Introduction
This summary is based on the country entries for Austria (P. Faupl), France (J. Debelmas), Germany (W. Franke), Italy (C. Doglioni) and Switzerland (R. Trümpy). For more detailed reviews on the structure and evolution of the several parts of the Alps we refer the reader to these articles, which also contain geological sketch-maps and sections. Here we only attempt to provide a general overview of the entire chain.
The Alpine chains of S Europe originated by the Mesozoic opening of small oceans between Europe (with related Iberia) and Africa (with related Apulia). Subduction of these oceans and collisions began in Late Jurassic, more often in mid-Cretaceous time and went on all through the Cenozoic. A N branch, with thrusts facing Europe (or Iberia), runs from the Betic Cordilleras of Spain through NE Corsica to the main body of the Alps; it continues into the Carpathians and the Balkans. The S branch, with thrusts facing Africa, Apulia or the Eastern Mediterranean,...
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Trümpy, R. (1997). Alpine orogeny . In: Encyclopedia of European and Asian Regional Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4495-X_3
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