Alpine orogeny

Tectonic map of southern Europe and the Middle East, showing tectonic structures of the western Alpide mountain belt

The Alpine orogeny or Alpide orogeny is an orogenic phase in the Late Mesozoic^[1] (Eoalpine) and the current Cenozoic that has formed the mountain ranges of the Alpide belt. These mountains include (from west to east) the Atlas, the Rif, the Baetic Cordillera, the Cantabrian Mountains, the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Apennine Mountains, the Dinaric Alps, the Hellenides, the Carpathians, the Balkan Mountains, the Taurus, the Armenian Highlands, the Caucasus, the Alborz, the Zagros, the Hindu Kush, the Pamir, the Karakoram, and the Himalayas. Sometimes other names occur to describe the formation of separate mountain ranges: for example Carpathian orogeny for the Carpathians, Hellenic orogeny for the Hellenides or the Himalayan orogeny for the Himalayas.

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 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.

The Alpine orogeny is caused by the continents Africa and India and the small Cimmerian plate colliding (from the south) with Eurasia in the north. Convergent movements between the tectonic plates (the Indian plate and the African plate from the south, the Eurasian plate from the north, and many smaller plates and microplates) had already begun in the early Cretaceous, but the major phases of mountain building began in the Paleocene to Eocene. The process continues currently in some of the Alpide mountain ranges.

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 Old Red Sandstone Continent when the continents Baltica and Laurentia collided in the early Paleozoic, and the Hercynian or Variscan orogeny that formed Pangaea when Gondwana and the Old Red Sandstone Continent collided in the middle to late Paleozoic.

References

↑ Moores, E.M., Fairbridge, R.W. (Editors), 1998: Encyclopedia of European and Asian Regional Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series, London, 825 pp.

Major African geological formations

Plates	African Plate Somali Plate Madagascar Plate Seychelles Plate

Cratons and shields	Arabian-Nubian Shield Congo Craton Kaapvaal Craton Kalahari Craton Saharan Metacraton Tanzania Craton Tuareg Shield West African Craton Zimbabwe Craton

Shear zones	Aswa Dislocation Broodkop Shear Zone Central African Shear Zone Chuan Shear Zones Foumban Shear Zone Mwembeshi Shear Zone Todi Shear Zone Western Meseta Shear Zone

Orogens	Alpide Orogen Cape Fold Belt Damara Orogen East African Orogen Eburnean Orogen Gondwanide Orogen Kuunga Orogen Mauritanide Belt Pan-African orogens Terra Australis Orogen

Rifts	Afar Triangle Anza trough Bahr el Arab rift Benue Trough Blue Nile rift East African Rift Gulf of Suez Rift Lamu Embayment Melut Basin Muglad Basin Red Sea Rift Sangha Aulacogen Atbara rift White Nile rift

Sedimentary basins	Angola Basin Aoukar Blue Nile Basin Chad Basin Congo Basin Douala Basin El Djouf Foreland Karoo Basin Gabon Basin Iullemmeden Basin Kufra Basin Murzuq Basin Niger Delta Basin Ogaden Basin Orange River basin Ouled Abdoun Basin Owambo Basin Reggane Basin Rio del Rey Basin Sirte Basin Somali Coastal Basin Taoudeni basin Tanzania Coastal Basin Tindouf Basin Turkana Basin

Mountain ranges	Aïr Mountains Atlas Mountains Aurès Mountains Bambouk Mountains Blue Mountains Cameroon line Central Pangean Mountains Chaillu Mountains Drakensberg Ethiopian Highlands East African mountains Great Escarpment Great Karas Mountains Guinée forestière Imatong Mountains Jebel Uweinat Loma Mountains Mandara Mountains Marrah Mountains Mitumba Mountains Nuba Mountains Rif Mountains Rwenzori Mountains Sankwala Mountains Serra da Leba Serra da Chela Teffedest Mountains Tibesti Mountains

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Alpine orogeny

See also

References