Jura Mountains

The mountain or Höhenzugsbezeichnung Jura is today mainly used for the north west of the alpine range or the Swiss plateau lying French Jura (French Massif du Jura) and the Swiss Jura.

These form a geotectonic unit and are referred to as a law in the strict and proper sense, with which this article deals exclusively. In a broader sense, the Swabian and Franconian Alb among the Jura mountain ranges, extending from the bend in the Rhone south-west from Geneva to Coburg.

Description Field Jura mountain

Especially in the 19th century, these mountains was part of the geology for the Swabian Alb and Franconian Alb, or for parts of the name Jura used and embossed, today this happens only very rarely in German - these names have not prevailed there. The assignment of the high-and low Alemannic dialect area north of the Rhine lying Jura trains ( Unterklettgau Jura, Randen, Baar Jura) is not unique. Many a time are especially Baar Law ( " Baaralb ") and Randen considered as part of the Swabian Alb, which is incorrect in so far as the south-western border of the Swabian in Tuttlingen and Spaichingen runs, and the Randen lies largely on Swiss territory. Correct this inclusion is, however, about the fact that Baar Jura, Randen and Unterklettgau law with the law of the Swabian Alb also form a geotectonic unit: they are all into a unified field slightly tilted and unfolded Jurassic strata, who trained by erosion escarpment. These areas are found but again its continuation south of the Rhine in areas that are counted against the Swiss Jura and there - are called Tafeljura - in contrast to the Folded Jura. While the Jura trains with unfolded layers, however, go back to the bulge of the area between Paris and the Bohemian Forest (see Südwestdeutsches cuesta ), the Jura folds is directly related with the formation ( folding) of the Alps, he may even be regarded as a small foothills of the Alps.

The contrast between the Swiss Jura and Swabian Alb in the broader sense is due to political territories and has no geological basis - of this confrontation approximate significant contrast is aware that between the Jura folds and the Jura. The Tafeljura is part of the Southwest German and French escarpment country, both of which together constitute an anticlinal cuesta. The unfolded Jura east of the Upper Rhine Graben ( Basel and Aargau Jura mountains, Swabian Alb, etc.) has its necessary counterpart in the unfolded trains of the French Jura escarpment country west of the Upper Rhine Graben. This area also extends as far as the Jura folds of the French and Swiss Jura. In Switzerland, the Ajoie is already ( in Switzerland also called Tafeljura ) in the area of the unfolded Jura. The Tafeljura of Aargau, the Randen, the Swabian Alb, etc. So much depends closely with the Jura mountains of Ajoie, Burgundian gate and Nordfranzösischem cuesta together as with the Jura folds of the Swiss and French Jura.

The Jura Mountains treated here (the French and Swiss Jura) consists mainly of Jura folds, smaller areas of the Jura formation (especially in Switzerland) in the northeast (areas on the Upper Rhine ) and northwest ( Ajoie, Burgundy Gate ) but here, as usual, mitbetrachtet.

Name

Originally, the word law is derived from the Celtic. The Celts called the mountains Jor, the Romans Juris, which means forest or woodland. This was perhaps based on the extensive forests on the slopes of the Jura.

The naming for the German Jura landscapes derives from the French-Swiss Jura, however, about the geological detour the rock designation. It was first introduced by Alexander von Humboldt in 1795, the term Jura Mountains for the upcoming in the eponymous French-Swiss Jura limestone. Subsequently, the concept of Alexandre Brongniart Jura (1829 ) has been adopted to designate the associated geological stratum. Only later did the Swabian Alb and Franconian Alb were also called Jura mountains because of their geological structure.

Location and topography

The division in the French and Swiss Jura is based on the boundary between the two countries, it is not based on different landforms. Roughly one can limit the Jura in the east and southeast by the Swiss Plateau, to the north by the Upper Rhine and the Upper Rhine Valley, in the north- west by the Burgundy Gate, on the west by the Rhône -Saône Valley, on the south by the Isère and the Chartreuse.

