Alfred WegenerHow fossils got on to the Alps?

AlpsThere are many reasons why these fossil fuels have made it to the Alps tops. Many of them discovered by Alfred himself.

The Alps

There were long periods of quiet between earth movements during which sedimentary rocks, thousands of metres thick, formed huge depressions called geosynclines.

In some places, the folds were pushed over on one side to give overfolds, while in some of the highest fold mountains, such as the Alps, the rocks have been severely folded and faulted into nappes.

Geosynclines are huge depressions which often contain seas.

Over millions of years the sediments were compressed into sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone.

Rivers carried sediment and deposited them into depressions known as geosynclines.

Young Folds + Alps Sediments

The sedimentary rocks were forced upwards into a series of folds by the movement of tectonic plates.

Recent mountain building movements have created the Alps, Himalayas, Rockies and Andes, some of which are still rising. They are called young fold mountains.