Classification system
The Eastern Alps are divided into four main areas: the Northern Limestone Alps, the Central Eastern Alps, the Southern Limestone Alps, and the Western Limestone Alps. These four main ranges are further divided into 75 sub-groups. The Northern Limestone and Central Eastern Alps are the largest with 27 groups each, while the Southern Limestone Alps have 15. The six groups of the Western Limestone Alps are also classed with the Central Eastern Alps.
The classification is based principally on orographic considerations and takes into account the regional usage in terms of the names of the mountain groups. The amendments of 1984 address a number of geological problems and have dropped many of the 1924 Morrigl groups, making more precise sub-divisions for them in other areas. These changes are evident from the missing serial numbers and sub-division letters. The Western Limestone Alps were added, an area which is not covered by the three Alpine Clubs and actually is a continuation of the Southern and Swiss Alps. Unlike the previous scheme, the Salzburg Slate Alps were assigned to the Northern Limestone Alps as they are part of the greywacke zone that forms the basement of the Limestone Alps. The Ortler Alps and the Sobretta-Gavia range were grouped into the Southern Limestone Alps though, geologically, they are north of the Periadriatic Seam and ranked part of the Austroalpine nappes.
Geographical characteristics
The Eastern Alps extend across six European countries: Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Austria, Switzerland and Slovenia. With 57 mountain groups, Austria has the largest share. It is followed by Italy with 23 and Switzerland with ten. There are seven mountain ranges in Germany and four in Slovenia. Liechtenstein shares one group.
The only four-thousander and the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps is the Piz Bernina at 4,046 m (13,274 ft). Thus the Bernina Range is the highest of all the groups in the Eastern Alps. Next are the Ortler Alps, whose highest peak, Mt. Ortler at 3,905 m (12,812 ft), is the highest mountain in South Tyrol. The third highest range is the Glockner Group with the highest mountain in Austria: the Grossglockner is 3,798 m (12,461 ft) high. Another 22 groups reach a height of 3,000 metres. The only group in the Northern Limestone Alps with a three-thousander is the Lechtal Alps, whose highest summit is the Parseierspitze at 3,036 m (9,961 ft). 39 groups are over 2000 metres high. Seven of the groups exceed 1000 metres—except for the Vienna Woods, whose highest mountain, the Schöpfl, just reaches an altitude of 893 m (2,930 ft).
The Rätikon is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps, located at the border between Vorarlberg, Liechtenstein and Graubünden. It is the geological border between the Eastern and Western Alps and stretches from the Montafon as far as the Rhine. In the south, the Prättigau is its limit, and in the north, it is the Walgau. In the east, it borders the Silvretta groups. The Rätikon mountain range derives its name from Raetia, a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people.
The Bavarian Alps is a collective name for several mountain ranges of the Northern Limestone Alps within the German state of Bavaria.
The Southern Limestone Alps, also called the Southern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps south of the Central Eastern Alps mainly located in northern Italy and the adjacent lands of Austria and Slovenia. The distinction from the Central Alps, where the higher peaks are located, is based on differences in geological composition. The Southern Limestone Alps extend from the Sobretta-Gavia range in Lombardy in the west to the Pohorje in Slovenia in the east.
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 them is the Southern Limestone Alps.
Ortler is, at 3,905 m (12,812 ft) above sea level, the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps outside the Bernina Range. It is the main peak of the Ortler Range. It is the highest point of the Southern Limestone Alps, of South Tyrol in Italy, of Tyrol overall, and, until 1919, of the Austrian-Hungarian empire. In German the mountain is commonly referred to as "König Ortler", like in the unofficial hymn of South Tyrol, the Bozner Bergsteigerlied.
The Rhaetian Alps are a mountain range of the Eastern Alps. The SOIUSA classification system divides them into the Western and Eastern Rhaetian Alps, while the Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps places most of the Rhaetian subranges within the Western Limestone Alps.
The Eastern Alps are usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley, up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide, and down the Liro River to Lake Como in the south. The peaks and mountain passes are lower than the Western Alps, while the range itself is broader and less arched.
The Hochschwab, Hochschwab Mountains, Hochschwab Alps or Hochschwab Group is a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps of Austria. The range is in the Styria. The highest peak is also called Hochschwab and is 2,277 metres above the Adriatic.
The Bavarian Prealps are a mountain range within the Northern Limestone Alps in south Germany. They include the Bavarian Prealp region between the river Loisach to the west and the river Inn to the east; the range is about 80 kilometres (50 mi) long and 20–30 kilometres (12–19 mi) wide. The term is not defined politically, but alpine-geographically because small areas of the Bavarian Prealps lie in Tyrol.
SOIUSA is a proposal for a new classification system of the Alps from the geographic and toponomastic point of view. It was designed by Sergio Marazzi, Italian researcher and author of the Orographic Atlas of the Alps SOIUSA. His book was presented with the patronage of the Italian Alpine Club on 23 Jan 2006, but has yet to receive any formal acceptance.
The Dachstein Mountains are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps.
The Western Rhaetian Alps are a mountain range in the central part of the Alps.
Three-thousanders are mountains with a height of between 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), but less than 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) above sea level. Similar terms are commonly used for mountains of other height brackets e. g. four-thousanders or eight-thousanders. In Britain, the term may refer to mountains above 3,000 feet (910 m).
The Prealps East of the Mur are the easternmost mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps. They comprise the eastern foothills of the Alpine crest beyond the Mur river and the adjacent southeastern Alpine Foreland.
The Gailtal Alps, is a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps in Austria. It rises between the River Drava (Drau) and the Gail valley and through the southern part of East Tyrol. Its western group called "Lienz Dolomites", is sometimes counted as part of this range and sometimes seen as separate.
The Nonsberg Group is a mountain range in South Tyrol and Trentino in Italy and part of the Southern Limestone Alps. A large part of the Nonsberg Group is formed by the Mendelkamm. Their highest peak is the Laugenspitze. The Nonsberg Group is bounded in the east by the Etschtal, to the north by the Prissian High Forest on the Gampen Pass and in the west by the Non Valley.
The Sobretta-Gavia Group is a mountain massif that extends between the upper Veltlin and the upper Valcamonica in the Italian provinces of Sondrio and Brescia.
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