Italian Prealps, Palazzolo Vercellese, Vercelli, Piedmont, Italy, Europe
The term refers to the Italian pre-Alps range of mountains to the south of the Italian main chain of the Alps, which form a sort of link between the mountainous and the Po valley . The classification of the foothills of the Alps is quite varied and not universally recognized. The findings differ from those pre-alpine places along the main chain of the Alps in many factors. First of all , the proportion : the foothills of the Alps do not reach great heights , hence the almost total absence of glaciers. Much of the pre-Alps is geologically younger than the Alps in the strict sense , and we dominate the carbonate rocks , including limestone and , in minor proportions , dolomite . The mountains consist of limestone or dolomite occur rugged and steep , sometimes vertical walls
( the Grignes and Pizzo Presolana , in the Alps of Lombardy , are two examples ) . The foothills of the Alps according to the geography of Italian traditional start to the east end of Lake Maggiore and the plateau of the Carso ( Biella's Prealps , located to the west of the Lake Maggiore, are considered part of the Pennine Alps ) . Lake Garda divides the Alps of Lombardy , to the west, and the Venetian Alps , to the east. The Alps of Lombardy include mountains overlooking the great lakes ( which are sometimes just known as pre-alpine lakes ) , the Alpine foothills Varesine , the Larian Triangle (ie the area between the two branches of Lake Como) , the Alpine foothills and Orobiche Bresciane the Alpine foothills . The northern limits of the foothills of the Alps are mainly driven by significant changes in geological terms , such as the composition and morphology of the rocks of the mountains, and the proportion that they had achieved . The Prealps include the Monte Baldo , the Lessini Mountains , the mountains south of Valsugana , the chain to the south of the Valbelluna that goes from Monte Grappa Col Visentin , the Carnic Alps ( including the highest peak of the entire chain , the Cima dei Preti 2703 m) , and finally the Julian Alps . In Piedmont, the foothills of the Alps instead almost entirely lacking , the Alps rise directly from the Po Valley , resulting in a special feature of the landscape. The traditional classification of the alpine system in accordance with the Italian geography , formulated in 1924 during the Ninth Congress of the Italian Geographical and made official in 1926 , has recently been surpassed by SOIUSA ( Subdivision orographic International Alpine Unified System ) , presented in 2005 and well publicized by some magazines specialist . This new subdivision is recognized on an international scale , assigns a different extension , several limitations and a new internal division also to the foothills . Winter view of the mountains Lessini , in the foothills of the Veneto. The SOIUSA identifies the natural limit between the Alps proper and the foothills of the Alps , located to the south of it, the so-called Line Insubric an almost continuous system of fractures which, starting from the area north of Biella and continuing in a north- east of the Alpine system cuts longitudinally dividing the main chain of the Alps from the Southern Limestone Alps (also known as the Southern Limestone Alps ) .