High Above the Alps

High above the Alps: A Bird's Eye View of Geology. A Visual Homage to the Awe Inspiring Geology of an Incredible Mountain Range. The Alps are the most famous, geologically active mountain range on Earth and bear an unbelievable wealth of geological highlights of unparalleled teaching potential, scientific interest, historical significance and sheer beauty. Although some of these have been made World Heritage sites by UNESCO, many of these highlights have not received attention outside a small community of Earth scientists and climbers. In part, this is because many geological features are only to be seen in inaccessible regions: in vertical rock faces, on the summits of high peaks or simply too large in scale to be appreciated from the ground. As such, aerial photography is the only way to do these features justice. In this project geologically oriented aerial photography of the Alps is presented and explained for the geologists and interested layperson alike. High above the Alps: A Bird's Eye View of Geology. is a "coffee-table" type book that explains the geology of the entire Alpine chain between Vienna and Nice on hand of photos taken from a small aircraft. The book contains more than 200 large-scale panoramic photos of the Alps and 170 geological diagrams, maps and other explanatory illustrations. The volume measures 24.5 x 30 cm in size and contains 296 pages. The book is a substantially revised and expanded version of the German language book "DIE GEOLOGIE DER ALPEN AUS DER LUFT", 3rd edition, which was published in 2011. Kurt Stüwe (Graz) is a professor of geology at the University of Graz in Austria. He specialises in explaining mountain building processes and leads research projects on this subject in many parts of the world. Kurt has published about 100 research papers on the geology of the Alps and is the author of several text books. Kurt is also an enthusiastic mountaineer and has conducted expeditions to the high peaks of all continents. Ruedi Homberger (Arosa) is a well-known Swiss nature photographer who is retired from running the company FOTO HOMBERGER in Arosa, Switzerland. As an enthusiastic climber, he has collected a lifetime of experience in the mountains of the world. In the last ten years he has discovered a love of flying and quickly gained an excellent reputation in the field of aerial photography. He has a long-standing mountain-based friendship with Kurt which bore the idea for this volume.