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54-686: The Hohe Munde is a 2,662-metre-high (8,734 ft) mountain at the eastern end of the Mieming Chain in the Austrian state of Tyrol . It has two peaks: the west top (2,662 m) and the east top or Mundekopf (2,592 m). The Hohe Munde rises north of the village of Telfs in the Inn valley . To the east is the Seefeld Plateau and the Leutasch village of Moos . To the north it

108-502: A few sheltered sites or underground. At the time of their deposition the rocks of the Northern Limestone Alps were located several hundred kilometres south of their present position. About 35 million years ago, tectonic forces, that are still active today, began to push these geological units northwards. At that time several kilometres of rock and several hundred metres of water lay on top of the rocks visible today. As

162-607: A mass extinction that began roughly 10,000 years ago, though the species becoming extinct have only been recorded since the Industrial Revolution . This is sometimes referred to as the " Sixth Extinction ". It is often cited that over 322 recorded species have become extinct due to human activity since the Industrial Revolution, but the rate may be as high as 500 vertebrate species alone, the majority of which have occurred after 1900. Geologically ,

216-593: A nappe, also called the Inn Valley Stack ( Inntaldecke ). At the same time the rocks were uplifted. Taken together these processes are referred to as orogeny or mountain building. The relatively recent deposits in the up to 70 metre deep moors are predominantly gravels, shingles, clay, humus and peat; the latter even being used at one time near Lermoos for the lead-zinc smelter of the Silberleithen cooperative ( Gewerkschaft ). The finishing touches to

270-605: A result there was a massive overlapping pressure that prevented the formations underneath from breaking up as they were pushed together. As a result of the compressional forces, thrust faulting occurred piling the rock layers up into nappes ( Gesteinsdecken ). For example, the steep slopes falling away from the Mieminger Mountains into the Ehrwald Basin or the Leutasch River are the front of such

324-585: A trend of desiccation which resulted in the creation of the Sahara , Namib , and Kalahari deserts. Many animals evolved including mammoths , giant ground sloths , dire wolves , sabre-toothed cats, and Homo sapiens . 100,000 years ago marked the end of one of the worst droughts in Africa, and led to the expansion of primitive humans. As the Pleistocene drew to a close, a major extinction wiped out much of

378-459: A very important role in this era, shaping the evolution of the birds and mammals that fed on them. One group that diversified significantly in the Cenozoic as well were the snakes . Evolving in the Cenozoic, the variety of snakes increased tremendously, resulting in many colubrids , following the evolution of their current primary prey source, the rodents . In the earlier part of the Cenozoic,

432-491: Is a period in which grasses spread further, dominating a large portion of the world, at the expense of forests. Kelp forests evolved, encouraging the evolution of new species, such as sea otters . During this time, perissodactyla thrived, and evolved into many different varieties. Apes evolved into 30 species. The Tethys Sea finally closed with the creation of the Arabian Peninsula , leaving only remnants as

486-609: Is also known as the Cænozoic , Caenozoic , or Cainozoic ( / ˌ k aɪ . n ə ˈ z oʊ . ɪ k , ˌ k eɪ -/ ). In name, the Cenozoic ( lit.   ' new life ' ) is comparable to the preceding Mesozoic ('middle life') and Paleozoic ('old life') Eras, as well as to the Proterozoic ('earlier life') Eon. The Cenozoic is divided into three periods: the Paleogene , Neogene , and Quaternary ; and seven epochs :

540-590: Is more detailed than any other era because of the relatively young, well-preserved rocks associated with it. The Paleogene spans from the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs, 66 million years ago, to the dawn of the Neogene, 23.03 million years ago. It features three epochs : the Paleocene , Eocene and Oligocene . The Paleocene Epoch lasted from 66 million to 56 million years ago. Modern placental mammals originated during this time. The devastation of

594-629: Is separated from the Wetterstein Mountains by the valley of Gaistal . To the west, the Mieming Chain stretches away into the distance. Beyond the saddle of Niedere Munde (2,059 m) is the next peak in the chain, the 2,469 metre high Karkopf , followed by the 2,719 metre high Hochwand . The mountain may be climbed on an easy but strenuous tour from Moos via the Rauth Hut (1,605 m). The cable car from Moos to

