Glarus thrust
The Glarus thrust is one of the most famous geological sites of the Glarus Alps in the Swiss cantons of Glarus, Graubünden and St. Gallen.
The Glarus overthrust was created when an older rock layer pushed to a younger rock layer due to plate 40 kilometers to the north. Figures 10 to 15 km thick upper layer of reddish Verrucano has an age of about 250 to 300 million years. The lower layer of younger schistose flysch is, however, only 35 to 50 million years old. This layering of older over younger rocks thanks to a bright separating layer of limestone seen particularly well.
Good to see the thrust of the known by the Martinsloch Tschingelhörner between Elm and Flims and at a Lochsite mentioned point in the lower Sernftal in Sool, an easily accessible location in the valley, from the American Museum of Natural History in New York a faithful copy is shown.
UNESCO World Heritage Site
As Tectonic Sardona the main thrust was taken in July 2008 by UNESCO along with a 32'850 hectares area in the world natural heritage. For World Heritage Area includes seven three-thousand - including the eponymous Piz Sardona and Ringelspitz - and the Pizol. The Arena covers the majority of high alpine landscape in the area of 19 municipalities between Vorderrheintal, Linthtal and Lake Walen. Of the 19 municipalities in the Tectonic Sardona are the four ( Laax, Flims, Trin, Tamins ) in Graubünden, whose six ( Ragaz, Bad Ragaz, Vilters, Mels, Flums, fourths ) in the canton of St. Gallen and the remaining nine (Elm Matt, Engi, Sool, Ennenda, Mollis, Filzbach, fruit Alden, mill horn) in the canton of Glarus.
After the experts of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources ( IUCN) first wanted to award the main thrust by virtue of this they dossiers not exceptional and universal value, the federal government has withdrawn a first application to the UNESCO and in 2006 a revised dossier for a new application created. In March 2008, the candidacy was extended on the recommendation of the IUCN on the importance of the area for mountain building processes and for the understanding of plate tectonics. The emphasis put on the UNESCO forming and scientific aspect of the region. Due to the high visibility of the layers of mountain building process is also comprehensible to the layman.
Importance for the theory of mountain building
The Glarus thrust contributed to the knowledge of mountain building due to thrusting of rock ceilings.
Investigations of the Glarus overthrust prompted the Swiss scientist Hans Conrad Escher von der Linth 1809 to question the hitherto valid theory of mountain building through Erdschrumpfung. His son Arnold Escher von der Linth, a geology professor at the University of Zurich, the particular stratification of the Glarus Alps also led back to a thrust fault. Due to the hostile and mocking reactions to the findings of his father and fear of similar discrediting he published but instead a different theory and explained the layering with the " Glarus double fold ". This theory said that two of the north and south converging folds met on Foopass. Accordingly, a multi- dropped Flyschmulde said to have originated at the contact surface of both folds.
Regardless recognized in 1884 the French geologist Marcel Alexandre Bertrand, a thrust fault as the cause of the rock arrangement in the Glarus Alps, which was confirmed in 1901 by the Swiss Geology Professor Albert Heim.