The geology of the Alps

The geological story to the formation of the Alps, Europe's most popular tourist destination. Learn how rocks were created and thrust upwards to make the massive Alpine mountain range, and how the mountains were shaped into the present-day scenery.
To learn more why not buy The Alps - a natural companion
www.natureswork.co.uk/nw_shop

[@MageeFamily]

Very comprehensive but basic explaination of Alps formation. After trying to figure out the geology by simply reading Wikipedia pages or other internet seaches, this presentation pulls it all together in simple diagrams. Pictures make it much easier to understand than trying to read about each of the paleogeoloic domains. I continue to be humbled by mother earth! Thank you and well done

[@NaturesWorkUK]

Thank you for your comment. Really glad to hear it has made the subject clearer to understand. Much appreciated. Jim

[@uptempo128]

This was an excellent video. Thank you.

[@jimlangley931]

So pleased to know you like it :)

[@michaelmair8153]

Absolutly fantastic... I am so thankful for all these explanations...better than anything else I've every got before to understand these complex geological transformations...exciting! As I live right in the center of the alps ,climbing all my life in these mountains you opened a world of understanding for me. Thanks from the bottom of my heart! Michael

[@NaturesWorkUK]

It is really lovely to know you have enjoyed and learnt a lot fro this video. Thank you 😊

[@DomyTheMad420]

i have been awake 15 hours and just wondered how the alps formed since there's no volcanoes or tectonics around here.
Now i am here.
at a 1 hour long video.
let's do this.
thanks for the upload sir.

[@kathleenm1291]

This is such a great video! Good survey of the Alps and answered a lot of questions I had about why the different massifs look so different from one another. Just ordered the book, cannot wait to read it!

[@jimlangley931]

Thanks for your lovely comment. Hope the book has arrived safely :)

[@TeethToothman]

❤❤❤

[@SolaceEasy]

"San Antonius Fault" could have a major rupture without affecting San Francisco at all.

[@BenTrem42]

Fascinating stuff! thanks
p.s. can you get closer to the mic? room echo can be minimized that way.

[@NaturesWorkUK]

Thanks for your comments. Glad you enjoyed it

[@BenTrem42]

@@NaturesWorkUK_My pleasure._ I was very into the sciences of nature when young. Alas, the demands of social justice got me pivoted to information and technology!
stay well

[@garyrogers6977]

How can oceanic rocks, which are dense, be above continental rocks, which are less dense?

[@NaturesWorkUK]

That's the incredible story of mountain building

[@garyrogers6977]

​@@NaturesWorkUK
It's an ophiolite.

[@AvanaVana]

Thrust faults & reverse faults. Specifically, when a new subduction zone forms off of a continental margin, the sea floor in the forearc between the trench and the continent can start to spread as the new subduction zone rolls backwards, forming what is called a “forearc ophiolite” or “suprasubduction zone ophiolite” (an “ophiolite” is just a name for a specific sequence of oceanic mafic and ultra mafic volcanic rocks and ocean floor sediments that is found thrust upon continental lithosphere). Eventually, this subduction zone may become caught up in a continent-continent or arc-continent collision, and the continent or arc that collides will be thrust underneath this forearc/SSZ ophiolite, as the oceanic crust connected to the colliding arc or continent attempts to pulls that arc or continent’s lithosphere down into the subduction zone-where it gets stuck, because it is not dense enough to subduct. So in this situation, you then have this relict slab of oceanic lithosphere on the upper plate, and part of the downgoing colliding arc or continent below it on the lower plate, and when subduction ceases and the subducting oceanic crust that was driving that subduction zone finally tears off due to its overwhelming density relative to the less dense arc or continent attached to it higher up in the subduction channel, collision ends, and you have an ophiolite-a stranded piece of oceanic lithosphere within and above continental lithosphere. And that is just one way to form an ophiolite…

[@illumencouk]

You invite your listeners to pose questions about what they're about to spend the next fifty minutes listening to but just 4 minutes in and our expert tells us 'science, specifically Geology, can tell us definitively how the Alps were formed -My gripe is hearing the expert state the scientific field now knows how they were formed - without mixing words this is a bare faced lie and not the case at all. Let's continue to watch but please be aware there is a distinct possibility that this explanation is totally wrong.

[@acr08807]

There are always details to fill in, but geology has figured out how the Alps were formed.

[@illumencouk]

@@acr08807 I am never going to be able to take this lot seriously while there telling me two crusty rock surfaces crash into one another, forcing the 'ground' upwards to form gravity defying angles and gradients thousands of feet high. They even had the audacity to say that while its forming the Alps inch by inch, most of the material is actually being driven downward, not upward! Really? What?!

[@NaturesWorkUK]

This is how we understand the formation of mountain chains. If geologists come up with alternative theories then that will help. Develop our understanding of plate tectonics