Inner alpine basin
As inner-alpine basin larger are sedimentary basins of the Alps referred to on more than two sides of mountain ranges are surrounded.
Most of these basins are formations from the Neogene (formerly Young Tertiary) and are related to geological fault lines (subsidence areas of the earth's crust). The sediments are generally fluvial or originate from the ice ages .
Examples of inner-alpine basins in the Eastern Alps are parts of the Tyrolean Inn Valley , the Bozen basin , the Tamsweg basin and the Zeller-Saalfelden basin in Salzburg, the Lienz basin and the Fohnsdorf basin in Styria. The western continuation of the Vienna basin near Korneuburg forms a hybrid of the inner alpine and edge alpine basins .
The inner-alpine basins and valleys are protected by a protective layer against both Atlantic and polar cold air , and typical foehn valleys and therefore have above-average annual temperatures for the alpine climate , but on the other hand also significantly reduced precipitation from both north and south, and are therefore also particularly poor in snow. The inner Salzkammergut, for example, lies fully in the northern dam of the Central European transitional climate and, conversely, is known to be rainy.
Many of the basins have oil and gas deposits underground . They are therefore the subject of intensive geophysical prospecting using gravimetry, seismics and deep drilling.