Rhône-Simplon line

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Geology of the Alps
Tectonic subdivision
Helvetic Zone Penninic nappes Austroalpine nappes Southern Alps
Formation & rocks
Bündner schist flysch molasse
Geological structures
Aarmassif Dent Blanche klippe Engadine Line Engadine window Giudicárie line Greywacke zone Hohe Tauern window Molasse basin Penninic thrustfront Periadriatic Seam Ivrea zone Lepontin dome Rhône-Simplon line Sesia unit
Paleogeographic terminology
Valais Ocean Briançonnais zone Piemont-Liguria Ocean Apulian or Adriatic plate
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The Rhone-Simplon line is a large geologic faultzone in the Swiss Alps.

The line runs from the Ossola valley over the Simplon Pass and then follows the Rhône valley in an east–west direction. Somewhere south of Sion it goes over smoothly into the Penninic thrustfront.

Geologically speaking, the line serves as a huge dextral strike-slip fault. The northeastern block (called the Lepontin dome) is moving up as well. Geologists see the line as an expression of the continued NNW movement of the Apulian plate into the European plate.