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East of the terranes that now form the Alps was the Paleo-Tethys Ocean. The effects of wind and water were able to chemically and mechanically erode destroy the Hercynic mountain ranges. In the Permian, the main deposits in Europe were sandstone and conglomerate, products of erosion in the Hercynic mountain range.
In the Western and Central Alps, the passes were practicable only by pack animals up to the period around 1800. [7] The process of state formation in the Alps was driven by the proximity to focal areas of European conflicts such as in the Italian wars of 1494–1559. In that period the socio-political structures of Alpine regions drifted apart.
Historically, the Alps were used to determine the borders of political and administrative gangs, but the Peace of Utrecht was the first significant body of treaty that considered geographical conditions. The Alps were carved up and borders were agreed, so that enclaves in the Alps could be eliminated. [120]
These paths were part of the transhumance (seasonal migration of livestock) and played an economic role in the region, allowing livestock to graze in the mountains during warmer months and return to the lower valleys in winter. The historical role of these pastoral paths laid the foundation for the development of the modern-day Bove Path ...
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 the Eastern Alps, which uses the Splügen Pass (Italian: Passo dello Spluga) on the Swiss-Italian border, together with the Rhine to the north and Lake Como in the south as the defining features.
The formation of the Alps started 135 million years ago at a strike-slip fault between the Penninic and Tethys Ocean. The Northern Calcareous Alps and Gurktal Alps formed as an orogenic wedge as sedimentary rocks were torn off basement rock that was subducted back into the mantle. The crust of the Penninic Ocean subducted around 85 million ...
The fossils were discovered in the mountains of northern Italy's Lombardy region after the snow and ice that once covered them melted away, scientists say, as a result of the ongoing climate crisis.
They were deposited as sediments on the crust that existed between the European and Apulian plates before the Alps were formed. They are characteristically ophiolite sequences and deep marine sediments, metamorphosed to phyllites , schists and amphibolites .