Geography - Fold Mountains - The Alps

THE ALPS

How were the Alps formed?

• The African plate pushed north against the Eurasian Plate.
• As it moved, the sediments in the gap between these two plates (geosyncline) were squeezed upwards to form the mountain range.

Where are the Alps?

• The Alps are located in Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia.

What is the Land used for?

• Farming and Forestry
• Tourism
• Hydro-Electric Power (HEP)

FARMING AND FORESTRY

Most farms in the Alps are located on the warmer and sunnier, South facing slopes. The traditional pattern of farming is dairy farming, it is a system called transhumance. This allows the animals in the summer, graze on the higher ground, so that hay and other grops can be grown on the lower, flatter ground of the valley floor. The summers here are warmest, and this is when the soil is most fertile. In the winter the animals return to the valley floor, where they are kept in cattle sheds and stall-fed on the crops grown in the summer.

Coniferous trees cover many over the slopes, especially north facing ones. Wood, is a plentiful, local resource here and is…