The Jura is a geologically young fold mountains with a length dimension of about 300 km. It describes a large crescent-shaped, open to the southeast arc ( Arc Jurassien ). The southernmost Jura fold is the Chaîne du Ratz, which starts at Voreppe in France on the Isere and runs parallel to the pre-alpine mountains of the Chartreuse to the northeast. Although it is significantly lower than the mountains of the Chartreuse, but only separated by a narrow valley of these. The second Jura fold, the Montagne de l' Epine begins at the village of Les Echelles and branches at Chambéry (Savoy) from the Alps to the north direction. The further one is coming to the north, the more chains join them and form an entire mountain system. West of Geneva reached the Jura already a width of 40 km. Here, the gradual change in direction of the chains takes to the northeast. On the line Besançon -Yverdon -les- Bains is the maximum width of the mountain about 70 km. In Biel / Bienne, the chains change their direction more and more to the east, the mountain system is rapidly narrow and the number of adjacent chains decreases. The easternmost Jura chain, the chain runs warehouses, finally in exact east-west direction and ends at Dielsdorf in the canton of Zurich, by the mountain -forming layers descend below the Molasse of the Swiss Plateau.

Looking at a cross section through the mountains, the law reaches its greatest heights mostly in the southeastern, directly adjacent to the Central Plateau chain. From then on, the mountains to the northwest classifies gradually. From the Swiss Mittelland, Jura is thus seen as high, hardly indented crest. The highest point is the Cret de la Neige ( 1,720 m above sea level. M. ), followed Reculet ( 1,718 m above sea level. M. ) and Colomby de Gex ( 1,689 m above sea level. M. ), all in France north-west of Geneva in the area. In the Swiss part of the Jura are the surveys Mont Tendre ( 1'679 m above sea level. M. ), La Dole ( 1'677 m above sea level. M. ), Chasseron ( 1,607 m above sea level. M. ) and Chasseral (1 ' worth 607 m above sea level. M. ). Many other combs have heights between 1000 and 1500 m. Only the easternmost part of the Jura is lower than 1000 m.

In Switzerland, the Jura makes up about 10 percent (4200 km ²) of the land area. Share of the mountain system, the cantons of Vaud, Neuchâtel, Jura, Bern, Solothurn, Basel-Landschaft, Aargau and Zurich. Further, the Canton of Schaffhausen with the Randen share of the Jura Plateau north of the Rhine.

Geology

Sediments

The Jura Mountains is eponymous for the geological era law, the BP lasted from approximately 200-145 million years ago. Already in the preceding age of the Triassic and then throughout the Jurassic period was located south of the crystalline basement of the Vosges and the Black Forest, both much older mountains than the Jura and the Alps, a tropical shallow sea known as the Tethys or Urmittelmeer. In the shallow, from time to time -tide bays on the northern edge of the sea evaporates lots of water and created significant rock salt stock ( used today in Swiss Hall and Rheinfelden ) and gypsum bearing ( in the Aargau Jura).

In the up to 200 m deep shallow sea thick sediment layers were deposited over time. Two thirds of these were limestone, the rest consisted of numerous is turned on marl and clay. There are in the Jurassic period three stratigraphic units (series), whose hard, weathering -resistant rock layers are forming landscape:

• Malm: top, youngest layer deposited before 161-145 million years, due to the bright white limestone also called Jura.
• Dogger: middle layer, deposited millions before 175-161 years, even brown Jura called because of the partially occurring therein brown iron.
• Lias: lowest and oldest layer deposited before 200-175 million years ago, also known as black law because of the dark clay minerals contained therein.

At the end of the Jurassic period, there was a regression of the sea, which gradually withdrew to the southwest. Relatively low powerful marine deposits from the following Cretaceous there is therefore west of Biel only in the Jura.

Each of these strata contain numerous fossils, some are only for certain characteristic layers, so-called index fossils. In the Jura, also many remains of dinosaur skeletons have been found. In some places even fossilized footprints of dinosaurs appeared.

Emergence of the mountains (Jura folding)

The Swiss Jura folding is closely related to the last phase of the Alpine formation. Since the most recent existing sediments of the Miocene are verfaltet, the convolution in the late Miocene and the Pliocene must have taken place, ie in time millions of years ago about 10-2. Due to the shear associated with the displacement of the African continent to the north, which was accompanied by the Alpine Education, and the northwest of the filled with Molasseablagerungen geosyncline in the Swiss Plateau, which up to the French Central Mountains and the northern Alpine foreland have been enough, again advancing to the surface posed earlier strata of the Jurassic period and verfaltet. The crystalline basement rocks experienced no folding. The Abscherungsfläche, so the sliding layer between the non- folded and the verfalteten rock layers, formed the rock salt and anhydrite from the Triassic period. The total value of cooperation thrust varies between 2 and about 35 kilometers (in cross- section in the area north of Geneva, Mont Tendre, Risoux and adjacent chains).

