River history of the Lauchert

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GeoMap Middle Swabian Alb , geofeatures around the Lauchert

The history of the Lauchert river , like the other recent Alb rivers, has had a very long and varied geological history. Only a few, very old, formerly very large bodies of water on the karstified Jura limestone plateau of the Swabian Alb still transport their water and sediment cargo above ground to the confluence with the Danube. Of the formerly large seven rivers of the Tertiary , today only the three bodies of water Lauchert, Große Lauter and Brenz give an idea of ​​the great importance of the above-ground southward drainage lines of southwest Germany in geological time. In the course of this change, the Lauchert has experienced an eventful landscape and river history with considerable tectonic movements , erosion, karstification , deepening and multiple climatic changes , during which it deposited fluvial sediments .

River historiography

With the Tübingen university professor Friedrich August Quenstedt (1809-1889) the "Quenstedt era" of intensive research into the law in Germany began in the first half of the 19th century. He began the geological exploration of the Swabian Alb , which is still ongoing today . This is one of the reasons why more information is available today for probably no other Jura region.

A “Lauchert” has flowed for at least 15 million years ( mya ) and is still at least partially above ground today. Some geological findings and evidence for a very old Urlauchert are also guaranteed. For a reliable representation of the geology of the Lauchert, however, there are enough geo-archives only for the last 5.3 Ma, i.e. for the last phase of the New Earth Age and for the Quaternary . A number of different types of geo-archives are documented in sections of today's Lauchert and some are even directly observable; they are listed below in the section →  Individual phenomena.

Today's river - morphology is when one of the laying of the Lauchert in Veringenstadt in Hettingen and on portions of the lower reaches of Hitzkofen apart, relatively little anthropogenic influences. The river has therefore remained a relatively natural, attractive river and meadow landscape .

Upper Miocene: about 10 matic uplift

After a long period of tectonic calm, a second major uplift phase began in the Jura in the Upper Miocene . The increased crust bulge raised the Jura panel significantly and tilted it slightly from northwest to southeast, creating a clear relief gradient.

The most important evidence of the increased uplift phase is the Miocene cliff line . This former coastline, recorded in many geological maps and identified as a type locality in Heldenfingen , was the north shore of a shallow sea that had penetrated into the Molasse basin for the last time in the Middle Miocene . From this line on, the Lauchert flows through the Middle Area Alb . Today the cliff line is on the Westalb in Hegau at 900  m above sea level. NN , in Bronnen an der Lauchert at 760  m above sea level. NN and further to the east, south of the Nördlinger Ries , at 500  m above sea level. NN .

Miocene / Pliocene, Lauchertgraben

Old town of Veringenstadt . In the back, the Lauchert slope with Nikolaushöhle . In the distance on the right the Lauchertgraben

Disorders of hercynian trending Hohenzollern trench reach Veringenstadt. His faults Lattice in Veringenstadt and its surroundings with disorders of the Rhine trending Lauchertgrabens .

The Lauchert overcame a mighty, heavily fissured mass limestone bar in two large loops near Veringenstadt . A roughly 400 m long, almost vertical, rocky impact slope formed in the gorge, and opposite a relatively large, flat sliding slope on which the ensemble of the medieval half-timbered old town lies. After Veringenstadt the Lauchert runs in this Lauchertgraben, which - in contrast to the Hohenzollerngraben, visibly deeper - formed a tectonic rift .

According to Golwer (1978), the difficult age determination is proven by the height displacement of veils of "Pliocene" height gravel of an early Upper Danube (height-shifted sites in the Sigmaringen city forest 0 m, in the ditch on the right of the Lauchert 50 m). Some of the remaining areas of the at least 15 Ma old Jura- Nagelfluh are also offset.

Pliocene (5.3 to 2.6 mya), deepening phases and deep karstification

The tectonic modeling of the southern German Jura and the Swiss Jura resulted in the Upper Danube deepening into the Western Alb very quickly. This process began at the turn of the Miocene / Pliocene . The karst water level of the Middle Alb has adapted to this progressive deepening . As a result of regressive erosion , the Lauchert has also adjusted to this deepening of its receiving water, the Upper Danube. The bas-relief of the leek channel, like the whole relief of the Jura plateau west of Ulm , was cut accordingly. As a result of the deepening and lowering of the karst groundwater , almost all tributaries of the Lauchert fell dry in the Tertiary . Today only Erpf , Seckach and Fehla carry water.

The Miocene and Early Pliocene relief of the Jura plateau, and thus also the Urlauchert relief, has been completely removed today and therefore - at least until today - geologically not reliably reconstructable.

