The Lower TauernThe New Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. 1, 2003, p. 86. or Niedere Tauern 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 aris ...

of the

Central Eastern Alps The Central Eastern Alps (), also referred to as Austrian Central Alps () or just Central Alps, comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps in Austria and the adjacent regions of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy and Slovenia. South of them is ...

, in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

and

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

. For the

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

of the name, see

Tauern The word ''Tauern'' () is German and originally meant 'high mountain pass' in the Austrian Central Alps, referring to the many bridleways and passes of the parallel side valleys of the River Salzach that cut into the mountain ranges. From the M ...

Geography

The range forms a part of the

main chain of the Alps The main chain of the Alps, also called the Alpine divide is the central line of mountains that forms the drainage divide of the range. Main chains of mountain ranges are traditionally designated in this way, and generally include the highest p ...

. The highest peak of the Lower Tauern is the

Hochgolling The Hochgolling (2,862 m) is a mountain of the Eastern Alps, located on the border of Steiermark and Salzburg, Austria, near the ski resort of Schladming. It is the highest peak of the Lower Tauern range. A hiking rather than a climbing peak, th ...

, part of the

Schladming Tauern The Schladming Tauern''Outline of the geology of Austria and selected excursions'', Volumes 34-35. Geologische Bundesanstalt (Austria), 1980. pp. 62/3. . () are a subrange of the Austrian Central Alps within the Eastern Alps. Together with the Rad ...

, at 2,863 m (9,393 ft). Important

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

roads include

Radstädter Tauern Pass Radstädter Tauern Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass in the Austrian state of Salzburg, connecting the town of Radstadt in the Pongau region with Mauterndorf in Lungau. Geography The pass separates the Radstadt Tauern in the west and the Sch ...

(), Sölk Pass (), and Triebener Tauern Pass (). The range is also crossed by the

Tauern Autobahn The Tauern Autobahn (A 10) is an autobahn (motorway) in Austria. It starts at the Salzburg junction with the West Autobahn (A1), runs southwards, crosses the Tauern mountain range on the main chain of the Alps and leads to the Süd Autobahn ...

(A10) through the

Tauern Road Tunnel The Tauern Road Tunnel is located on the Tauern Autobahn (A10) in the Austrian federal state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. The use is subject to a toll road, toll. With a length of (3.07 miles), the tunnel ranks as one of the longest frequently ...

Borders

In the west and south the ''Murtörl''

and the River Mur separate them from the

Hohe Tauern The High Tauern ( pl.; , ) are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian states of Salzburg, Carinthia and East Tyr ...

mountain range, while in the east and north the

River Enns The Enns () is a southern tributary of the river Danube in Austria, joining northward at the city of Enns. It forms much of the border between the states of Lower Austria and Upper Austria. The Enns spans , in a flat-J-shape. It flows from its sou ...

and the Schober Pass marks the border to the

Northern Limestone Alps The Northern Limestone Alps (), also called the Northern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps north of the Central Eastern Alps located in Austria and the adjacent Bavarian lands of southeastern Germany. The distinction from the ...

Alpine Club classification

According to the

Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps The Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps (, AVE) is a common division of the Eastern Alps into 75 mountain ranges, based on the Moriggl Classification (ME) first published in 1924 by the German and Austrian Alpine Club. The present-day di ...

, the Lower Tauern may be divided into four subgroups (from west to east): *

Radstadt Tauern The Radstadt Tauern () are a subrange of the Central Eastern Alps in Austria. Together with the Schladming Tauern, the Rottenmann and Wölz Tauern and the Seckau Tauern the Radstadt Tauern form the major range of mountains known as the Low Tauern ...

(45a) *

(45b) *

Rottenmann and Wölz Tauern The Rottenmann and Wölz Tauern''Outline of the geology of Austria and selected excursions'', Volumes 34-35. Geologische Bundesanstalt (Austria), 1980. pp. 62/3 & 65. . () are a subrange of the Austrian Central Alps within the Eastern Alps. Toget ...

(45c) * Seckau Tauern (45d). The four groups listed above (the Radstadt Tauern, Schladming Tauern, Rottenmann and Wölz Tauern and Seckau Alps) are considered Alpine subsections.

Notable summits

Some notable summits of the range are:

Geology and environment

The Lower Tauern mark the approximate eastern limit of the continuous

ice sheet In glaciology, an ice sheet, also known as a continental glacier, is a mass of glacier, glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than . The only current ice sheets are the Antarctic ice sheet and the Greenland ice sheet. Ice s ...

in the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

during the

Würm glaciation The Würm glaciation or Würm stage ( or ''Würm-Glazial'', colloquially often also ''Würmeiszeit'' or ''Würmzeit''; cf. ice age), usually referred to in the literature as the Würm (often spelled "Wurm"), was the last glacial period in the ...

. Eastern parts of the group were therefore unglaciated, and served as an important refugium for silicicolous plants.

Winter sports

A number of skiing resorts are situated in the Lower Tauern, including

Obertauern Obertauern is a tourist destination which is located in the Radstädter Tauern in the Salzburger Land of Austria. The winter sports resort is separated in two communities: Tweng and Untertauern. Geography Obertauern lies in the southeast of th ...

and

Schladming Schladming () is a small former mining town in the northwest of the Austrian state of Styria that is now a popular tourist destination. It has become a large winter-sports resort and has held various skiing competitions, including most notably th ...

References

External links

Lower Tauern on kamdoalp.cz - Hikes description, prominent peaks

{{Authority control Mountain ranges of the Alps Mountain ranges of Styria Mountain ranges of Salzburg (federal state)