Alpine orogeny

The Alpine orogeny or Alpide orogeny[dubious – discuss] is an orogenic phase in the Late Mesozoic[1] (Eoalpine) and the current Cenozoic that has formed the mountain ranges of the Alpide belt.

The Alpine orogeny is caused by the continents Africa, Arabia and India and the small Cimmerian Plate colliding (from the south) with Eurasia in the north.

The Alpine orogeny has also led to the formation of more distant and smaller geological features such as the Weald–Artois Anticline in Southern England and northern France, the remains of which can be seen in the chalk ridges of the North and South Downs in southern England.

Its effects are particularly visible on the Isle of Wight, where the Chalk Group and overlying Eocene strata are folded to near-vertical, as seen in exposures at Alum Bay and Whitecliff Bay, and on the Dorset coast near Lulworth Cove.

[3] Stresses arising from the Alpine orogeny caused the Cenozoic uplift of the Sudetes mountain range[4] and possibly faulted rocks as far away as Öland in southern Sweden during the Paleocene.