Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
4
Geological and Geomorphological
Setting
Systematic tourism started in the second half of the 19th
century, when explorers were attracted by the unique nature
of the landscape of these mountains and their inaccessibility.
The Florence branch of the Alpine Club of Italy, founded in
1868, has focused its main activities on the Apuan Alps. The
historical presence of hikers has led to the development of an
intricate network of more than 600 km of footpaths. These
paths, which are now managed by the Tuscan branches of
the Alpine Club of Italy, bring hikers closer to the geological
heritage, thereby making geotourism a natural feature of the
hiking itineraries.
Another facet of long-standing geotourism in the area is
linked to speleological exploration. After the discovery of
the Corchia Cave in 1840, the Apuan Alps attracted spele-
ologists from Italy and other European countries to the large
number of caves and still unexplored karst cavities. The rst
speleological groups were formed after the First World War,
introducing a new period of collective exploration and sys-
tematic expeditions, previously carried out by individuals. In
the present day, the presence of speleologists throughout the
year is usual.
The Apuan Alps de
ne a tectonic window and provide
insight into the geological evolution of the Northern Apen-
nines, a belt of the Alpine-Himalayan orogenic system. The
Northern Apennines resulted from the convergence and the
subsequent collision between the European plate and the
African plate. These processes thrust ophiolite-bearing oce-
anic-derived Ligurian Units onto the continental-derived
Tuscan Units and have resulted in a complex fold and thrust
belt with NE-directed tectonic transport. The Apuan tectonic
window allows the observation of the crustal duplication of
the continental Tuscan units (Fig.
4
). The lower tectonic
units (Tuscan Metamorphic Units) underwent green-schist
metamorphism during the Cenozoic time and constitute the
lowermost units of the structural stacking of the Northern
Apennines (Carmignani and Klig
eld
1990
). The upper
units are the corresponding unmetamorphosed sedimentary
formations forming the Tuscan Nappe. The latter consists of
a Mesozoic-Cenozoic succession evolving from shallow
Fig. 4
Tectonic map of Apuan
Alps Geopark. Modi
ed after1
et al. (
2010
). Main geosites:
1
.
Buca della Vena Mine,
2
. Roversi
Abyss,
3
. Vetricia karren
eld,
4
.
Quicksilver mines,
5
. Corchia
cave,
6
. Forno Spring,
7
. Equi
Gorge,
8
. Wind cave,
9
. Wave
cave,
10
. Serenaia valley,
11
.
Archaeomining area of the
“
Bardiglio Cappella
”
marble,
12
.
Karst-paleontological Park of
Equi Terme Caves
