Northern Styrian Alps

Northern Styrian Alps
Steirische Nordalpen
The Hochtor, in the foreground the Hesshütte
Highest point
Peak	Hochtor
Elevation	2,369 m (7,772 ft)
Coordinates	47°33′44″N 14°38′01″E / 47.56222°N 14.63361°ECoordinates: 47°33′44″N 14°38′01″E / 47.56222°N 14.63361°E
Geography
Northern Styrian Alps (section nr.26) within Eaestern Alps
Country	Austria
States of Austria	Styria, Upper Austria and Lower Austria
Parent range	Alps
Borders on	Styrian Prealps, Eastern Tauern Alps, Salzkammergut and Upper Austria Alps and Northern Lower Austria Alps
Geology
Orogeny	Alpine orogeny
Type of rock	Sedimentary rocks[1]

The Northern Styrian Alps (Steirische Nordalpen in German) is the proposed name for a subdivision of mountain ranges in a new, as yet unadopted, classification of the Alps, located in Austria.

Geography

Administratively the range belongs to the Austrian state of Styria and, marginally, to Upper Austria and Lower Austria. The whole range is drained by the Danube river.

SOIUSA classification

According to SOIUSA (International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps) the mountain range is an Alpine section, classified in the following way:^[2]

• main part = Eastern Alps
• major sector = Northern Limestone Alps
• section = Northern Styrian Alps
• code = II/B-26

Subdivision

The range is divided in two Alpine subsections:^[2]

• Ennstal Alps - SOIUSA code:II/B-26.I;
• North-eastern Styrian Alps - SOIUSA code:II/B-26.II;

These subsections are further subdivided in supergroups as it follows:

• Ennstal Alps:
  • supergroup Haller Mauern - SOIUSA code:II/B-26.I-A,
  • supergroup Gesäuse - SOIUSA code:II/B-26.I-B,
  • supergroup Eisenerzer Alpen - SOIUSA code:II/B-26.I-C.
• North-eastern Styrian Alps:
  • supergroup Hochschwabgruppe - SOIUSA code:II/B-26.II-A,
  • supergroup Mürzsteger Alpen - SOIUSA code:II/B-26.II-B,
  • supergroup Rax-Schneeberg-Gruppe - SOIUSA code:II/B-26.II-C.

Notable summits

Panorama from near the peak (Windberg) of the Schneealpe

Some notable summits of the range are:

Name	metres	feet
Hochtor	2,369	7,770
Hochschwab	2,278	7,472
Klosterwappen	2,076	6,809
Hohe Veitsch	1,981	6,498
Messnerin	1,835	6,019

References

1. The Northern Limestone Alps, Gesaeuse National Park; article on www.nationalpark.co.at, accessed on April 2012
2. Marazzi, Sergio (2005). Atlante Orografico delle Alpi. SOIUSA (in Italian). Priuli & Verlucca. ISBN 978-88-8068-273-8.