The Restless Earth- The Alps

Location: Central Europe; Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.

Formation: About 30m years ago by the collision between the Eurasian and African plates.

Tallest Peak: Mont Blanc at 4810m.

Population: 12m people.

Farming: - Steep upland areas used to graze goats, providing milk, cheese and meat.

- Sunny slopes used as vineyards: Lavaux in Switzerland.

Tourism: - 100m tourists per year, 70% attracted by winter/ summer activities: Skiing, hiking etc.

- New villages built for tourists: Tignes in France.

- Developments like ski lifts and hotels have been built across the landscape.

Forestry: - Scots Pine planted as it is more resiliant to munching goats than the native ones, the trees are then logged, sold and used for things like furniture.

Hydro-Electric Power: - Dammed valleys generate HEP: 60% of Swiss energy is form HEP.

- Power used locally for homes and businesses, and is transported cities further away.

Mining: - Cheaper foreign sources have lead to a decilne in the mining of salt, copper and iron.

- Goats are well adapted to live on steep mountains.

- Trees and man-made defences protect against avalanches and rock slides.

- Animals grazed in high areas as the soil is too infertile for crops.

- Roads built over passes (low points between mountains) are long and often blocked by snow, so tunnels have been made through mountains to provide fast transport links: The Lotschberg Base Tunnel in the Swiss Bernese Alps.