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Satellite image of the Alps, March 2007 Folded rock layers exposed in the Swiss Alps. The Alps form part of a Cenozoic orogenic belt of mountain chains, called the Alpide belt, that stretches through southern Europe and Asia from the Atlantic all the way to the Himalayas. This belt of mountain chains was formed during the Alpine orogeny.
The Alps contain a number of different kinds of climate zones, by elevation. These zones can be described by the Köppen climate classification, and also correspond to the biotic zones of the Alps. [3] Up to approximately 1,050 metres (3,440 ft) of elevation, the climate is classified as oceanic or Cfb under the Köppen system. [3]
The Alps are split into five climatic zones, each with different vegetation. The climate, plant life, and animal life vary among the different sections or zones of the mountains. The lowest zone is the colline zone, which exists between 500 and 1,000 m (1,600 and 3,300 ft), depending on the location.
The Mont Blanc massif consists predominantly of ancient granite rocks. [33] The Alps have their origins 770 million years ago when upheaval of the earth's crust lifted up schist, gneiss and limestone rocks. These were destined to form the base of the Alps range, and this period of upheaval ended 300 million years ago.
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.
Tilted layers of sedimentary rock in the Rolle Pass in the Dolomites, Trentino. The geology of Italy includes mountain ranges such as the Alps and the Apennines formed from the uplift of igneous and primarily marine sedimentary rocks all formed since the Paleozoic. [1] Some active volcanoes are located in Insular Italy.
Most of Austria's rocks formed in the last 540 million years, during the Phanerozoic explosion of life. Small zircon crystals, eroded out of three billion year old granites are among the few remnants of the Precambrian. Dobra Gneiss, at 1.38 billion years old, is the oldest rock in Austria within the Moldanubian Superunit in the Waldviertel region.
They might find there's no escape. Rising temperatures in European mountain ranges are increasingly making for an unpredictable ski season, and might hurt wealthy buyers' investments.