Zur Genese der Aareschlucht (Berner Oberland, Schweiz)

Abstract. On the genesis of the Aare Gorge, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland: A Statistical analysis of the directions of joints and river segments in the region of the Aare Gorge yields that these directions coincide and that therefore the Gorge was not created by epigenetic river erosion in lower Cretaceous imestones with early Tertiary breccias and sandstones, but that it was predesigned by tectonic joints. In this instance, the joint-clefts were at most cleared out: the erosion at the foot of the gorge is minimal. It is quite possible that the preexisting joint-clefts reach quite deep down and were not only not "cut" by the Aare river , but filled by sediments up to the supposed base level of erosion.