Geological Heritage

The cross-border Geopark of the Carnic Alps develops around the Carnic Chain, in the section shared by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and the Land Carinthia.

The Paleocarnic chain develops along the border ridge and includes the territory of Avanza-Volaia-Coglians-Timau-Lanza, the area of the Basin of Pramollo and to the north the area of Malborghetto.
The trait d'union is given by the outcrops of  Palaeozoic rocks with their important fossil content. The adjacent reliefs and valleys should be added to this core area, that makes it possible to faithfully reconstruct the geological history of the Palaeozoic Era (from 545 million years to 250 million years ago). They too safeguard a geological heritage of primary importance.

First of all, the Tagliamento high valley, which develops on the border between the Alps and the Carnic Prealps: the massifs of Pramaggiore, Bivera, Verzegnis, the Pesarine Alps and the Cucco-Tersadia mountains narrate the Triassic geological history. The last millions of years history of the Tagliamento river can be reconstructed in this valley.

From the fossiliferous sites of the Triassic, with the most ancient flying reptiles in the world enclosed in the Dolomites of Forni, to the carboniferous deposits, originated from the forests that followed the seas; from the Alpine orogeny to the glacial and fluvial modelling of the Quaternary. The exploration of the cross-border Geopark of the Carnic Alps offers a clear panoramic view of 450 million years of geological history!