Dent de Morcles: A fantastic fold in the Swiss Alps
For our most recent biennial trip to visit our European friends, a group of travel companions and I chose to tour around the alps, taking in the iconic range which formed by converging plates. Staying in Switzerland, it takes little effort to find evidence of the African plate meeting the Eurasian plate ages ago, and a day spent at Dent de Morcles presented us with a clear example of folding. Wanting to get a view of the mountain rather than summit it, we followed trails to the mountain’s south-western face where wavy lines in its strata are the dominating feature.
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| Curves are noticeable in the strata of Dent de Morcles, with the most prominent pictured here on the left near the summit (Summitpost, 2005). |
Knowing that limestone is a product of ancient marine environments, it feels odd to say that the mostly limestone structure was lifted as the African continental crust rode over the Eurasian continental crust. However, this limestone was likely produced on a seabed once separating the continents. As the continents moved towards each other, closing the sea out of existence, tremendous pressure compressed the horizontally layered seabed causing overturned folds.
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| Folds like the ones seen on Dent de Morcles (foreground) exist on the distant mountains, likely once a connected formation that was separated by erosion (Edmaier). |
The two plates continue to converge, creating more folds below us and raising the alps. In the impossible situation that our biennial trips continue for many millennia, we can return to see a noticeably taller Dent de Morcles.
Photo References:
Edmaier, B. (n.d.). Dent de Morcles, Switzerland. Bernhard Edmaier. https://www.bernhard-edmaier.de/en/images-of-the-earth/mountains/dent-de-morcles-switzerland/
Summitpost. (2005, August 15). Dent de Morcles (July 2005). Image ID 120420. https://www.summitpost.org/dent-de-morcles-from-the-way/86217/c-153049
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