Saint-Gotthard Massif
The Gotthard Massif is a mountain massif in the Swiss Alps in the region of Central Switzerland. It is named after the St. Gotthard Pass in the Alps Lepontine and belongs to the Western Alps.
Gotthard massif is a geological term that is also used to denote the mountains to the Gotthard Pass.
- 3.1 transport axes
- 3.2 watershed points
Geology
The Gotthard massif belongs next to the Aar Massif, the Aiguilles Rouges-/Arpille-Massiv and the Mont Blanc massif to the four central massifs of the Swiss Alps. It is geologically known as the Massif Central, because although it is compressed as a crystalline basement, but not has been involved in the construction of the Helvetic ceiling and is therefore regarded as indigenous. The specially intense orogeny in the Gotthard Massif ( high metamorphic grade, strong internal Verschieferung ) has led to near-vertical contacts ( Gotthard cover with vertical structures) to the Helvetic sediments to the solid edges.
At its northern edge of the massif is bordered by the Urserenzone the Mesozoic era. This separates Aar and Gotthard massif as steep, narrow furrow from Brig along the Rhone, (Furka Pass), Urseren ( Andermatt ) and anterior Rhine valley. In Vorderrheintal still the Tavetscher intermediate massif pushes ( Bugnei Hill near Sedrun ) between the Aar Massif and the Urserenzone. The southern boundary of the Gotthard massif extends over Brig, Upper Valais, Nufenenpass Bedrettotal, Airolo, Canada Val, Val Piora, Piz Scopi, Greina Tgietschen Piz, Piz da Vrin to Obersaxen.
The massif can be divided on the east- west axis in the northern gneiss zone, central zone orthogneiss and paragneiss the southern zone. Between them and the majority in the orthogneiss zone lie the granite body Rotondo, Fibbia, Gamsboden and Medelser / Cristallina. On the whole southern edge either triadic rocks or Bündnerschiefer lying on the crystalline of the Gotthard massif.
The prevailing rock is gneiss. Goethe, however, erred in his paper "On the granite ": " On a high bare summit sitting and a wide area over looking, I can say to myself: Here you are resting directly on a reason which is sufficient to the deepest places of the earth, no newer layer, not together geschwemmte debris have placed between you and the firm ground of the primeval world. " By a geological overthrust is the gneiss of the Gotthard massif over younger layers, similar to the Tauern window.
A comprehensive geological survey of the massif took Karl von Fritsch before about 1870, when he was a lecturer at the Zurich Polytechnic, later the ETH Zurich. His geological map of the Gotthard Massif (published in 1873) and his work The Gotthard area formed a first foundations ( built 1872-1882 ) for the Gotthard tunnel project.
Geography
The Gotthard massif lies on the border between the cantons of Graubünden, Ticino, Valais and Uri.
Mountains formation after SOIUSA
After the orographic SOIUSA categorization include the summit of the Gotthard Massif to the Monteleone - Sankt Gotthard Alps:
- Group Gallina Rotondo Lucendro ( B.6 ) Group Pizzo Gallina ( 3,060 m) ( B.6.a ) with lunch Horn ( 3015 m)
- Group Pizzo Rotondo ( 3,192 m) ( B.6.b ) with the Witenwasserenstock ( 3082 m)
- Group Pizzo Lucendro ( 2'964 m) ( B.6.c )
- Group Pizzo Centrale ( 2'999 m) ( B.7.a )
- Group Piz Blas ( 3'023 m) ( B.7.b )
- Pizzo del Sole ( 2,773 m) ( B.8.a )
- Pizzo Molar ( 2,585 m) ( B.8.b ).
Strategic importance
In the Gotthard massif, the first forts to secure the north-south connection ( Forte Airolo, Fort hospice Motto Bartola, ) have already been created in the 1890s. Here are some of the major investments of the Swiss Reduit, large fortress buildings (San Carlo, Foppa Grande Sasso as Pigna ) which were greatly expanded during the Second World War and rebuilt to the Swiss Alps as a retreat of the army against an expected invasion of the German and Italian troops to defend.
Transport axes
About the Gotthard massif run in a north-south direction of the St. Gotthard Pass ( 2108 m) and Lukmanierpass (1984 m), in east-west direction it is traversed by the Oberalp Pass ( 2,044 m ), Urserental and Furka Pass ( 2431 m).
By the Gotthard massif lead the railway summit tunnel (1882 ), the Gotthard road tunnel (1980 ) and the Gotthard Base Tunnel ( 2016), the railway tunnel in the NEAT.
Watershed points
At the same time passing through the Gotthard massif, the European watershed between the Mediterranean and the North Sea. This is also the watershed point of the North Sea, the Mediterranean and the Adriatic Sea. Among the peaks of the Gotthard Massif arise among other things, the two source rivers of the Rhine, the Anterior Rhine and Hinter Rhine, the Reuss river, a tributary of the river Aare, which then itself flows near Waldshut in the Rhine, but also the Rhône, which originates from the Rhone Glacier and the Mediterranean flows, as well as Ticino, a tributary of the Po, which flows into the Adriatic Sea.
Tourism
Opened in August 2012, four- source route is a 85 km long trail in the Gotthard massif, the leads in five stages to the sources of the four rivers Rhine, the Reuss, Ticino and Rhone.