The Dolomite Landscape of the Alta Badia (Northeastern Alps): A Remarkable Record of Geological and Geomorphological History

Abstract

The Alta Badia (Eastern Dolomites) well synthetizes the remarkable geological and geomorphological features that enabled the Dolomites to be inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Spectacular dolomite mountain groups, built up during the Triassic in coral-reef and tidal-plain environments, stand out of mild slopes made up of clayey terrains deposited in deep inter-reef basins. The landscape is characterized by pale-coloured dolomite cliffs, towers and pinnacles rising above wide talus deposits and gentle grassy foothills witnessing a complex geomorphological long-term evolution. Pleistocene glaciers profoundly shaped the valleys and, at their retreat, periglacial and gravity-induced processes had a major role in slope modelling. Landslides have affected the valleys since the Lateglacial leaving a clear inprint on the landscape, as well as Man in recent times.