According to SOIUSA (International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps) the mountain range is an Alpine supergroup classified in the following way:[2]
The Alpi Cusiane are divided into two Alpine groups, none of them further subdivided in subgroups (in brackets is reported their SOIUSA code):
costiera Capio-Massa del Turlo ( I/B-9.IV-B.1)
massiccio del Mottarone ( I/B-9.IV-B.2)
These two groups are connected by a low saddle not faraway from Gozzano.
Geology
From the geological point of view the Alpi Cusiane are considered part of the Prealpine zone, divided from the crystalline zone of the Alps by the Insubric line. This important geologic fault forms the border between the Adriatic Plate and the European Plate. Hills and mountains located south-east of the line, like the Alpi Cusiane, can be considered part of southern Apulian foreland.[3]
