The Western Carpathians are a
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have ari ...
and
geomorphological
Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or ...
province that forms the western part of the
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretche ...
.
The mountain belt stretches from the
Low Beskids range of the Eastern Carpathians along the border of
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
with
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...
toward the
Moravia
Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The ...
n region of the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
and the
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n
Weinviertel. In the south the
North Hungarian Mountains cover northern
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
. The area of the Western Carpathians comprises about 70,000 km². The highest elevation is the
Gerlachovský štít (2,655m).
Geographical definition
Most of the perimeter of the Western Carpathians is quite sharply defined by valleys. To the northwest and north they are separated from the
Bohemian Massif
The Bohemian Massif ( cs, Česká vysočina or ''Český masiv'', german: Böhmische Masse or ''Böhmisches Massiv'') is a geomorphological province in Central Europe. It is a large massif stretching over most of the Czech Republic, eastern Ger ...
by the
Forecarpathian Lowland and the
Lesser Poland Upland Lesser, from Eliezer (, "Help/Court of my God"), is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Adolf Lesser (1851–1926), German physician
* Aleksander Lesser (1814–1884), Polish painter and art critic
* Anton Lesser (born 1952), Bri ...
; to the west the
Moravian Gate
The Moravian Gate ( cs, Moravská brána, pl, Brama Morawska, german: Mährische Pforte, sk, Moravská brána) is a geomorphological feature in the Moravian region of the Czech Republic and the Upper Silesia region in Poland. It is formed by the ...
leads over to the
Sudetes
The Sudetes ( ; pl, Sudety; german: Sudeten; cs, Krkonošsko-jesenická subprovincie), commonly known as the Sudeten Mountains, is a geomorphological subprovince in Central Europe, shared by Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. They consi ...
. To the south the mountain chain falls away towards the
Pannonian Plain
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only the ...
, a large plain situated between the
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
, the
Dinaric Alps
The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herz ...
, and the main mass of the Eastern Carpathians.
The boundary between the Western Carpathians and the
Eastern Alps is formed by the
Vienna Basin, the Hainburg Hills of the
Little Carpathians at
Devín Gate, and a
gap carved by the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
. To the east and northeast the mountains are bounded by the
East Slovak and
Sandomierz Basins, but it is less striking and passes through highland terrain that continues to the Eastern Carpathians.
Geology
The Western Carpathians are part of the northern branch of
alpine orogeny, which was formed by the closure of the
Tethys Ocean millions of years ago.
The Western Carpathians are part of the
Alpide belt. To the west they longitudinally join the
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
, but the exact boundary is hidden under the Neogene sedimentary fill of the
Vienna Basin. To the east, their boundary with the
Eastern Carpathians is the valley of the
Hornád or
Uzh River. The northern boundary with the
East European craton and
Bohemian Massif
The Bohemian Massif ( cs, Česká vysočina or ''Český masiv'', german: Böhmische Masse or ''Böhmisches Massiv'') is a geomorphological province in Central Europe. It is a large massif stretching over most of the Czech Republic, eastern Ger ...
is well marked by the thrust of
nappes of the
Carpathian flysch belt. The southern boundary is less clear, because later postorogenetic evolution caused formation of
basins
Basin may refer to:
Geography and geology
* Depression (geology)
** Back-arc basin, a submarine feature associated with island arcs and subduction zones
** Debris basin, designed to prevent damage from debris flow
** Drainage basin (hydrology), a ...
, penetrating the mountain chain non-uniformly.
The Western Carpathians have a complicated geological structure, that has been formed since the
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon.
The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838
by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ...
era. The oldest Paleozoic
rocks experienced the first stage of deformation during the
Hercynian orogeny, but younger Alpine overprint is common.
Alpine orogeny affected the area in several stages from
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...
to
Neogene
The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...
. During this period, parts of
Tethys Ocean were subducted under the
African plate
The African Plate is a major tectonic plate that includes much of the continent of Africa (except for its easternmost part) and the adjacent oceanic crust to the west and south. It is bounded by the North American Plate and South American Plate ...
and Western Carpathian blocks were thrust over the margin of the
Eurasian plate
The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate that includes most of the continent of Eurasia (a landmass consisting of the traditional continents of Europe and Asia), with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent an ...
.
Tectonic units of the Western Carpathians are arranged in belt-like order, with the external units in the north and internal units in the south. Alpine evolution of the Western Carpathians is dominated by extension and closure of two or three oceanic domains:
[Plašienka, D., 2002]
''Origin and growth of the Western Carpathian orogenetic wedge during the mesozoic.''
Geologica Carpathica Special Issues, 53, Proceedings of XVII. Congress of Carpathian-Balkan Geological Association Bratislava, September 1st - 4th 2002 Triassic-Jurassic
Meliata-Halstatt Ocean, Jurassic-Cretaceous
Piemont-Vahic Ocean/Zone and Cretaceous-Tertiary
Valais-Magura Ocean. After a subduction of the Meliata Ocean, the
Internal Western Carpathians were formed.
Suturing
A surgical suture, also known as a stitch or stitches, is a medical device used to hold body tissues together and approximate wound edges after an injury or surgery. Application generally involves using a needle with an attached length of thre ...
of Vahic domain finalized thrusting in the
Central Western Carpathians, and consuming the crust of Carpathian Flysch Basins caused the formation of the
External West Carpathian accretionary wedge
An accretionary wedge or accretionary prism forms from sediments accreted onto the non- subducting tectonic plate at a convergent plate boundary. Most of the material in the accretionary wedge consists of marine sediments scraped off from the d ...
(
Flysch Belt).
References
{{Authority control
Mountain ranges of the Carpathians
Mountain ranges of Austria
Mountain ranges of the Czech Republic
Mountain ranges of Hungary
Mountain ranges of Poland
Mountain ranges of Slovakia