!!!Grauwackenzone

Greywacke Zone (from greywacke, paleozoic sandstone), structural 
element of the Eastern Alps between the Northern Limestone Alps in the 
north (of which it is the geological basis) and the Central Alps in 
the south. It is made up of relatively soft rocks prone to weathering; 
the mountains are therefore round in shape, scarcely wooded and 
largely covered with grassland and pastures ("Grasberge", Austrian for 
"grassy mountains"), which makes them particularly suitable for cattle 
grazing and skiing. The Greywacke Zone is also home of most of the 
mineral resources in Austria: iron ore and copper, magnesite, 
graphite, talc, etc. On the Arlberg Mountain, around the town of 
Landeck and in the Oberinntal Valley the Greywacke Zone forms only a 
narrow strip, but widens at the Wipptal Valley to include large parts 
of the Tux Alps, the Kitzbuehel Alps and the Salzburg Slate Mountains 
(Dienten Mountains), the base of the Dachstein Mountain (Ramsau 
plateau) and other mountains in the upper Ennstal Valley as well as 
the Eisenerz Alps. It then runs along the Muerztal Valley, crosses the 
area around the Semmering Mountain and stretches out into the Vienna 
Basin.


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