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648-645: Is the latest of three geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon , preceded by the Mesozoic and Paleozoic . The Cenozoic started with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event , when many species, including the non-avian dinosaurs , became extinct in an event attributed by most experts to the impact of a large asteroid or other celestial body, the Chicxulub impactor . The Cenozoic is also known as

702-584: The Age of Mammals because the terrestrial animals that dominated both hemispheres were mammals – the eutherians (placentals) in the northern hemisphere and the metatherians (marsupials, now mainly restricted to Australia and to some extent South America ) in the southern hemisphere. The extinction of many groups allowed mammals and birds to greatly diversify so that large mammals and birds dominated life on Earth. The continents also moved into their current positions during this era. The climate during

756-578: The Biberwierer Scharte or the Tajatörl . During the next time period, a thick sequence of dark limestones was formed - the Alpine muschelkalks - which, when struck, often smell slightly of bitumen and are striking because of their uneven, irregular surface layers. Irregularly shaped, dark brown to black hornfels nodules ( Knauern ) and greenish tuffs occur in these limestones that indicate

810-535: The Black , Red , Mediterranean and Caspian Seas . This increased aridity. Many new plants evolved: 95% of modern seed plants families were present by the end of the Miocene. The Pliocene Epoch lasted from 5.333 to 2.58 million years ago. The Pliocene featured dramatic climatic changes, which ultimately led to modern species of flora and fauna. The Mediterranean Sea dried up for several million years (because

864-880: The Gurgltal valley from Imst to Nassereith and over the Fern Pass to Ehrwald . To the north its boundary runs from Ehrwald along the Gaisbach stream and the Ehrwalder Alm into the Gaistal ( Leutascher Ache ) and continues through Leutasch –Oberweidach and past the Simmelberg to the north to the Drahnbach. The eastern boundary runs along the stream of Drahnbach and over the Seefelder saddle, then downhill along

918-708: The Isthmus of Panama around 2.8  million years ago , the Arctic region cooled due to the strengthening of the Humboldt and Gulf Stream currents, eventually leading to the glaciations of the Quaternary ice age , the current interglacial of which is the Holocene Epoch. Recent analysis of the geomagnetic reversal frequency, oxygen isotope record, and tectonic plate subduction rate, which are indicators of

972-852: The K-Pg event , the planet was dominated by relatively small fauna, including small mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. From a geological perspective, it did not take long for mammals to greatly diversify in the absence of the dinosaurs that had dominated during the Mesozoic. Birds also diversified rapidly; some flightless birds grew larger than humans. These species are sometimes referred to as " terror birds ", and were formidable predators. Mammals came to occupy almost every available niche (both marine and terrestrial ), and some also grew very large, attaining sizes not seen in most of today's terrestrial mammals. The ranges of many Cenozoic bird clades were governed by latitude and temperature and have contracted over

1026-572: The K–Pg extinction event included the extinction of large herbivores , which permitted the spread of dense but usually species-poor forests. The Early Paleocene saw the recovery of Earth. The continents began to take their modern shape, but all the continents and the subcontinent of India were separated from each other. Afro-Eurasia was separated by the Tethys Sea , and the Americas were separated by

1080-834: The Niederbach to its confluence with the Inn. The Fern Pass links the Mieminger range with the Lechtal Alps. The unnamed saddle near the Ehrwalder Alm is the link between the Mieminger Chain and the Wetterstein. The Seefelder saddle links the Mieminger Chain with the Karwendel. The Alpine Club Guide divides the Mieminger Chain into the following sub-groups: The 10 highest peaks in the Mieminger Chain are the: In

1134-757: The Paleocene , Eocene , Oligocene , Miocene , Pliocene , Pleistocene , and Holocene . The Quaternary Period was officially recognised by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in June 2009. In 2004, the Tertiary Period was officially replaced by the Paleogene and Neogene Periods. The common use of epochs during the Cenozoic helps palaeontologists better organise and group the many significant events that occurred during this comparatively short interval of time. Knowledge of this era