Plio-Pleistocene (5.3 to 0.15 mya), more numerous geo-archives

The development of the river history of the Lauchert is inseparable from the development of karstification and the constant widening of crevices and caves . Intensive (palaeo-) geological research in the Bären- and Karlshöhle , which is only 5.6 km from the Lauchert above the Erpf-dry valley, was extremely productive .

Physical measurements of the absolute age of various sediment layers in the cave and appraisal of the fauna remains found in them resulted in elevation marks and time marks that can easily be related to terrain indicators and time marks of various depths of the entire Lauchert and the respective development of the Upper Danube or its stagnation phases. A scientific model of the recent Lauchert river level and of three older river levels (Lauchert level I to IV) exists. Important geo-archives of the Lauchert are:

  • Rock ledges
  • old river terraces on three levels
  • two large, former Lauchert valley loops in "Level IV" (see the picture on the geo map above. 3-5Ma)
  • Fossils in karst crevices and caves
  • Terrain kinks in dry valleys for three older levels.

The Bären- and Karlshöhle was formerly a river cave of an old Erpf and later an episodic Bröller . Today the cave is 70 m above the Erpf-dry valley "Höhlental". The total age of the cave was determined geophysically on the Lower Pliocene (approx. 5Ma).

Plio-Pleistocene (3 to 0.9 mya), climatic fluctuations, cooling

Global, interdisciplinary climate research has shown that climate changes have occurred more frequently and more quickly since the Pliocene . The phases of the great deepening of the Upper Danube and deep karstification were followed by an increase in climatic changes. The cyclical nature of climate change has increased particularly since the Eo- Pleistocene (from 2.6 mya). With the Milanković cycles (40ka and 100ka periods) from 900 ka, particularly restless courses and increasing temperature amplitudes were also recorded.

Pleistocene (2.6 to 0.11 mya), (peri-) glacial overprints

The more than 2 Ma of the Quaternary are subdivided into 6 large glacial complexes in which numerous warm interglacial phases are included. In cold times the karstification capacity was at least reduced in the Swabian Alb and sometimes even completely failed in winter. In the case of the sealing of the surfaces by permafrost , water occasionally flowed again in Lauchert tributary dry valleys, fluvial erosion and sediment formation set in again. The Lauchert rock bottom has deepened further due to the increase in surface water. This and retrograde erosion in the temporary water-bearing dry valleys of the Lauchert tributaries have increased their gradients. This resulted in bends in the slope at the transition to the not yet reinforced slope. Such a change in gradient has been observed in numerous tributary valleys. The change in gradient can be used to determine the age of old river levels of the Lauchert (see below the individual phenomenon “Gruchental kink”).

Determination of the age of old river levels through bends in the slope of tributaries that have fallen dry

At the end of the Mindel Ice Age (~ 900,000 years, (ka)) the Upper Danube broke through the pass in the “Hanfertal” (today part of Sigmaringen- Nord) and used the Laucherttal as far as Hitzkofen. In the Middle Riss glaciation (~ 200 kA), broke ice and rubble of alpine Rhine glacier before in two cold periods on the Upper Danube to the north. In its second cold phase, the glacier fan reached its maximum advance to Vilsingen , “Hertenstein” and Billafingen (Langenenslingen) (Vilsingen-Stand II). The glacial deposits were so thick that the Upper Danube was dammed as far as Tuttlingen . The Lauchert was probably dammed up to Hausen adL (Trochtelfingen) . Reservoir sediments, gravel and other sediment loads have filled the valley floors of the Lauchert and some of its tributaries. Three recent remnants of reservoir sediments are marked on geo maps with “Rb”. See also the map "Middle Swabian Alb", above, "Riss-Glacial (max)" is drawn.

During and after the Riss-Rheingletscher event, the Upper Danube changed its course several times and finally created its new, today's bed. The Lauchert, on the other hand, cleared the glacier debris over part of the old Lauchert bed, which was deepened by the Upper Danube, and cut the Bittelschießer Täle canyon through a mass limestone rock that stood in the way. From Hitzkofen, however, the Lauchert no longer followed the abandoned Danube bed “Scheerer Rinne”, but created a new 5.5 km long river bed W of the channel towards S to the confluence with today's river bed of the Upper Danube.