Landforms

Given the nature and the erosion of folding in one distinguishes two main tectonic units that are emerging in the landscape, the folds of the Jura and the Jura mountains.

The main part of the mountain is occupied by the Jura folds. This can be broken down even further in the Jura Mountains and Plateau Jura. The Jura mountain chain consists of elongated highly folded mountain ranges with elevations up to 1,600 m above sea level. Level, mainly in the southeast part of the mountain. Close to it in the north- west water-poor areas with high plateau of the Jura ( primarily located in France, in Switzerland, mainly outdoor mountains).

On the northeast ( on the Upper Rhine ) and northwest ( Ajoie ) one finds unfolded Tafeljura, which is seen tectonically part of the Southwest German and French escarpment country.

Characteristic of the Jura and unique in Europe, almost undisturbed, especially in the south-western Jura sequence of pleat tips ( anticlines ), which form the rolling hills, hollows and wrinkles is ( synclines ), which are usually as elongated valleys formed. The uppermost stratum of the anticlines consists mainly of hard limestone, while accumulate in the valleys of fluvial sediments from eroded material. If the hard coating layer of a anticlines broken up by erosion, can also Antiklinaltäler, called gullies occur, often accompanied on both sides by steep rock walls of the leftover Kalkrippen. Likewise, the top layer can be eroded away to the side of an anticline. Once the hard limestone layer is penetrated, the erosion in the underlying soft clay and marl is progressing much faster. This imposing Ausräumungskessel form; known examples are the Creux du Van in the Neuchâtel Jura and the Cirque de Baume in the French Jura. In places where two chains diverge greatly, there are larger basins, such as the Val de Ruz, the Delémont and the Laufen basin.

Water network

The Jura has a much less dense and less branched river network than other Central Mountains. This is explained by the fact that the rain water is not anywhere above ground runs off, but seeps directly into the porous limestone bedrock. There are many dry valleys in the Jura, which have been formed in earlier and rainy climate periods, but today never or only lead to very strong rainfall events water.

The river system of the Jura Mountains is the antecedent. This means that the larger rivers have existed prior to the unfolding of the mountain. And when began the folding which rivers maintained their direction and eroded with their hydropower rock layers just as fast as their unfolding progressed. Therefore, formed in the Jurassic numerous narrow, deep gorges (French Cluses, dt Klusen ), which break through the folded ridges, another characteristic landform of the mountain. On the rock walls of this Klusen all strata of a fold are usually open-minded. Known Klusen are those of the Birs south and north of Moutier, the Gorges du Pichoux the Sorne, the Klus of Balsthal that Klusen Schüss north of Biel (among Taubenlochschlucht ) and the Défilé de l' Ecluse the Rhône southwest of Geneva.

Longest rivers in the Jura, the Doubs, which has a canyon carved into the Plateau Jura. Other important rivers are the Ain, the Loue, the Orbe, the Areuse that Suze and the Birs. Natural lakes are located almost exclusively in high valleys in the southwestern part of the Jura Mountains, including the Lac de Joux with Lac Brenet, the Lac des Taillères, the Lac de Saint- Point and Chalain. Several reservoirs are located on the rivers of Doubs and Ain.

Both in rivers and lakes (eg Lake Joux ) seeps in some water in the limestone bedrock and occurs only miles away to a deeper place in sources with strong packing back to the surface. These sources are usually located at the foot of a high vertical rock wall ( Vauclusetyp ), such as Source de la Loue and Source du Lison south of Besançon, but also Source de l' Orbe and Source de l' Areuse.