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1188-627: The Triassic and Jurassic Periods), whilst the second window is the last 10,000 years since the end of the Würm glaciation (part of the Cenozoic ). There are no older rocks that predate those from in the first window, and the more recent ones have been eroded by wind, weather and water since the Alpine orogeny about 35 million years ago. The mountains' geological history began in tropical climes, on

1242-624: The ice ages reduced sea levels, disconnecting the Atlantic from the Mediterranean, and evaporation rates exceeded inflow from rivers). Australopithecus evolved in Africa , beginning the human branch. The isthmus of Panama formed, and animals migrated between North and South America during the great American interchange , wreaking havoc on local ecologies. Climatic changes brought: savannas that are still continuing to spread across

1296-763: The isthmus of Panama . India collided with Asia 55 to 45 million years ago creating the Himalayas; Arabia collided with Eurasia, closing the Tethys Ocean and creating the Zagros Mountains , around 35  million years ago . The break-up of Gondwana in Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic times led to a shift in the river courses of various large African rivers including the Congo , Niger , Nile , Orange , Limpopo and Zambezi . In

1350-552: The Cenozoic is the era when the continents moved into their current positions. Australia-New Guinea , having split from Pangea during the early Cretaceous , drifted north and, eventually, collided with Southeast Asia ; Antarctica moved into its current position over the South Pole ; the Atlantic Ocean widened and, later in the era (2.8 million years ago), South America became attached to North America with

1404-600: The Cretaceous, the climate was hot and humid with lush forests at the poles, there was no permanent ice and sea levels were around 300 metres higher than today. This continued for the first 10 million years of the Paleocene, culminating in the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum about 55.5  million years ago . Around 50  million years ago Earth entered a period of long term cooling. This

1458-483: The Early-Eocene, species living in dense forest were unable to evolve into larger forms, as in the Paleocene. Among them were early primates, whales and horses along with many other early forms of mammals. At the top of the food chains were huge birds, such as Paracrax . Carbon dioxide levels were approximately 1,400 ppm . The temperature was 30 degrees Celsius with little temperature gradient from pole to pole. In

1512-648: The Hohe Munde. Rudolf Wutscher (1989), Österreichischer Alpenverein ; Deutscher Alpenverein ; Alpenverein Südtirol (eds.), Alpenvereinsführer Mieminger Kette (in German), Munich: Bergverlag Rudolf Rother , pp. 93–104, ISBN   3-7633-1099-1 Mieming Chain Public transport links: The Außerfern Railway stops at Ehrwald on the western side of the range. Busses run from Leutasch on

1566-664: The Inn Valley or Inntal Stack. Almost all the rocks in the Mieminger range were formed at one stage on the seabed and consist of limestone and its derivative, dolomite . In addition there are sandstones , argillites , hornfels , carbonate breccias (rauhwackes) and volcanic tuffs . In relation to the total age of the Earth, which is about 4,500 million years, the rocks of the Mieminger Mountains come mainly from two relatively small windows of time. One of these began about 250 million years ago and ended 130 million years ago (during

1620-553: The Mid-Eocene, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current between Australia and Antarctica formed. This disrupted ocean currents worldwide and as a result caused a global cooling effect, shrinking the jungles. This allowed mammals to grow to mammoth proportions, such as whales which, by that time, had become almost fully aquatic. Mammals like Andrewsarchus were at the top of the food-chain. The Late Eocene saw

1674-443: The Mieminger Mountains there are over 60 named peaks with spot heights. The best known, in order of height, are the: In the area of the 1,789 m high Marienbergjoch is a ski area . There are three Alpine Club huts in the Mieminger Mountains, only one of which is managed. The Via Alpina , a cross-border long-distance trail with five sections through the whole Alps, runs through the Mieminger Mountains. The Red Path ( Rote Weg ) of

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1728-730: The Rauth Hut (the Mundelift ) is no longer working. On the eastern slopes of the Mundekopf extensive avalanche defences have been built to protect the village of Sagl. These were finished in August 2014. Sure-footed and experienced climbers can also climb the Hohe Munde from Telfs - branching off in Straßberg to the saddle of the Niedere Munde - via the western arête, a route graded as UIAA I . There are several climbing routes up