Holocene (0.11 mya to date)

During the warm periods of the Holocene , especially in the Atlantic (8 to 4 ka), lime was precipitated and sedimented from the calcareous karst water, which is typical in all Alb waters, especially on the Lauchert. Alluvial sediments formed “in frequent alternation layers and lenses made of silty-clayey, gravelly and calcareous-tufa-sandy material. The proportion of cemented limestone tuffs increases up to the steps ”. On the geological map sheets 7721, Gammertingen and 7821, Veringenstadt, three large valley floodplains with up to 14 m thick tufa terraces were mapped:

  • An approx. 800 m long tuff terrace on which the southern part of the valley of Hettingen lies.
  • A tufa-lime terrace that covers almost the entire floodplain in the up to 500 m wide, 1.8 km long floodplain between Veringenstadt and Veringendorf and forms the approx. 6 m high waterfall "Hohe Gieß" in Veringendorf on an abrupt edge of the terrain.
  • Tufa in the canon-like Bittelschießer Täle and immediately behind the canyon from Bingen (Sigmaringen district) to Hitzkofen and from there again to Laucherthal .

Hydrogeology today

Only three tributaries, as well as the Gallus spring pouring mightily on the edge of the valley in Hermentingen significantly increase the amount of water in the Lauchert. On the upper reaches these are the Erpf on the left (2.6 km, with year-round karst spring "Molkenquelle" in Erpfingen ) and the Seckach (9 km, year-round spring pots and diffuse spring outlets N Trochtelfingen ). At the middle reaches the right-hand Fehla (20 km, year-round karst spring in Burladingen ). The last 9 km of the Fehla are a lonely meadow valley, completely without road or railroad - a nature reserve since 1984 (NSG 4.118).

The Lauchert and its water-bearing tributaries flow in oversized valleys. Their formerly considerably larger drainage is due to higher precipitation under earlier climatic conditions. In addition, the amount of water has decreased due to karstification-related shrinkage of catchment areas and also due to seepage in the rivers' inflow network. The Fehla has also become considerably smaller due to the beheading on the Albtrauf (see Strunkpass ).

Discharge level measurements in 1997 and 2003 in the Fehla and the adjoining Lauchert stretch showed that the Fehla in its lower reaches (in the NSG area) and the Lauchert in front of the Bittelschießer Täler lose water through seepage. The karst water of the Fehla reappears in the Gallus spring with further karst water from its very large catchment area. The water flow of the Lauchert at its confluence with the Upper Danube is up to 20 m³ / s - even when it is dry.

River landscape worth protecting

Today the Lauchert is only a very small river in an oversized wide, sometimes very wide, Kerbtal . Especially in the middle and lower reaches, the bed of the rock of the Kerbtal is filled with up to 40 m of fluvial sediments .

The Lauchert valley floodplain, some of the directly adjacent terraces and slopes, are designated as a landscape protection area - from the upper reaches to almost the mouth - and, since 2007, as a fauna-flora-habitat protection area ( Natura 2000 ). Some of the geotopes related to the history of the Lauchert river and its main tributaries are also protected by law or by ordinances as a result or, independently. This protects the character of the river landscape, but allows settlement expansion and intensive agricultural use on the fertile floodplain . Two relatively small areas in the valley floodplain are classified as nature conservation areas (NSG). Some geotopes are completely or partially protected in small or large biotope areas.

A few areas of the still water-bearing Lauchert tributaries are also protected by regulations.

Karst, water quality, environmental protection

At the roller mill on the Obere Lauchert there is a rare wetland area with herbaceous vegetation , the nature reserve “Bei der Mühle”; The rich karst spring "Langer Brunnen" is also located here

Because of karstification and the now understood easy transport of pollutants in the karst groundwater , securing safe drinking water on the arid Swabian Alb until the creation, expansion and modernization of a comprehensive Alb water supply (from 1870) was a problem. In many sparsely populated areas of the world, water from contained karst springs is still used as drinking water. Nowadays, however, it is often processed in a complex manner - across the whole of the Swabian Alb, e.g. B. “Langer Brunnen” of the nature reserve “Bei der Mühle” in front of Hörschwag . The technical pioneering achievement of the early 20th century lives on in the public-law special purpose associations , e.g. B. for the above mentioned sources of the "Albwasserversorgungsgruppe XV, Erpfgruppe". Part of the abundant Gallus spring also serves this goal on a large scale.

The water quality of the Lauchert has been greatly improved through the treatment of sewage from settlements. The trophic potential of the water can still be high; This is especially true in summer heat and low water in the many extremely sluggish, meandering sections. Then the lush growth of aquatic plants (macrophytes) and the reproduction of small plant and animal components can be indicators of higher nutrient loads for environmental protection. Environmental protection can meet the requirements of Directive 2000/60 / EC (Water Framework Directive) by observing biological, chemical, physical and hydromorphological factors and taking appropriate measures in the poorly industrialized, relatively sparsely populated Swabian Alb.

