Marine Biology 10,000 Feet Above Sea Level
Mountains sure aren´t what they used to be. Take the Dolomites in the Veneto Region of Italy and Austria; 140 to 90 million years ago, they were part of the sea floor rather than mountains. Over millions of years, deposits were then formed from calcareous shells of marine life from the Mesozoic era. Tectonic forces later caused these sediments to rise upward to the mountaintops of today´s well-known and popular Southern Alps. The mountain range contains one of the most complete and most accessible geological records - also being one of the richest in fossils - from the Cretaceous period in Europe. This record was scientifically analyzed in-depth for the first time within the framework of a project supported by the Austrian Science Fund FWF. read more
