Salzburg Slate Alps
| Salzburg Slate Alps | |
|---|---|
 Salzach valley with Burg Hohenwerfen | |
| Highest point | |
| Peak | Hundstein |
| Elevation | 2,117 m (6,946 ft) |
| Coordinates | 47°20′17″N 12°54′40″E / 47.33806°N 12.91111°E |
| Geography | |
| Country | Austria |
| State | Salzburg |
| Range coordinates | 47°23′N 13°13′E / 47.39°N 13.21°ECoordinates: 47°23′N 13°13′E / 47.39°N 13.21°E |
| Parent range | Central Eastern Alps |
The Salzburg Slate Alps (German: Salzburger Schieferalpen) are a group of mountains in the Central Eastern Alps in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Situated within the greywacke zone, they are also regarded as part of the Northern Limestone Alps.
The range is located between the Kitzbühel Alps, the continuation of the greywacke zone beyond Lake Zeller and Saalach river in the west, and the Dachstein massif in the east. In the north it is adjacent to the Berchtesgaden Alps, while in the south the Salzach valley separates it from the Hohe Tauern.
Subdivisions
This mountain group, designated by the Alpine Club Classification of the Eastern Alps (AVE) based on its underlying rock, cannot be assigned from a geological perspective either to the Northern or the Central Alps, so it does not fit into the general tripartite division of the Eastern Alps and, as a result, is variously treated in the literature. From a topographic perspective the group includes:
- the Dienten Mountains (Dientener Berge), which are known in the region as slate mountains in the true sense, run from west of the Salzach to Zell am See, and include the Hundstein massif (2,117 m (AA)) and the Schneeberg-Hochglockner Group (Schneeberg-Hochglockner-Gruppe, (Schneebergkreuz 1,938 m (AA))
- the Fritztal Mountains (Fritztaler Berge), running from east of the Salzach to the Styrian border and the Dachstein, including the:
- Hochgründeck (1,821 m (AA)) in the triangle formed by Bischofshofen, St. Johann and Altenmarkt;
- Rossbrand (1,770 m (AA)), which runs from Altenmarkt to the Mandling Pass near Radstadt;
- Glutserberg, Halserberg and the Ramsauerleiten, three smaller regions that continue the Rossbrand to Schladming;
- Gerzkopf (1,728 m (AA)), north of the Fritztal valley, which geologically belongs to the limestone region between the Tennen Mountains and the Dachstein, and are morphologically less related to the Dachstein massif and more to its southwestern outlier
