Engadin Window
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The Engadin window or (Lower Engadin window) is a tectonic window that exposes
penninic The Penninic nappes or the Penninicum, commonly abbreviated as Penninic, are one of three nappe stacks and geological zones in which the Alps can be divided. In the western Alps the Penninic nappes are more obviously present than in the eastern ...
units lying below the austroalpine units in the
alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...
nappe stack In geology, a nappe or thrust sheet is a large sheetlike body of rock that has been moved more than or above a thrust fault from its original position. Nappes form in compressional tectonic settings like continental collision zones or on the ...
. It has a roughly elliptical shape with the long axis striking northwest-southeast and dimensions of 55 x 17 km. From a geographic perspective the window stretches from
Zernez Zernez is a village and a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Engiadina Bassa/Val Müstair Region in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Lavin and Susch ...
( Graubünden,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
) to
Landeck Landeck () is a city in the Austrian state of Tyrol, the capital of the district of Landeck. Geography Landeck is located in the Tyrolean Oberland in the west of the state at an elevation of about . The town is situated in the valley of the Inn ...
(
Tirol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...
,
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 ...
), or the Lower Engadin.


Overview

The rocks cropping out in the Engadin window are weakly metamorphosed sediments of middle
Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...
to
Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...
age. Most of them are interpreted as deposits from
turbidite A turbidite is the geologic Deposition (geology), deposit of a turbidity current, which is a type of amalgamation of fluidal and sediment gravity flow responsible for distributing vast amounts of clastic sediment into the deep ocean. Sequencing ...
s. They are seen as part of the
penninic The Penninic nappes or the Penninicum, commonly abbreviated as Penninic, are one of three nappe stacks and geological zones in which the Alps can be divided. In the western Alps the Penninic nappes are more obviously present than in the eastern ...
units similar to the rocks that make up large portions of the
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. Furthermore, the sediments are attributed to the
Valais ocean The Valais Ocean is a subducted oceanic basin which was situated between the continent Europe and the microcontinent Iberia or so called Briançonnais microcontinent. Remnants of the Valais ocean are found in the western Alps and in tectonic win ...
, the Briançonnais microcontinent, and the
Piemont-Liguria Ocean The Piemont-Liguria basin or the Piemont-Liguria Ocean (sometimes only one of the two names is used, for example: Piemonte Ocean) was a former piece of oceanic crust that is seen as part of the Tethys Ocean. Together with some other oceanic basi ...
. The metamorphic overprint was caused by the closure of the Valais and the Piemont-Liguria during the
Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...
part of the
Alpine orogeny The Alpine orogeny, sometimes referred to as the Alpide orogeny, is an orogenic phase in the Late Mesozoic and the current Cenozoic which has formed the mountain ranges of the Alpide belt. Cause The Alpine orogeny was caused by the African c ...
. The rocks experienced low-temperature-high-pressure overprint which reached the
blueschist facies Blueschist (), also called glaucophane schist, is a metavolcanic rock that forms by the metamorphism of basalt and similar rocks at relatively low temperatures () but very high pressure corresponding to a depth of . The blue color of the roc ...
. On geologic maps the Engadine window has an onion shell appearance. From outside to inside, or from highest to lowest in the nappe stack, the following units are distinguished: * Fimber zone (including Arosa zone) * Tasna zone * Champatsch zone * Pfundser zone


Other tectonic windows

The Engadin window is not the only place where
penninic The Penninic nappes or the Penninicum, commonly abbreviated as Penninic, are one of three nappe stacks and geological zones in which the Alps can be divided. In the western Alps the Penninic nappes are more obviously present than in the eastern ...
units are exposed within the austroalpine. The
Tauern window 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 ...
is the largest one and lies east of the Engadin window. The Gargellen window in
Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...
is the smallest one. The Rechnitzer window is the easternmost tectonic window.


References

{{coord, 46, 58, 15, N, 10, 23, 15, E, region:CH-GR_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Geology of the Alps Geology of Austria Geology of Switzerland