Climate and vegetation

The climate in the Jura mountains is sometimes rough, wet and cold. The main precipitation falls in the summer months in the form of thunderstorms, but distributed very differently. Some of these are accompanied by stormy Joran wind. But even in winter there is frequently prolonged rainfall events. The totally confined valleys to over 1,000 m above sea level. M. in the Swiss cantons of Neuchâtel, Vaud and neighboring French departments of Doubs and Jura are known for very low temperatures in winter, because here can accumulate in the cold air radiation periods ( production of ' cold air lakes). Thus, the lowest ever recorded temperatures in Switzerland were ( with -41.8 ° C at the official MeteoSwiss station in La Brevine on January 12, 1987) and in France ( January 17, 1985 -41.0 ° C in mouthe ) registered each in the Jura.

The Jura has large areas of forest. Typical tree species and the most common are softwoods such as spruce, pine and fir; but there are also extensive beech and oak forests. This forest landscape is interspersed with open meadows where are widely scattered single huge spruce. In the spring many of these pastures are dotted with daffodils, especially between Grande Sagneule ( Neuchâtel Jura in the north-east from the Col de la Tourne ) and suction (above Biel). The tree line is climatically conditioned to about 1400 to 1500 m above sea level. M., in the French Jura at 1600 m above sea level. M. In addition there is an extensive, relatively barren mountain pastures. In the extreme southwest of the Jura and in the area of the river Ain you already noticed the influence of the Mediterranean climate on vegetation. Remarkable for Vegetation History is the only late encroachment of spruce from the Western Jura forth to the east. Only stronger deforestation since the 18th century procured the opposite silver fir and beech more light-demanding tree in Ostjura a livelihood. For the previously widespread oak forests disappeared largely due to forestry needs of industrialization.

In the basins and valleys agriculture and intensive grazing management is operated. The highly inclined slopes of Jurasüdfusses are together with the rebalancing effect of peripheral Jura lakes on the local climate ideal for growing grapes.

Population

Densely populated is the Jura especially at its edges. At the foot of the Jura are numerous cities: Geneva, Yverdon- les- Bains, Neuchâtel, Biel, Solothurn, Olten and Aarau. At the northern foot of the Jura are Basel, Montbéliard and Besançon and at the western edge of the mountains Lons -le- Saunier and Bourg -en- Bresse.

Within the Jura have only the deeper valleys on a relatively high population density, high valleys and plateaus in the French Jura, not least populated extremely low due to the harsh climate and remoteness. Exceptions to this La Chaux -de-Fonds, the largest town in the Jura, and Le Locle in a high valley of the Jura region. Other cities in the Jura, with more than 10,000 inhabitants are Liestal, Delémont, Pontarlier, Champagnole, Saint- Claude and Oyonnax.

The majority of the inhabitants of the Jura is French-speaking. Only in the eastern part is German spoken. In Switzerland, the language border draws from Lake Biel, from first to the northeast, then northwest to the border with Alsace. The French language area pushes it to the pool of Moutier and Delémont wedge-shaped in German -speaking area. This section of the Germanic- Romance language border has changed little since the Middle Ages. The German border towns in Switzerland are from south to north: Schafis, Ligerz, Twann, Tüscherz -Alfermée, Vingelz ( Biel / Bienne ), Magglingen, Leubringen (the latter two communities are as Biel / Bienne bilingual), Bözingen, Pieterlen, lengnau, Grenchen, Bettlach, Selzach, Lommiswil, Gänsbrunnen, Welsch tube Seehof, Envelier, rebuke, Beinwil, Erschwil, Grindelwald, Bärschwil, Ried -Dessus ( Oberrieder forest, community Soyhières ), low Riederwald, Lies mountain, Huggerwald, rye castle, Ederswiler, Löwenburg and - historically - even the former, shared with France monastic site Luetzel. Modern German -speaking majority enclaves are, inter alia, Mont -Tramelan and Rebévelier.

Economy

Originally dominated agriculture in the Jura. There were crafts, trade, hotels and restaurants and to a lesser extent also fishing. Was intervened for the first time in the existing economic structures in the 18th century by the advent of lace. Thus, many farmers and their families were given a welcome merit by working from home.

A certain degree of economic importance in each neighborhood of the Jura (Val de Travers) also had the absinthe production.

Later in the 18th century began in the valleys of the industrialization, initially with the textile, then with the watch industry. In the 19th century, the watch industry witnessed a strong upswing. She was mostly based in Neuchâtel and in the Bernese Jura. The centers of watchmaking ( Biel, La Chaux -de-Fonds, Le Locle, Saint- Imier, Sainte -Croix ) had their heyday in the first half of the 20th century. When massive collapse in the watch industry in the years 1975-1985 the number of employees fell by about half in this sector. The result was a strong population loss, some places experienced a decline in population by 30 percent.