1782-511: The Via Alpina has two stages running through the range as follows: Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( / ˌ s iː n ə ˈ z oʊ . ɪ k , ˌ s ɛ n -/ SEE -nə- ZOH -ik, SEN -ə- ; lit.   ' new life ' ) is Earth's current geological era , representing the last 66   million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals , birds , conifers , and angiosperms (flowering plants). It

1836-460: The changes in the heat flux at the core mantle boundary, climate and plate tectonic activity, shows that all these changes indicate similar rhythms on million years' timescale in the Cenozoic Era occurring with the common fundamental periodicity of ~13 Myr during most of the time. The levels of carbonate ions in the ocean fell over the course of the Cenozoic. Early in the Cenozoic, following

1890-466: The climate. It is divided into two epochs: the Pleistocene and the Holocene. The Pleistocene lasted from 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago. This epoch was marked by ice ages as a result of the cooling trend that started in the Mid-Eocene. There were at least four separate glaciation periods marked by the advance of ice caps as far south as 40° N in mountainous areas. Meanwhile, Africa experienced

1944-469: The course of this era as the world cooled. During the Cenozoic, mammals proliferated from a few small, simple, generalised forms into a diverse collection of terrestrial , marine , and flying animals, giving this period its other name, the Age of Mammals. The Cenozoic is just as much the age of savannas , the age of co-dependent flowering plants and insects , and the age of birds. Grasses also played

1998-444: The early Cenozoic was warmer than today, particularly during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum . However, the Eocene to Oligocene transition and the Quaternary glaciation dried and cooled Earth. Cenozoic derives from the Greek words kainós ( καινός 'new') and zōḗ ( ζωή 'life'). The name was proposed in 1840 by the British geologist John Phillips (1800–1874), who originally spelled it Kainozoic . The era

2052-506: The edge of a broad and shallow sea: the Alpine Tethys . To begin with, material was deposited that had been washed into the sea from the land; then the sea level rose and limestone-forming organisms began to populate it. Marine deposits that were near the shore, made of limestones, dolomitic rocks and breccias, are still layered in places in a narrow strip of land between Langlehn and Igelskar (Reichenhall Strata). Because they weather relatively easily, they form cols ( Scharte ) and Törle like

2106-467: The first elephants, cats, dogs, marsupials and many other species still prevalent today. Many other species of plants evolved in this period too. A cooling period featuring seasonal rains was still in effect. Mammals still continued to grow larger and larger. The Neogene spans from 23.03 million to 2.58 million years ago. It features 2 epochs: the Miocene, and the Pliocene. The Miocene Epoch spans from 23.03 to 5.333 million years ago and

2160-404: The following other mountain ranges of the Alps: In the AVE , the Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps , published in 1984, the Mieminger and Wetterstein ranges are shown as a single unit. To the south the River Inn forms the boundary of the range from the Niederbach stream near Inzing upstream as far as its confluence with the Gurglbach near Imst . Its western boundary runs along

2214-477: The landscape since the last ice age was the Fern Pass landslide that filled the valley between Biberwier and Nassereith to a depth of 200 metres. Since then the scenery has changed very little. Occasionally there are rock avalanches, landslides or mudflows. Water, ice and wind continue to attack the rocks, transporting their debris down the mountain torrents into the valleys and reminding us that these geological processes continue today. The Mieminger Chain borders on

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2268-406: The mountains and valleys took place during the Würm glaciation . The ice sheet of the Loisach Glacier was about 1,000 metres thick and, after the ice had melted about 10,000 years ago, it left behind that typical feature of ice age terrain: moraines. The remnants of the ice sheet in the mountains formed classic cirques , in which the last moraines of the glacier have survived. The major change to

2322-416: The north and south faces below both the east and west tops, some of which are difficult. A ski tour is possible over the steep (up to 45 degrees) east side in the spring. However, this requires safe firn conditions and a very early start. In 1990, the drama Munde by Felix Mitterer was premiered on the Hohe Munde. In 2009 the Tatort episode, Baum der Erlösung , was partly filmed in the summit area of

2376-440: The presence of nearby Stromboli-like volcanoes. This sequence arose from a shallow, oxygen-rich marine environment, in which reefs and basins alternated with one another. Some time afterwards the Partnach Strata were formed that are especially attractive in the Schwärz between the Marienbergspitzen and Wampertem Schrofen . They consist of light-coloured limestone interbedded with argillites . Next, reefs began to develop in