Individual phenomena, (paleo-) geological phenomena, geotopes

  • Today's Oberste Lauchert has a stream bed of two to three meters on its first six kilometers to the mouth of the Erpf; it also dries up periodically. From the Albtrauf to the mouth of the Erpf, the valley is a very wide, flat hollow (approx. 1.5-0.6 km wide, only up to 80 m deep). "About the geology of the broad alluvial plain of Lauchert at Willmandingen and Melchingen is still not known - also because here outcrops . Completely absent" For the younger geological past (from the Pliocene 5.3 million years) keep geologists therefore the north and northwest in the Kuppenalb sweeping dry valleys of an old Erpf for the valley continuation of the Obersten Lauchert, as morphology, old river terraces and the bear and Karl caves speak for it.
On the horizon the Albtrauf , where an old Lauchert was "beheaded" ( Strunkpass )
  • Geotope Karls- und Bärenhöhle . A good three kilometers north of the Erpfinger karst spring "Molkenquelle" / "Brechlöchle" (around 5.3 kilometers before the confluence of the Erpf into the Lauchert) is the Bären- and Karlshöhle . The show cave became the most important scientific key for the river and landscape history of the entire Lauchert and for the (hydro) geology of the Middle Swabian Alb.
  • NSG "At the sawmill" . North of the Hörschwager Sägemühle Walzmühle there is an easily recognizable fallow area in the valley floor, the nature reserve 4,087, “At the mill”. This is one of the few wetlands on the karstified Alb that does not lie on volcanic rock (basically impermeable, volcanic tuffs / basalts). Not the Lauchert, but a gaping gap in the lower rock limestone formation , the geotope "Karstquelle Langer Brunnen", is the cause of the wetland. The main karst spring has been built with a five meter deep shaft and a pumping station for the partial extraction of drinking water (max. 35L / s) of the Alb water supply group XV, Erpfgruppe, since 1950. The remaining spring water flows uncontrollably from the ground into the biotope of an almost silent Lauchert tributary. The reed with its nutrient-rich wet meadow , wet perennial vegetation and brook reeds was protected from agricultural reclamation in 1981 by placing it under protection.
  • Roller mill . The Hörschwager sawmill, which until a few years ago was archaic with hydropower from the Lauchert, is adjacent to the reed. Through support groups, books, film and television, the landscape, the idyllic mills typical of Alb and the two contemporary witnesses have become known nationwide.
  • Geotope Hausener Bröller (10 ka) . The rather inconspicuous geotope Hausener Bröller is located directly at the foot of the slope to the Lauchertaue (only 5 m to the rock bottom) and directly on the through road leading along here . The Bröller, which was first explored in 1959 and measured in 1991, is characterized by remarkable properties: The karst water cave, which is still pouring episodically, is geologically unique due to its length (as of 1995: 523 m) and the location at river level on the entire Lauchert. The Bröller is developed in the Lower Felsenkalk formation.
"Hausener Bröller ", inconspicuous portal, but geologically exceptionally significant on the Lauchert
  • Geotope Hausener Wand . In the local area of Hausen an der Lauchert , to the right of the recent Lauchert, the protected geotope of an open, around 120 meter long rock face extends. The mass limestone cliffs, which are almost completely covered by deciduous trees, are assigned to the lower rock limestone formation. The approximately 30 meter high, vertical wall forms a river terrace on its flat upper side, which, according to recent empirical research, can be assigned to the so-called “Level II” (Old Pleistocene, 0.8-1.8Ma).
  • Biotope river terraces Hausen adL South of the local area of ​​Hausen, Holocene river terraces are cultivated in several stages on the slope. The Lauchert, its brook fringes, the entire third tier and all step fringes and bushes are protected as valuable biotopes (open land § 32 NatSchG)
Cultivated Lauchert terraces, Hausen an der Lauchert . Partly biotopes . The Lauchert in the meadow at the bottom
  • Geotope rock spur at the Seckach estuary . From the lawn of a recreation park with an artificial lake, the rock heads of a 15 meter high rock spur push themselves into the valley. The mass limestone rock lies in the lower and upper rock limestone formation .
  • Mariaberg rock massif 700 meters after the confluence of the Seckach with the Lauchert, a massive limestone rock with a width of around 260 meters and a vertical rise of around 30 meters penetrates, which narrows the Lauchert valley. On the nearly horizontal, large rocky plateau to the steep edge protruding massive acting building of the former are Benedictine - monastery Maria Berg (1288 first mentioned, since 1802 secularized , today Social Service Agency ).
Mariaberg (1919)
  • Bend in the Gruchental slope . To the left of the Lauchert, between Mariaberg and Bronnen is the Gruchental. One of the typical Lauchert tributaries flowed here, which had already dried up in the late Tertiary. The imaginary extension of the upper part of the Gruchen stretches about 55 meters above today's Lauchert rock bed. The lower part of the valley has been cut steeply by episodic, retrograde water erosion ; after 2.3 kilometers there is a bend in the slope from which the upper part of the valley continues flat like a trough. This measurement is therefore proof of “Level III” (1.8-2.2Ma) of an old Lauchert valley.
