The New International Encyclopædia/Tauern

TAUERN, tou′ẽrn. A division of the Eastern Alps, including the principal section of what was known to the ancients as the Noric Alps (Map: Austria, D 3). It lies between the rivers Drave and Mur on the south and the Enns on the north, and extends from the eastern part of Tyrol through the Austrian crownlands of Salzburg and Carinthia into the northern part of Styria. The system consists of two main divisions, the Hohe (high) Tauern in the west, and the Niedere (low) Tauern in the east. The whole system has a length of about 150 miles and a width of 28 miles. It is wholly of Archæan formation, consisting chiefly of gneiss in the west and mica-slate in the east, with some granite. The western or Hohe Tauern, as their name implies, are considerably higher and more rugged than the eastern. Their main range forms a sharp ridge with steep sides rising above the snow line and carrying over 250 glaciers, from which numerous mountain torrents fall in cataracts down the steep valleys. The highest peak in the system is the Grossglockner, with an altitude of 12,461 feet.