Geology of The Alps - Geologic Boundaries of The Alps

Geologic Boundaries of The Alps

The Alps form a northward convex arc around their southeastern foreland basin, the Po River basin (to be precise the south is in fact their hinterland). Quaternary and Neogene sediments in this basin lie discordant over the southernmost thrust units. In the northeast southward dipping and internally thrusted Tertiary foreland deposits (flysch and molasse) are found. This Bavarian and Swiss foreland basin is called the Molasse Basin. The foreland basin deposits are overthrusted from the south by the thrustfront of the Alpine nappes. In Switzerland the Molasse Basin is rimmed to the northwest by the Jura mountains, an external fold-and-thrust belt, which can geologically be seen as part of the Alps. The western part of the Molasse basin forms the plateau of the Mittelland between the Alps and Jura Mountains. The Jura Mountains' location is still a topic for debate. A possible tectonic factor is the north-south extensional Rhine graben to the north.

The Alps continue fairly smoothly into the following related Alpine mountain ranges: the Apennines to the southwest, the Dinarides to the southeast and the Carpathians to the northeast. In the east the Alps are bounded by the Viennese Basin and the Pannonian Basin, where east–west stretching of the crust takes place.