Bend in the slope after 2.3 kilometers in the dry Gruchental before Bronnen
  • Meandering Lauchert . Two kilometers further, before Bronnen, the relatively small Lauchert continues for the next 19 kilometers in particularly sluggish meanders in the flat, with an average of 200 meters, quite wide valley.
  • Marble bowls . The Lauchert flows directly through two geologically significant cement marl bowls . In the southwest of Gammertingen the cement marl rock is still pending. This and the smaller bowl around Jungnau are special geological phenomena from the time when the mass limestone of the White Jura (~ 145Ma) was formed far back. The hollows can hardly be seen with the untrained eye.
  • Geotope Teufelstorfelsen . The mass limestone rock is about two kilometers north of Hettingen , on the left the Lauchert in the Lower and Upper Felsenkalk formation. The name refers to the shape of the rock group: a natural bridge, which is probably the profile of a cave ruin.
  • Geotope tile rocks . Opposite the strikingly modern glass building by the Trumpf company north of Hettingen, on the left side of the river, halfway up in the rock formations that are identical to the Teufelstorfelsen, there is an imposing mass limestone group in which large concave erosion washes from an earlier, higher-lying Lauchert can easily be seen.
  • Geotope Enzenbarnfelsen (Sleeping Knight) . Three slender, towering mass limestone cliffs mark the point at which the Fehlatal valley opens up to the Lauchert valley. From the top of the highest limestone rock in the Lower and Upper Felskalk formations you have a clear view of the valley as far as Hermentingen, 1.5 km away. The river meanders through the idyllic Lauchert valley floodplain, which is up to 300 m wide at this point. In the plateau-like peaks of the rocks there are deep carts , as they have gradually emerged from solution weathering in various karst areas of the world in relatively rare, ideal-typical cases on surfaces .
karstified geotope Enzensbarnfelsen. You can see the meandering Lauchert over the carts . In the back, Hermentingen
  • Gallus spring geotope . In the village of Hermentingen, the Gallus spring rises directly at the right foot of the slope of the Lauchert valley. After the Aachtopf near Stockach / Bodensee, this karst spring is the strongest karst spring in the western Alb with its discharge of up to 3000L / s . It arises from the lower rock limestone formation (mass limestone). Due to its large catchment area, the karst water of the Fehla and the relatively even, safe pouring, its water was partly collected in a separate well in 1952 for the drinking water supply of the "Zweckverband Zollernalbgruppe".
  • Trench grating in Veringenstadt . The Hohenzollerngraben, which comes from the northwest and ends here, and the Lauchertgraben, which runs through the NS, are barred in Veringenstadt. In Veringenstadt, the Lauchert was only able to erode S-shaped valley loops into a mighty, transverse rock bar. Grave tectonics and karst water erosion have created numerous caves, niches and crevices in the mass limestone rock.
  • Geotope Nikolaushöhle . At a height of around 30 m, in the steep, rocky impact slope of the rocky limestone formation in the old town of Veringenstadt, the portal and vestibule of the rather short Nikolaushöhle open up.
  • Geotope Göpfelstein Cave . At the beginning of the last loop of the S-shaped valley around Veringenstadt - again at a height of approx. 30 m - there is a mass limestone peak like a hemisphere on the impact slope of the lying bank limestone formation . From a distance, the Göpfelstein Cave, which opens 10 m in front in the hemisphere and is only 15 m deep, looks like a huge niche in the rock. In the Nikolaushöhle and also in this cave stone tools from the Middle and Upper Paleolithic (Moustérien, Aurignacien ) were found.
  • Tufa plain . After Veringenstadt, the Laucherttal widens again for 1.5 km to an approx. 500 m wide completely flat floodplain. In the valley, finest to gravelly sediments of considerable thickness have been deposited on the recent rock bed in frequent alternation. Measurements for the geological mapping of the map sheet 7821, Veringenstadt, showed in 1978 in this section 8-10 m thick, Holocene, tufa deposits up to the 1.7 km downstream edge of the limestone barre in Veringendorf. The river deposits have created arid biotopes that are poor in nutrients, but also fertile soils that are used for agriculture.
Fluvial sediment " Kalktuff " in the wide valley, before Veringendorf. In the back a small mountain of circulation
  • The Stettener Umlaufberg , a geotope that has not yet been protected, lies in the middle of the wide floodplain. The Umlaufberg created by the river, but already completely cut off from the river before the valley sedimentation, is more of a flat, grass and bush-covered limestone dome that rises up to 15 m from the floodplain.
  • At the Geotop Gieß waterfall (registered geotope name: "Kalksinterterrasse Veringendorf") there is a step in the terrain where the 6-8 m high tufa barrels have been completely demolished. The porous, amorphous, tufa-lime bar that has solidified into rock is clearly exposed at the edge. Since the village community had initially partially and completely sold its water rights in 1928, the Lauchert water is diverted through a canal to a small private hydroelectric power station, so that the Gieß waterfall only looks impressive when "excess" no longer fits through the canal during the rainy season , but can flow over the tear-off edge.

