Central Europe . ternmost of the Alpine railways, the line Triesteto Vienna, touches Laibach and Graz without encounter-ing any serious difficulty before the Semmering Pass on theheight leading over to the plain of Lower Austria. Thispass is important also because it marks the eastern end ofthat great chain of valleys which forms to the geologistseye the approximate, but to the geographers the perfectlyclear and connected boundary between the Central Alpsand the northern secondary zone of the Eastern Alps. The Inn, Salzach, and Enns rivers, which are the THE ALPS AND THE GERMAN DANUBE 39 princ
Central Europe . ternmost of the Alpine railways, the line Triesteto Vienna, touches Laibach and Graz without encounter-ing any serious difficulty before the Semmering Pass on theheight leading over to the plain of Lower Austria. Thispass is important also because it marks the eastern end ofthat great chain of valleys which forms to the geologistseye the approximate, but to the geographers the perfectlyclear and connected boundary between the Central Alpsand the northern secondary zone of the Eastern Alps. The Inn, Salzach, and Enns rivers, which are the THE ALPS AND THE GERMAN DANUBE 39 principal elements in this long succession of valleys,have each an upper reach, running longitudinally withthe chain, and a lower reach carrying them crosswisethrough the Limestone Alps to the plain. The trans-verse valleys (Figs. 8, 9), which are older than thelongitudinal reaches, divide the Northern Alps intosharply isolated groups, which to the west form sharpridges and slender pointed peaks, as do the Wetterstein. Fig. 8.—Ancient Transverse Valleys of the Northern Alps. Mountains, which include the Zugspitze, the highestpeak in the German Empire. It is only in Salz-burg and Upper Austria that mountain blocks prevailwith a broader ground plan and with flatter tops ; theirsurface, however, is rendered almost impassable by theunevenness of the Karren—irregularly shaped holesand channels which owe their existence to the unequaldecomposition of the limestone by the action of stand- 4° CENTRAL EUROPE ing or running water. The ground looks as if sulphuricacid had rained upon it. Not without reason does oneof these, blocks bear the name of the Dead their wild limestone formations the Northern Alpshave no lack of rich meadow lands. There are extensivewoods, too, both in the mountains and more particularlyon the belt of sandstone and schist which forms theirexternal border. This belt is particularly broad inAustria, but is seldom so completely wanting as to permit the
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