Editing Geology of the Alps (section)

==Geologic boundaries==
[[File:Tectonic map Mediterranean EN.svg|thumb|350px|Tectonic map of the [[Mediterranean]], showing the position of the Alps within other structures of the [[Alpide belt]]]]
The Alps form a northward [[wikt:convex|convex]] arc around their southeastern [[foreland basin]], the [[Po Valley|Po river basin]] (to be precise the south is in fact their [[hinterland (geology)|hinterland]]). [[Quaternary]] and [[Neogene]] [[sediment]]s in this basin lie discordant over the southernmost [[thrust fault|thrust]] units. In the northeast, southward [[Strike and dip|dipping]] and internally thrust [[Cenozoic]] foreland deposits ([[flysch]] and [[molasse]]) are found. This [[Bavaria]]n and [[Switzerland|Swiss]] foreland basin is called the [[Molasse basin]]. The foreland basin deposits are overthrust from the south by the thrustfront of the Alpine nappes. In Switzerland the Molasse Basin is rimmed to the northwest by the [[Jura Mountains]], an external fold-and-thrust belt, which can be seen as part of the Alps geologically. The western part of the Molasse basin forms the plateau of the [[Swiss plateau|''Mittelland'']] between the Alps and Jura Mountains. The Jura Mountains' location is still a topic for debate. A possible tectonic factor is the north–south extensional [[Upper Rhine Graben]] to the north.

The Alps continue fairly smoothly into the following related Alpine mountain ranges: the [[Apennine Mountains|Apennines]] to the southwest, the [[Dinarides]] to the southeast and the Carpathians to the northeast. In the east the Alps are bounded by the [[Viennese Basin]] and the [[Pannonian Basin]], where east–west stretching of the crust takes place.