Only two karst springs, the "Wasserfallquelle" and the "Ahlenbergquelle", always pouring down immediately below the trailing edge, feed a deep Lauchert valley from here.

"Gieß-Wasserfall", Veringendorf. Little water, huge waterfall basin. One of two springs and the tufa bar are visible
The Gieß waterfall in Veringendorf was the largest waterfall in the Swabian Alb in terms of the amount of water and the height of the tufa barrels. The waterfall was significantly affected by the construction of an electrical works in the 1920s. The picture shows the waterfall with the weir open during a flood.
  • The Jura-Nagelfluh (Middle Miocene) , scree facies of a Middle Miocene Urlauchert, W and E von Veringendorf is still proven in five small remains (the largest with 640 × 140 m on the "Ghaiberg" and 500 × 220 m in the "Wust").
  • The tectonic Lauchertgraben (end of Miocene) is deeply morphologically deepened between Veringenstadt and “Hertenstein” in the S (where the road to Sigmaringen rises and the Lauchert turns to E). In a field, 1.8 km E Veringendorf, the untrained eye reveals that the steep, wooded slope opposite is the E fracture surface of the trench with a jump height of 100 m.
  • Tectonic rift offset of time markers (end of Miocene). Areas of the Jura-Nagelfluh and “pliocene” gravel of the Aare-Danube are discarded by approx. 50 m in the Lauchertgraben. Jura-Nagelfluh areas and old Danube gravel can also be found east of the trench, but here undisturbed on higher areas, such as the “Frauenstock” area.
  • Two pliocene river loops , approx. 750 and 600 m in radius, lie in W Jungnau. They frame the two surrounding mountains “Stockert” (751.8 m) and “Depth” (707.8 m). On the topographic map 1: 25000, 7821 Veringenstadt, the surrounding mountains are largely surrounded by valleys approx. 100 m lower. The marking "ql, loamy filling of dry valleys" on the corresponding geological map shows a continuous path that smaller channels to the Lauchert used until they too fell completely dry. The Lauchert loops correlate well with the young tertiary river age of "Level IV" (3-5Ma), which was also assigned to several old Lauchert terraces and steep kinks in tributaries. See also the map picture at the top.
  • Rift Age basin sediments (14 ka). At the southern exit of the village of Veringendorf (in front of the sewage treatment plant) and on the former large impact slope side of the Lauchert E Jungnau are basin sediments (Rb) of an ice reservoir from the crack age . Further basin sediments were detected above the Lauchert rock bottom in boreholes and during the laying of the Lake Constance aqueduct in 1973. These are relics of the two penetrations of the Risszeit Rheingletscher over the Upper Danube ( Messkirch -Stand I, higher Vilsinger-Stand II). The Lauchert was probably dammed up to Hausen adL.
  • Geotope rock group Altes Schloß (on the "Hertenstein"). Where the deep Lauchertgraben ends, the road ascends to S and the Lauchert leaves the Graben to E, the Lauchert rises to the right on the former rocky slope "Ziegelwiesen" with noticeably vertically jagged rocks.
  • The Geotop rock group at the Raspberry Valley is an approximately 20 m wide and 20 m high, board-like, rugged rock group. This and the rock group “Old Castle” located approx. 300 m on the opposite side of the Lauchert are remnants of the trench shoulder of the eastern Lauchert fault , which here still has a jump height of approx. 20 m. Both rock groups in the mass limestone of the lying bank limestone formation are partially covered by forest.
  • Geotope Nägelesfels . The rock group in the mass limestone of the lying bank limestone formation on the former impact slope of the Lauchert northwest of the station “Sigmaringen-Hanfertal” rises approx. 50 m from the valley floor. The rock group is largely covered by deciduous forest.
  • Geotope Rappenfelsen & cave . At the foot of the slope to the left of the Lauchert valley there is an approximately 300 m long rock gallery in the mass limestone of the lying bank limestone formation. The Rappenfelsgruppe formed a former 10 m to 15 m high slope of the Lauchert. At the northern end of the cliffs, the cave portal of an approx. 25 m deep cave opens.
  • The special geotope Bittelschießer Täle . After the Rheingletscher event at the time of the Riss, the Lauchert, after clearing the moraine debris and reusing its river bed temporarily used by the Upper Danube, did not flow around a larger mass limestone rock, as it did before, but cut through it like a canyon. The fully forested canyon is a first rate geotope.

