Hohe Tauern window

Austrian Central Eastern Alps region with exposed Penninic nappes

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Geology of the Alps
The Alps The Alps
Tectonic subdivision
Helvetic Zone Penninic nappes Austroalpine nappes Southern Alps
Formation and rocks
Bündner schist flysch molasse
Geological structures
Aarmassif Dent Blanche klippe Engadine Line Engadine window Flysch zone Giudicárie line Greywacke zone Hohe Tauern window Molasse basin Penninic thrustfront Periadriatic Seam Ivrea zone Lepontin dome Rechnitz window Rhône-Simplon line Sesia unit
Paleogeographic terminology
Valais Ocean Briançonnais zone Piemont-Liguria Ocean Apulian or Adriatic plate icon Alps portal icon Geology portal
v t e

47°00′N 12°30′E / 47.000°N 12.500°E / 47.000; 12.500

The Tauern Window is a geological structure in the Austrian Central Eastern Alps. It is a window (in German fenster) in the Austroalpine nappes where high-grade metamorphic rocks of the underlying Penninic nappes crop out. The structure is caused by a large dome-like antiform in the nappe stacks of the Alps.

Detersion of the Schlatenkees glacier on visible parts of the Tauern Window

The relatively hard rocks of the Tauern Window are more resistant to erosion, so the window has a high relief. The mountain chains thus formed are called the Hohe Tauern. Most of Austria's highest mountains are in the Hohe Tauern, among them the Großglockner (3798 m) and Großvenediger (3674 m).^[1]

References

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^ Bertrand, Audrey (2014). Exhuming the core of collisional orogens, the Tauern Window, (Eastern-Alps) (Thesis). Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.17169/refubium-9484.