacier in theBernese Alps . They may be found in all of the higher groups of mountains from theDauphiné Alps inFrance to theHohe Tauern in centralAustria , and the main ascent routes on many of the highest mountains pass over glaciers.Lakes
Very few large lakes are found within the body of the Alps, but a number are situated around the edge, particularly in areas formerly covered by glacier tongues. These include
Lago Maggiore ,Lake Como andLake Garda on the southern side of the Alps inItaly , and the lakes ofSwitzerland , southernGermany and theAustria nSalzkammergut in the north.Rivers
The main
drainage basin s of the Alps are those of theRhine , the Rhone, theDanube and the Po. These have as main tributaries:
*Rhine:Aare , Reuss,posterior Rhine ;
*Rhone: Durance, Drôme, Isère;
*Danube:Sava ,Drava ,Mura ,Enns , Inn;
*Po:Oglio , Adda, Ticino,Dora Baltea .Other important rivers draining the Alps include the Var,Adige andPiave .The
triple watershed Rhine-Rhone-Po is south ofFurka Pass , at coord|46|31|N|8|27|E|scale:50000_region:CH_type:mountain; the triple watershed Rhine-Po-Danube is atLunghin Pass ,Grisons (coord|46|25|N|9|39|E|scale:50000_region:CH_type:mountain, 2645 m);the triple watershed Po-Danube-Adige is at the Swiss-Italian border, south ofVal Müstair , at coord|46|34|N|10|22|E|scale:50000_region:CH_type:mountain.See also
*
List of national parks in the Alps
*Valleys of the Alps
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