The Palaeozoic of the Carnic Alps (Italy-Austria)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3301/GFT.2026.07 - Pages: 1-50

¹Dipartimento di Matematica Informatica e Geoscienze, Università di Trieste, via Weiss 2, 34128 Trieste, Italy.

²IRSPS, Università d'Annunzio, viale Pindaro 42, 65127 Pescara, Italy.

³Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Università di Bologna, via Zamboni 67, 40126 Bologna, Italy.

⁴Landesmuseum für Kärnten, Sammlungs- und Wissenschaftszentrum, Abt. Geowissenschaften, Liberogasse 6, 9020 Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Austria.

Corresponding e-mail address: ccorradini@units.it

The Carnic Alps are a segment of the Southern Alps located along the border between north-eastern Italy and Austria. One of the world's most studied Palaeozoic sequences is exposed here. It is divided into three parts: the Pre-Variscan sequence, which consists of rocks deposited between the latest Proterozoic and the Early Pennsylvanian, followed by the Permo-Carboniferous sequence (Upper Pennsylvanian to Cisuralian), and then by the lower part of the Alpine sequence (Guadalupian and younger rocks). Though affected by strong orogeneses, these sequences still preserve continuous and non-metamorphosed stratigraphy. The depositional settings range from shallow water to open marine environments. The field trip is organised as a pre-congress excursion of the PALEO4ALPS – Joint Meeting of the Austrian, German, Italian, and Swiss Paleontological Societies (Bolzano, July 19-23, 2026) and includes three days of visits to various localities in the central sector of the Carnic Alps, focusing on different aspects of stratigraphy and palaeontology of the area. Stops at the visitor centres of the Transborder Carnic Alps Geopark are also scheduled.

stratigraphy, tectonics, palaeontology, Palaeozoic, Perigondwana.