The Jura folds are located North of the main Alpine orogenic front, and are being continually deformed, accommodating the northwards compression due to Alpine folding. The deformation becomes less pervasive away from the Alpine mountains.

The Jura (the rock after which the mountains are named) is comprised of three major lithological units: the Malm, Dogger and Lias (giving rise to the name for the Jurassic Geologic period); which represent a shallow marine carbonate sequence, containing abundant bioclasts and oolitic horizons.

Structurally, the Jura consists of a sequence of 'box' folds, the formation of which is facilitated by an evaporitic decollement layer.

The box folds are still relatively young, and this is evident in the fact that they define the shape of the overlying landscape. ie: they haven't existed long enough to have been eroded away.