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The silhouette of the Julian Alps from the unnamed pass near Ringmauer (Stage 6)

Geology

Some argue that the Carnic Alps, from a geological perspective, are the world’s most interesting mountain range. They are designated, along with the Gailtal Alps, as a UNESCO Global Geopark.

The geological boundary between the African and European tectonic plates, the Periadriatic seam, runs along the valley immediately to the north of the Carnic Alps. In a simple world, this would have provided the dividing line between mountains to its north, dominated by the granite and gneiss of the Hohe Tauern, and mountains to the south, the limestone of the Dolomites. However, although the Carnic Alps are on the southern side of the dividing line, they don’t just consist of limestone but also include the granite and gneiss of the Hohe Tauern.

The area was covered twice by the sea for hundreds of millions of years. The first of these seas covered today’s Carnic Alps in the Ordovician age, during which sediments were formed. Then 440 million years ago an ‘event’ triggered the first build-up of mountains in the area and an igneous plate was pushed over the sedimentary rocks. The remains of this plate can be seen in several places on the main Carnic Alps ridge.