Outstanding for the past 15 million years: Swiss Alps have influenced Europe’s climate since the Miocene
Wednesday, July 11, 2012 - 00:00
in Earth & Climate
Switzerland’s highest peaks in the geologically young central Alps have been this high for quite some time, as a new study shows. 15 million years ago Europe’s own mountain range was at least as high as today. Scientists compared the isotopic ratios of water and oxygen in rocks in the Alps and Alpine foreland and were able to determine the height of the peaks in the past.