Alpine orogeny

2025-04-25T01:49:04Z

2600:4040:9F02:6500:A068:7C2C:2FBA:4BF3: /* Mountain ranges */

{{Short description|Formation of the Alpine mountain ranges of Europe, the Middle East and northwest Africa}}

[[File:Tectonic map Mediterranean EN.svg|thumb|right|300px|Tectonic map of southern Europe and the Middle East, showing tectonic structures of the western [[Alpide belt|Alpide mountain belt]]]]

The '''Alpine orogeny''', sometimes referred to as the '''Alpide orogeny''', is an [[orogenic]] phase in the Late [[Mesozoic]]<ref>Moores, E.M., Fairbridge, R.W. (Editors), 1998: ''Encyclopedia of European and Asian Regional Geology.'' Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series, London, 825 pp.</ref> and the current [[Cenozoic]] which has formed the mountain ranges of the [[Alpide belt]].

==Cause==
The Alpine orogeny was caused by the [[African continent]], the [[Arabian Peninsula]], the [[Indian subcontinent]], and the [[Cimmeria (continent)|Cimmerian plate]] colliding with [[Eurasia]] in the north. [[Convergent boundary|Convergent movements]] between the [[African plate|African]], [[Arabian plate|Arabian]] and [[Indian plate]]s from the south, and the [[Eurasian plate]] and the [[Anatolian sub-plate]] from the north – as well as many smaller (micro)plates – had already begun during the early [[Cretaceous]], but the major phases of mountain building began during the [[Paleocene]] to the [[Eocene]]. The process continues currently in some of the Alpide mountain ranges.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

The Alpine orogeny is considered one of the three major phases of orogeny in Europe that define the geology of that continent, along with the [[Caledonian orogeny]] that formed the [[Laurasia#Laurussia|Old Red Sandstone Continent]] when the continents [[Baltica]] and [[Laurentia]] [[continental collision|collided]] in the early [[Paleozoic]], and the [[Variscan orogeny|Hercynian or Variscan orogeny]] that formed [[Pangaea]] when [[Gondwana]] and the Old Red Sandstone Continent collided in the middle to late Paleozoic.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

==Mountain ranges==
From west to east, mountains include the [[Atlas Mountains|Atlas]], the [[Rif]], the [[Baetic Cordillera]], the [[Cantabrian Mountains]], the [[Pyrenees]], the [[Alps]], the [[Apennine Mountains|Apennines]], the [[Dinaric Alps]], the [[Accursed Mountains|Albanides]], the [[Pindus]], the [[Carpathians]], the Balkanides (the [[Balkan Mountains]] and [[Rila]]-[[Rhodope mountains|Rhodope]] [[massif]]s), the [[Pontic Mountains]], the [[Taurus Mountains|Taurus]], the [[Antitaurus]], the [[Armenian Highlands]], the [[Caucasus Mountains]], the [[Alborz]], the [[Zagros Mountains]], the [[Hajar Mountains|Hajar]], the [[Hindu Kush]], the [[Pamir Mountains|Pamir]], the [[Karakoram]], and the [[Himalayas]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Geomorfologija|last1=Petrović|first1=Dragutin|last2=Manojlović|first2=Predrag|publisher=University of Belgrade Faculty of Geography|year=2003|isbn=86-82657-32-5|location=Belgrade|pages=60|language=sr}}</ref>

Sometimes other names occur to describe the formation of separate mountain ranges: e.g., "Carpathian orogeny" for the [[Carpathians]], "[[Hellenic orogeny]]" for the [[Pindus]], "Altai orogeny" for the [[Altai Mountains]], and "[[Geology of the Himalaya|Himalayan orogeny]]" for the [[Himalayas]].

==Formation of geological features==
The Alpine orogeny has also led to the formation of more distant and smaller geological features such as the [[Weald–Artois Anticline]] in [[Southern England]] and northern [[France]], the remains of which can be seen in the chalk ridges of the [[North Downs|North]] and [[South Downs]] in Southern England. Its effects are particularly visible on the [[Isle of Wight]], where the [[Chalk Group]] and overlying [[Eocene]] strata are folded to near-vertical, as seen in exposures at [[Alum Bay]] and [[Whitecliff Bay]], and on the [[Dorset]] coast near [[Lulworth Cove]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Parrish|first1=Randall R.|last2=Parrish|first2=Claire M.|last3=Lasalle|first3=Stephanie|date=May 2018|title=Vein calcite dating reveals Pyrenean orogen as cause of Paleogene deformation in southern England|url=http://jgs.lyellcollection.org/lookup/doi/10.1144/jgs2017-107|journal=Journal of the Geological Society|volume=175|issue=3|pages=425–442|doi=10.1144/jgs2017-107|bibcode=2018JGSoc.175..425P|s2cid=134690307|issn=0016-7649}}</ref> Stresses arising from the Alpine orogeny caused the Cenozoic uplift of the [[Sudetes#Geology|Sudetes]] mountain range<ref name=Piotr2011>{{cite journal |last1=Migoń |first1=Piotr |author-link=Piotr Migoń |date=2011 |title=Geomorphic Diversity of the Sudetes - Effects of the structure and global change superimposed |journal=[[Geographia Polonica]] |volume=2 |pages=93–105 }}</ref> and possibly [[fault (geology)|faulted]] rocks as far away as [[Öland]] in southern Sweden during the [[Paleocene]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Goodfellow B.W. |author2=Viola G. |author3=Bingen B. |author4=Nuriel P. |author5=Kylander-Clark A. |date=2017 |title=Palaeocene faulting in SE Sweden from U–Pb dating of slickenfibre calcite |journal=[[Terra Nova (journal)|Terra Nova]] |volume=29 |issue= 5|pages=321–328 |doi=10.1111/ter.12280 |bibcode=2017TeNov..29..321G |s2cid=134545534 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Andean orogeny]]
*[[Fault block]]
*[[Fold mountains]]
*[[Geology of the Alps]]
*[[Geology of the Himalaya]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Geology of Europe}}
{{Major African geological formations}}

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[[Category:Orogenies of Africa]]
[[Category:Orogenies of Asia]]
[[Category:Orogenies of Europe]]
[[Category:Geology of the Alps]]
[[Category:Mesozoic orogenies]]
[[Category:Cenozoic orogenies]]
[[Category:Geology of Algeria]]
[[Category:Geology of Morocco]]
[[Category:Geology of Spain]]

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Alpine orogeny