From Hitzkofen, the abandoned “Scheerer” Danube Gully running in W of the NS, the Lauchert has created a new, wide bed in the mass limestone up to its confluence with today's Upper Danube. This section of the valley and the Lauchert itself is hardly left in its natural state due to agricultural and industrial areas and relatively dense settlement.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eberle (2007), p. 59f
  2. ↑ Geyer and Gwinner (1986), p. 318. Abel (2003a) p. 52
  3. ↑ Easily recognizable in aerial photos and google-earth
  4. ↑ The period for all “Pliocene” information has to be postponed by 5 Ma (!) At the latest since a readjustment in 2002: German Stratigraphic Commission (STD 2002). See also Lauchertgraben
  5. ↑ Erl. GeoK 7821, Veringenstadt, 1978 and GeoKarte 7821, Veringenstadt, 1978
  6. ↑ In the Middle Pliocene (3.5 mya), however, the large catchment area of ​​the Aare was lost due to the diversion to the Doubs and Rhone of the Danube. Eberle (2008), p. 72
  7. ↑ Abel (2003a), pp. 123, 153
  8. ↑ Abel (2003a), p. 137
  9. ↑ a b c d Ufrecht / Abel (2003), p. 91f
  10. ↑ Ufrecht / Abel (2003), p. 39
  11. ↑ Quaternary divisions of the LGRB: Villinger (2003), table in p. 195; Eberle (2007), p. 81
  12. ↑ "On the Swabian Alb , the strong climatic fluctuations from the Middle Pleistocene onwards were noticeable in the frequent alternation between erosion and sedimentation", Abel (2003a), p. 152
  13. ↑ Minde Ice Age in southern Germany according to table in Villinger (2003), p. 195
  14. ^ Riss complex in southern Germany according to the table in Villinger (2003), p. 195
  15. ↑ Erl. GeoK 7821, Veringenstadt, 1978, p. 93f. GeoMap, several.
  16. ↑ Erl. GeoK 7821, Veringenstadt, 1978, p. 73
  17. ↑ Erl. GeoK 7821, Veringenstadt, 1978, p. 72ff
  18. ↑ Water Directorate Ulm (2003), p. 25
  19. ^ Office for water management and soil protection, Sigmaringen branch, 1994
  20. ↑ When nature conservation was transposed into federal law in 2007, the BNATSchG (2007) took over all protected objects and all protective provisions and incorporated state definitions of areas into the EU Natura 2000 directive and made them legally binding
  21. ↑ In the case of a higher protection status, settlement expansions, agricultural use, traffic or even entering / climbing are restricted or excluded.
  22. ↑ Erl. GeoK 7620, Jungingen, 1975, p. 58
  23. ↑ Scheff (1983); Abel (2003a), p. 68
  24. ↑ Ufrecht / Abel (2003)
  25. ^ Protected area directory, selection of profiles, Baden-Württemberg
  26. ^ Neubronner (2008)
  27. ^ Geotopes Südwürtt. (2007)
  28. ↑ Abel (2003a), p. 135
  29. ↑ Abel (2003a), p. 20, p. 89
  30. ↑ The measurements were taken on seven dry valleys of the Lauchert, as many on the Fehla . By evaluating only the first sections of the valley up to three kilometers, an altitude error could be neglected because it was small, Abel (2003a), graph p. 90 and 137.
  31. ↑ In the bowl marl, important silicified fossils were found for dating. Erl.GeoKarte 7721, Gammertingen, p. 16f
  32. ↑ also known as Schratten in the uncovered karst
  33. ↑ Abel (2003a), graphic p. 137
  34. ↑ GeoMap BW 7821, Veringenstadt
  35. ↑ By measuring the radii of numerous old meander loops and their height above today's river deepenings, knowledge about the respective age was gained on the Upper Danube and on important tributaries such as the Lauchert.
  36. ↑ Fezer (1991), p. 195; Ufrecht / Abel 2003, p. 88ff; Abel (2003a), p. 89f and p. 132f
  37. ↑ Erl. Geo map 7821, Veringenstadt, 1978, p. 95
  38. ↑ Erl. GeoMap 7821, Veringenstadt, 1978, p. 58

