The Jura Mountains can be regarded as part of the larger
Central European uplands, associated with the mountain building of the
Alpine orogeny and the European portion of the
Alpide belt. The Jura range proper lies in
France and Switzerland. In France, the Jura covers most of the
Franche-Comté region, stretching south into the
Rhône-Alpes region and north into the
Grand Est region. The range reaches its highest point at the
Crêt de la Neige (), in department of
Ain, west from the Swiss border of the
canton of Geneva, and finds its southern terminus in the northwestern part of the
department of
Savoie. The north end of the Jura extends into the southern tip of
Alsace (
Sundgau). Roughly of the mountain range in France is protected by the
Jura Mountains Regional Natural Park. The Swiss Jura is one of the three distinct geographical regions of Switzerland, the others being the
Swiss plateau and the
Swiss Alps. Most of the range covers the western border with France. In Switzerland, the Jura Mountains extend over an area covering (from northeast to southwest) the
cantons of
Zurich,
Aargau,
Basel-Landschaft,
Solothurn,
Jura,
Bern (i.e.,
Bernese Jura),
Neuchâtel,
Vaud, and
Geneva. The easternmost mountain of the Jura range proper is the
Lägern, situated east of the river Aare. Much of the Swiss Jura region has no historical association with
Early Modern Switzerland and was incorporated as part of the Swiss Confederacy only in the 19th century. In the 20th century, a movement for
Jura separatism developed, which resulted in the creation of the Canton of Jura in 1979. The east of the Jura range proper
separates the
Rhine and
Rhône basins. The northern and eastern part of the range drains towards the Rhine river and its tributaries
Aare and
Ill, whereas the western and southern parts drain towards the Rhône river and its (sub)tributaries
Doubs,
Saône, and
Ain. Initially the river Doubs (a subtributary of the Rhône) flows about northeast, briefly venturing into Switzerland, then changing direction and flowing about southwest before joining the Saône ca. north of the French city of
Lyon. In Lyon, the Saône joins the Rhône. While the Rhine flows into the
North Sea, the Rhône flows into the
Mediterranean Sea. Northeast, the Jura range proper (known as "folded Jura",
Faltenjura) is continued as the
Table Jura (
Tafeljura). The Table Jura ranges (from southwest to northeast) across the Swiss cantons of
Basel-Landschaft,
Aargau, and
Schaffhausen (
Randen), and the southern
German states of
Baden-Württemberg and
Bavaria (as Klettgau Jura,
Baar Jura, and the
Swabian and
Franconian plateaus).
Geology The range is built up vertically while decreasing in size laterally (along a rough northwest–southeast line). This deformation accommodates the compression from alpine folding as the main
Alpine orogenic front moves roughly northwards. The deformation becomes less pervasive away from the younger, more active Alpine mountain building. The geologic folds comprise three major bands (
lithological units) of building that date from three
epochs: the Lias (
Early Jurassic), the Dogger (
Middle Jurassic) and the Malm (
Late Jurassic)
geologic periods. Each era of folding reveals effects of previously shallow marine environments as evidenced by beds with
carbonate sequences, containing abundant
bioclasts and
oolitic divisions between layers (called horizons). Structurally, the Jura consists of a sequence of geologic folds, the formation of which is facilitated by an
evaporitic decollement layer. The box folds are still relatively young, which is evident by the general shape of the
landscape showing that they have not existed long enough to experience
erosion, thus revealing recent mountain building.
Main peaks },
Ain == Ecology ==