Geology of Europe

The geology of Europe is varied and complex, and gives rise to the wide variety of landscapes found across the continent, from the Scottish Highlands to the rolling plains of Hungary.

A submarine back-arc basin develops south of Italy, which is one of several Mediterranean mini-continental fragments caught between the two plates.

This buckling of the Earth's crust forces up Italy's mountains and stimulates active faults and volcanoes such as Mount Etna.

Moving north from the Alps and other ranges, tectonic activity largely fades away in the stable Baltic craton.

[1] Stripping of weathered rock has produced depressions occupied by numerous lakes in Finland and Sweden.