Instead of the watch industry, the metal and machinery industries have been established in recent times. Great importance also companies that specialize in the field of mechanics, microtechnology and electronics. Employees in the first sector are mainly involved in dairy farming and livestock or working in forestry. The migration from rural, remote areas but is still a problem in many parts of the Jura dar.

In many places of the Jura Mountains quarries were created for the extraction of building and decorative stones. Some of them date back to Gallo- Roman activities, such as the protected area monuments La Raisse occupied with Concise. Numerous preserved evidence of this kind are preserved in the Roman Museum ( Musée Romain ) of Avenches. Other important mining sites are found in Neuchâtel and in the field Vue des Alpes. This Jurassic limestones characterize in a striking manner the architecture, sculpture and secular buildings of the region and some have even been applied beyond. From distributed nationally, for example, as " marble " mainly for decorative purposes processed limestones Jaune de Lamartine and Brocatelle Chassal from the historically significant Marbrerie of Nicolas Gauthier of Molinges in the French part of the Jura mountains.

Traffic

Major roads run in the Jura mainly by the longitudinal valleys and gullies. The mountain is traversed by four highways, each many engineering structures ( tunnels and bridges ) had to be created. In Switzerland joins the A3 ( Switzerland ) Basel highway with Zurich by the Bözberg tunnel, the A2 ( Switzerland ) runs from Basel through the Ballon tunnel towards Bern / Luzern. In France, the A40, the connection between Lyon and Geneva, the A41 ago that between Lyon and Chambery. Through the Bernese Jura and the Canton of Jura is between Biel and Boncourt the Transjurane (A16 ) built, but only partially replaced by motorway standard. Between these main axes other roads of national significance, which cross the Jura with a pass ( Col de la Faucille Givrine, Col de Jougne, Vue des Alpes (also with road tunnel ), Low Hauenstein ).

The rail network is relatively dense in the Swiss Jura as a result of industrialization in the valleys. Significant jurassic crossing railway lines go from Basel to Zurich ( Bözberg ), Olten ( Hauenstein line) and Biel ( Juratrain ) of Neuchâtel via Pontarlier and Frasnian to Dijon, Lausanne via Vallorbe to Frasnian and from Geneva to Lyon.

On the major streets in the Middle Ages through the Jura were (mostly in the gullies ) built powerful castles to control the mountain pass or Klusdurchgangs at strategic places of interest. Especially many castle ruins can be found in Birstal and the Upper and Lower Hauenstein. In the 17th and 18th century, the Château de Joux gained great strategic importance south of Pontarlier.

Tourism

The Jura is suitable as a holiday resort for lovers of hiking and ski tours. For both activities, there are routes on which you can traverse the whole mountain: the Jura Crest Trail for hiking and the Grande Traversée du Jura cross-country skiing. There are also numerous local and regional trails and trails. Next to that are mid-sized ski resorts for alpine skiing. Due to its high altitude, the plateau is snow- sure cross- country ski area, which is also suitable for snowshoeing and various Metairies (French for farmed Bauer mountain inns ) comprises on the trails. It is one of the largest continuous skiing area of Switzerland.

A " tip " is the law for the cycling, because the plateaus are flat. On the heights to get there by bike either by train or by one of the slowly rising valleys. For climbers the numerous vertical rock walls are popular.

From the highest Jura chain offers on days with nice and clear weather, a fantastic panorama of the depending on the location 30 to 70 km wide lowlands as to the entire Alpine chain. For countryside lovers there are numerous well-known and lesser-known natural attractions such as caves, springs, boilers and gorges: Grottes de l' Orbe, Grottes de Réclère, Source de la Loue, Source Bleue, Creux du Van, Cirque de Baume etc. Especially picturesque is the in the Canton of Jura location part of the Jura, the free mountains (French: Freiberge ) is called. This part of the Jurassic is characterized by wide pastures and large detached spruce and is known for its horses.

Due to the rather low traffic, sprawling and often beautifully curved streets of the Jura is a popular tourist area also with motorcyclists.