page_title: Geology of the Alps
section_title: Subdivisions
hierarchical_section_title: Geology of the Alps / Geologic structure / Subdivisions
context_page_description: 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. A gap in these mountain chains in central Europe separates the Alps from the Carpathians to the east. Orogeny took place continuously and tectonic subsidence has produced the gaps in between.
  The Alps arose as a result of the collision of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates, in which the Alpine Tethys, which was formerly in between these continents, disappeared. Enormous stress was exerted on sediments of the Alpine Tethys basin and its Mesozoic and early Cenozoic strata were pushed against the stable Eurasian landmass by the northward-moving African landmass. Most of this occurred during the Oligocene and Miocene epochs. The pressure formed great recumbent folds, or nappes, that rose out of what had become the Alpine Tethys and pushed northward, often breaking and sliding one over the other to form gigantic thrust faults.
context_section_description: The Alps are often divided into Eastern, Central and Western Alps, even though the boundaries between these subdivisions are arbitrary. The division between the Eastern and Central Alps is approximately the line between St. Margrethen, Chur and Sondrio; the division between the Central and Western Alps is unclear (Pfiffner 2009, p. 25). The main suture (big shear zone) in the Alps is called the Periadriatic Seam and runs through the Alps from east to west. This is the boundary between materials from the (former) European and Adriatic plate plates. South of this line are folded and  thrusted units of the Southern Alps.
  North of the Periadriatic seam, rocks from three main palaeogeographic "domains" are found: the Helvetic or Dauphinois, the Penninic and the Austroalpine domains. This subdivision is made according to the paleogeographical origins of the rocks: the Helvetic Zone contains material from the European plate, the Austroalpine Zone material from the Adriatic plate, the Penninic Zone material from the domains that existed in between the two plates.
caption: Simplified geological map of the Alps, showing the tectonic subdivision and the largest geological structures. Some details are based on controversial assumptions.
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