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A Brief Account of the Geography of the Cent... (1963)
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RUO0LPH . *■•

Reprint of Bulletin of the I.A.S.H. A )

VNI e Annee, ho. 2, Juin 1963, pp. 126-131

A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE GEOGRAPHY

OF THE CENTRAL OETZTAL ALPS
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ITS GLACIOLOGY

R. RUDOLPH (Innsbruck)

The most heavily glacierized part of the Eastern Alps is the Central Oetztal.The ice covered
area is about 160 km 2 . Because of the high elevation the ice dominates and adds beauty to the
landscape, particularly in the Weißkamm region and also in the upper parts of the Gurgler and
Nieder Valleys. In the region of Vent and Gurgl the earth crust was uplifted to higher levels
than elsewhere in the Eastern Alps. Parts of the old surface which reached far above the ancient
snow-line can still be seen on the slopes of the higher Valleys in many places. Above Obergurgl
at about 2200 m the steep eastern wall of the valley gives way to a broad plateau onto which
the tongues of the Gaisberg, Rotmoos, and Langtaler Glaciers descend.

In the Vent region the smoother relief reaches to even greater heights : on the northern
side of the Rofental it can be seen only at Plattei at heights below 2600 m, mostly it cannot be
found below 2700 m. In some places, e.g. at the Breslauer Hütje (2848 m) it reaches into
the higher corries. Here on the vast even surfaces the snow fields are found and the glacier
tongues descend from these levels. In most places the sudden change in slope at the edge of
the corries gives rise to many ice-falls (Gepatsch, Taschach, Mittelberg Glaciers). The highest
peaks do not rise far above the plateau (about 700 m) and therefore they are easy to climb.

The lack of sharp relief is associated with the rock structure. Over large areas, especially
in the Weißkamm region there are only common rocks, such as micashists and gneiss. These
are deeply weathered and shattered and they form only moderate slopes. The mountains of
this paragneiss zone are impressive on account of their massive form rather than by their
sharp relief. The main ridge of the region forming the frontier southeast of Gurgl consists of
garnet-micaschists, which contain veins of harder rocks such as amphibolite, quartzite and
even white marble.

Feldspar-augengneiss and veins of diabase in micaschist occur over a wide area, the former
is beautifully developed in front of the Vernagt and Guslar Glaciers and the latter can be seen
in the Rofen gorge.

Everywhere the rocks are strongly folded with vertical axes, which can be seen near Vent and
the Marzell and Mittelberg Glaciers.

At two places between the Brenner and the Reschen passes the main ridge descends to
the level of the high plateau, namely at the Timmeljoch (2478 m) and at the Hochjoch (2846 m)
where the Hochjoch Glacier lies. The Niederjoch (3017 m), the Finailjoch (3126 m) and the
Gurgler Eisjoch (3126 m) cross the main ridge at slightly higher levels. There is no doubt that
these passes formed an easy access across the watershed and it is not surprising that in the past
stronger associations existed between Vent and the Schnalstal (Vintschgau, South Tyrol) than
with the Oetztal. The improvement of the access in the lower Oetztal weakened the ties with
the South. As late as 1861 the vicar of Vent, F. Senn, initiated the track over the Hochjoch,
which replaced the old path that had been overrun by the advances of the Vernagt Glacier.

The property and grazing rights of the people of Schlanders (Vintschgau, now Italy) extend
over the main ridge into the Niedertal just above Vent and into the Rofental above the Vernagt
stream, and until 1918 this latter region was a part of the district of Schlanders. Even now, in

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