Dent Blanche nappe

The Dent Blanche nappe or Dent Blanche klippe is a geologic nappe and klippe that crops out in the Pennine Alps. The nappe is tectonostratigraphically on top of the Penninic nappes and by most researchers seen as Austroalpine.

Geology of the Alps
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 Flysch zone Giudicárie line Greywacke zone Hohe Tauern window Molasse basin Penninic thrustfront Periadriatic Seam Ivrea zone Lepontin dome Rechnitz window Rhône-Simplon line Sesia unit
Paleogeographic terminology
Valais Ocean Briançonnais zone Piemont-Liguria Ocean Apulian or Adriatic plate

The nappe is named after the mountain Dent Blanche, which is formed by rocks of the nappe. The most famous outcrop of the nappe is the Matterhorn, which is made of an erosional remnant (klippe) of Dent Blanche material lying on top of Penninic ophiolites (Zermatt-Saas zone). Because of this the rock at the top of the Matterhorn came from Africa, as the Austroalpine nappes are fragments of the African plate.