literature

  • GeoK BW: "Geological map 1: 25000 from BW, State Office for Geology, Raw Materials and Mining, Freiburg, (LGRB) on sheet" No., sheet name, year
  • Erl. GeoK: "Explanations to: Geological map 1: 25000 from BW, 1: 25000, State Office for Geology, Raw Materials and Mining, Freiburg, (LGRB) on sheet" No., sheet name, year
  • Fahlbusch (1981): Fahlbusch, V., Miocene and Pliocene - What is what? On the breakdown of the junior tertiary in southern Germany. Mitt. Bayer. Staatsslg. Paleont. hist. Geol. 21, pp. 121-127, Munich 1981
  • Divine (1968): Divine, KH. & Werner, J., On the history of the river Lauchert, Jber. U. Mitt. Oberrh. geol. Ver., 50, Stuttgart 1968
  • Gollwer (1978): see Erl.GeoMap 7821, Veringenstadt, 1978
  • Scheff (1983): Scheff, J., karstification in the upper Laucherttal - attempt to date age, p. 99ff, Laichinger Höhlenfreund, 18, Laichingen 1983
  • Geyer & Gwinner (1986): Geyer, OF, Gwinner, MS, Geology of Baden-Württemberg, 3rd edition, Stuttgart 1986
  • Fezer (1991): Fezer, F., Further arguments for the Aare-Danube, in: Jh. Geol. Landesamt BW, 33, pp. 187–198, Freiburg 1991
  • Reinecker & Schneider (2001): Reinecker, J., Schneider, G., On the neotectonics of the Zollernalb: The Hohezollerngraben and the Albstadt earthquakes, in: Jber. U. Mitt. Oberrh. geol. Ver., Pp. 391-417, Stuttgart 2002
  • German Stratigraphic Commission, (STD 2002): see web links
  • Ulm Water Authority (2003): Ulm Water Authority (Ed.), Hydrological Exploration Baden-Württemberg, Middle Alb, Ulm 2003
  • Villinger (2003): Villinger, E., On the paleogeography of the Alpine Rhine and Upper Danube, in: Ztschr. Dt. Geol. Ges., 154, pp. 193-253 Stuttgart 2003
  • Abel (2003a): Abel, Th., Investigations into the genesis of the Malmkarst of the Middle Swabian Alb in the Quaternary and later Tertiary (Diss. 2003), TGA, C67, Tübingen, 2003
  • Burchardt (2003): Burchardt, Michael, Die Neotektonik des Hohenzollern- und Lauchertgraben, Geology, University of Tübingen 2003 (Dpl. Thesis)
  • Ufrecht / Abel (2003): Ufrecht, W., Abel, Th. & Harlacher, Chr., On the plio-Pleistocene development of the bear and Karl caves near Erpfingen (Swabian Alb) taking into account the sinter chronology, Laichinger Höhlenfreund, Laichingen 2003
  • Abel (2006): Abel, Th .; Harlacher, Chr. & Ufrecht, W., With contributions from Niederhöfer, HJ. & Falkner, G. and von Rathgeber, Th., On the karstification history of the bears and Karlshöhle near Erpfingen, (Swabian Alb), in the Plio-Pleistocene under consideration of sinter chronology and palaeontology, in: Jber. Mitt. Oberrhein. geol. Ver., NF 88, pp. 9-51, Stuttgart 2006
  • Ufrecht (2006): Ufrecht, W., A sealed cave ruin stage on the Kuppenalb between Fehla and Lauchert (Zollernalbkreis, Swabian Alb), Laichinger Höhlenfreund, Laichingen 2006
  • Eberle (2007): Eberle, J., Eitel, B., Blümel, WD, Wittmann, S., South of Germany from the Middle Ages to the Present, Heidelberg, 2007
  • Geotopes Südwürtt. (2007): Geotopes in the administrative district of Tübingen, profile, publisher: State Institute for the Environment, Measurements and Nature Conservation. B. den-Württemberg (LUBW), Karlsruhe 2007
  • Neubronner (2008): Neubronner, E., Werner, R., The Lord God knows what happens to us. Tübingen, 2008
  • Villinger (2008): Villinger, E., The Swabian Alb - a geological picture book landscape, in: Rosendahl (2008)
  • Rosendahl (2008): Rosendahl, W., et al, (Hrgb), Wanderings in der Erdgeschichte (18), Schwäbische Alb, Munich 2008
  • TBG 61, Donau-Lauchert (2008), Tübingen Regional Council, implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive, text volume 2008

See also

Web links

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