World through biologist's eyes: August 2016

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Alpine fauna and flora_Partenkirchner Dreitorspitze_Germany/Austria_August 2016

Munich, where I currently live, has a great location as it is near the mountains, Alps. The Alps are located in the south-central Europe. The Alps are a result of the collision of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates, that occured approximately 65-55 million years ago. Interestingly, the formation of mountains is not a single event. Moreover, the Alps are constantly changing: on one hand they undergo the erosion (e.g. due to glaciers and rivers), and on the other hand they undergo a regeneration from the Earth´s crust. Excitingly, it is estimated that the Alps ´´grow´´ 0.5 millimeter per year.

Last Sunday I got up at 4 am, which is not so easy for me, because usually I am a ´´night person´´. However, with a great aim (of exploring the Alps), it is always easier to overcome the obstacles! ;) After 1.5h ride by car we (me and my three colleagues – one of them was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, the Africa’s highest mountain, which is my dream) finally reached Leutasch/Reindlau, from which we started our tour. Our destination was the peak ´´Partenkirchner Dreitorspitze´´ (2633 m) and a hut ´´Meilerhütte´´ (2366 m). The tour was very long and challenging (climbing, stones falling down; not stabile ground), but we managed! ;)

Here, I would like to share with you several photographs that I took during this tour.