Apuan Alps

Apuan Alps
Apuan Alps seen from Pietrasanta.
Highest point
Peak	Monte Pisanino
Elevation	1,946 m (6,385 ft)
Coordinates	44°08′01″N 10°12′52″E
Geography
Location of the Apuan Alps in Italy
Country	Italy
Region	Tuscany
Parent range	Apennine Mountains
Geology
Rock age	Triassic

Northern view of the Pizzo d'Uccello.

The Apuan Alps (Italian: Alpi Apuane) are a mountain range in northern Tuscany, Italy. They are included between the valleys of the Serchio and Magra rivers, and, to the northwest, the Garfagnana and Lunigiana, with a total length of approximately 55 kilometres (34 mi).

The name derives from the Apuani Ligures tribe that lived there in ancient times.

The mountain range is known for its Carrara marble. Due to its extraction height environmental impact, the No Cav movement strongly opposes this activity.

Geology and geography

Carrara marble being mined in the Apuan Alps

The chain formed out of sea sediments in the middle Triassic period, somewhat earlier than the rest of the Apennines, and on a rather different geological structure. Over time, these sediments hardened into limestone, dolomite, sandstone, and shale. Harsh pressure approximately 25 million years ago transformed the limestone in many places into the Carrara marble (named for the nearby city of Carrara) for which the range is renowned. Erosion carved much of the remaining sedimentary rocks into a jagged karst topography.

The No Cav environmental movement is fighting for the closure of the marble quarries in the Apuan Alps due to their environmental impact.

Main peaks

• Monte Pisanino (1,946 metres (6,385 ft)) – The highest peak in the Apuan alps
• Monte Tambura (1,890 m)
• Monte Cavallo (1,888 m)
• Pania della Croce (1,858 m)
• Monte Grondìlice (1,808 m)
• Monte Contrario (1,788 m)
• Pizzo d'Uccello (1,781 m)
• Monte Sumbra (1765 m)
• Monte Sagro (1,749 m)

External links

Media related to Apuan Alps at Wikimedia Commons

• Alpi Apuane Park official website