2430-449: The rebirth of seasons, which caused the expansion of savanna-like areas, along with the evolution of grasses . The end of the Eocene was marked by the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event , the European face of which is known as the Grande Coupure . The Oligocene Epoch spans from 33.9 million to 23.03 million years ago. The Oligocene featured the expansion of grasslands which had led to many new species to evolve, including

2484-504: The rhinoceros-like brontotheres , various bizarre groups of mammals from South America, such as the vaguely elephant-like pyrotheres and the dog-like marsupial relatives called borhyaenids and the monotremes and marsupials of Australia. Mammal evolution in the Cenozoic was predominantly shaped by climatic and geological processes. Cenozoic calcareous nannoplankton experienced rapid rates of speciation and reduced species longevity, while suffering prolonged declines in diversity during

2538-444: The scene above the tree line . A feature of Wetterstein limestone is silver -containing lead and zinc ore . These were mined at Silberleithe and in the rest of the Mieminger Mountains. The Triassic Period in the Mieminger Chain ends with Wetterstein limestone and is then followed by the Jurassic whose deposits are of less importance. They were largely carried off in the course of the millions of years and only still exist in

2592-550: The shallow waters of the sea, in which small coralline algae ( haptophytes ) and corals lived. Their dead, limy skeletons form the most important rock: Wetterstein limestone. This mostly bright white and weather-resistant limestone contrasts strongly with the other rocks. It forms the striking summits of the Mieminger and Wetterstein Mountains, not least the Sonnenspitze, Igelskopf and Zugspitze. Because Wetterstein limestone contains few plant nutrients, its scree and talus slopes are largely unvegetated and this tends to characterise

2646-458: The southern side of the mountains to Mittenwald and Seefeld in Tirol . The Mieminger Mountains lie in a particularly interesting region from a geological standpoint. Between the peaks of the Sonnenspitze, Wetterstein and Daniel, three geological units meet that, during the course of mountain building , were piled on top of one another as nappes and today are adjacent to one together. The Mieminger Mountains are located in one of these stacks:

2700-442: The strait of Panama, as the isthmus had not yet formed. This epoch featured a general warming trend, with jungles eventually reaching the poles. The oceans were dominated by sharks as the large reptiles that had once predominated were extinct. Archaic mammals filled the world such as creodonts (extinct carnivores, unrelated to existing Carnivora ). The Eocene Epoch ranged from 56 million years to 33.9 million years ago. In

2754-581: The world was dominated by the gastornithid birds, terrestrial crocodylians like Pristichampsus , large sharks such as Otodus , and a handful of primitive large mammal groups like uintatheres , mesonychians , and pantodonts . But as the forests began to recede and the climate began to cool, other mammals took over. The Cenozoic is full of mammals both strange and familiar, including chalicotheres , creodonts , whales , primates , entelodonts , sabre-toothed cats , mastodons and mammoths , three-toed horses , giant rhinoceros like Paraceratherium ,

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2808-401: The world's megafauna, including some of the hominid species, such as Neanderthals . All the continents were affected, but Africa to a lesser extent. It still retains many large animals, such as hippos. The Holocene began 11,700 years ago and lasts to the present day. All recorded history and "the Human history " lies within the boundaries of the Holocene Epoch. Human activity is blamed for

2862-469: The world; Indian monsoons ; deserts in central Asia ; and the beginnings of the Sahara desert. The world map has not changed much since, save for changes brought about by the glaciations of the Quaternary, such as the Great Lakes , Hudson Bay , and the Baltic Sea . The Quaternary spans from 2.58 million years ago to present day, and is the shortest geological period in the Phanerozoic Eon . It features modern animals, and dramatic changes in

2916-479: Was mainly due to the collision of India with Eurasia, which caused the rise of the Himalayas : the upraised rocks eroded and reacted with CO 2 in the air, causing a long-term reduction in the proportion of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Around 35  million years ago permanent ice began to build up on Antarctica. The cooling trend continued in the Miocene , with relatively short warmer periods. When South America became attached to North America creating

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