Geology of the Alps
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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
Folded rock layers exposed in the Swiss Alps
Folded Helvetic nappe rock layers at Dent de Morcles, Switzerland
Oligocene
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The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present. As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define t
Geology of the Alps
…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 been the Alpine Tethys and pushed northward, often…
Subdivisions of the Oligocene
Neotethys during the Oligocene (Rupelian, 33.9–28.4 mya)
Restoration of Nimravus (far left) and other animals from the Turtle Cove Formation
Paraceratherium restored next to Hyaenodon