Geology of the Palatinate Forest
| Geology of the Palatinate Forest | |
|---|---|
 Rocky reef in the red sandstone mountains - the Jungfernsprung near Dahn |
|
| Highest peak | Kalmit ( 673 m above sea level ) |
| location | Edge mountains of the Upper Rhine Plain; northern part of the mountain range Palatinate Forest / Vosges |
| part of | Northern French layer level country |
| Classification according to | State Office for Geology and Mining, Mainz; Handbook of the natural spatial structure of Germany ; Landscape Names Working Group |
| Coordinates | 49 ° 17 ' N , 7 ° 53' E |
| Type | Red sandstone mountains |
| rock | mainly rocks of the lower, middle and upper red sandstone ;
Rocks of the Rotliegend and Zechstein (in the south-eastern part); |
| Age of the rock | Buntsandstein rock unit: 251–243 million years
Zechstein rock unit: 256-251 million years |
| surface | 1.771 km² |
| particularities | heavily divided stratified landscape with diverse surface shapes |
The geology of the Palatinate Forest is characterized primarily by strata of the Buntsandstein and, to a lesser extent, the Zechstein , which were deposited in the outgoing Permian (256–251 million years ago) and at the beginning of the Triassic (251–243 million years ago) under predominantly desert conditions. Fine-grained and coarse-grained to conglomerate sediment sequences of different strength, density and color are typical . Strongly consolidated, pebbly bound, medium and coarse-grained sandstones occur, for example in the Trifels layers of the Lower Buntsandstein ; but fine-grain sandstones with clayey bonds are also common, for example in the Annweiler strata of the Upper Zechstein . A distinction is made between rock zones with a uniform rock structure (Trifels layers) and those with a heterogeneous rock structure; an example of the heterogeneous case are the Rehberg strata in the Lower Buntsandstein, in which the sediment structures change in a narrow space.
About 48 million years ago in the Palaeogene the Upper Rhine Rift began to collapse, thereby these rock formations were tectonically rearranged; they were lifted unevenly, broken into pieces, the red sandstone was exposed and tilted.
The red sandstone package received its present form towards the end of the Modern Earth Age (5–0.01 million years ago). A complex relief developed with deeply incised valley valleys , diverse mountain forms and nutrient-poor soils on which dense forests stand. In the south of the Palatinate Forest, a particularly varied rock landscape with cone mountains and bizarre rock formations (Annweilerer and Dahner Felsenland ) emerged.
Natural demarcation
The predominant rocks of the Buntsandstein and Zechstein determine the surface shape of the Palatinate Forest and thus its natural boundaries . Its distribution area extends not only to the Palatinate Forest, but also to the northern and central Vosges mountains south of the German-French border without geomorphological separation . It only ends with the hamlet valley ( French: 'Val de Villé'), from which the rocks of the base form the surface of the mountains. The entire mountain area belongs to the system of the Franco-German layered level country , whereby the Palatinate Forest and Northern Vosges (French: ' Vosges du Nord ') are combined into a unified natural area that extends to the Zaberner Steige .
The German part of the mountain range, the Palatinate Forest, is separated from the North Palatinate Uplands in an arc to the north of the Stump Forest and the Otterberg Forest ; From here on, the Buntsandstein and Zechstein rocks no longer dominate the landscape , but rather permocarbons . In the east the edge of the Rhine ditch and in the west the younger rock layers of the shell limestone , which cover the red sandstone there, form the natural boundaries. In the south, the Franco-German border separates the Palatinate Forest from the geologically similar northern Vosges.
Development history
Zechstein's mountain base and sandstones
In the Carboniferous (358–296 million years ago) the collision of the two continents Gondwana and Laurussia led to folding of the earth's crust, which stretched from eastern North America to Central Asia and led to the emergence of the Variscan Mountains in what is now western and central Europe . These fold mountains were removed again in the subsequent Permian era (296-251 million years ago), but the hull areas consisting of slate , granite and gneiss were preserved and, like in other low mountain ranges, form the foundation of today's Palatinate Forest.
At the beginning of the Upper Carboniferous , about 315 million years ago, the subsidence area of the Saar-Nahe basin was created , which also encompassed large areas of today's Palatinate . Various sedimentary and volcanic rocks , for example igneous rocks of the Donnersberg Formation or clayey sandstones of the younger Standenbühl Formation, collected in it from the Upper Carboniferous to the Lower Permian (Lower Rotliegend ) 315 to 270 million years ago (see also section Permocarbon and Rotliegend ) . Tectonic processes caused the rock layers of the Saar-Nahe basin to rise towards the end of the Lower Permian (about 270–260 million years ago), so that the Palatinate saddle vault with Nahe and Prims troughs in the northwest and Palatinate trough in the southeast developed.
Large-scale reductions, during the Permian inserting (before 260-251 million years ago) and the formation of the European Basin led, could penetrate the Zechstein Sea temporarily from the north to the area of today's Palatinate. The predominantly fluvial deposits of rock layers with a thickness of around 100 meters resulted, the rock unit of the Zechstein for the area of the southern Palatinate Forest comprising four layers, which in addition to fine, medium and coarse sandstones also contain claystones (see section Zechstein ).
Formation of the red sandstone
In the Triassic period (251–200 million years ago) the Germanic Basin expanded to the south and west, with the Hessian Depression and Palatinate Mulde being important for the area of today's Palatinate , as the sediments of this age were deposited there.
From the Lower Triassic to the beginning of the Central Triassic (251–243 million years ago) Central Europe was covered by a desert landscape in which Aeolian and occasionally fluvial forces had a formative effect. These processes led to sand deposits that came from the high altitudes around the Germanic Basin. In the area of what is now the Palatinate Forest, rock layers with a thickness of up to 500 meters were created. The addition of iron oxide resulted in different colorations of the rock package and, depending on the type of binding in the grain - for example clayey sandstones as opposed to silicified sandstones - rock layers of different strengths formed. The subgroups of the lower, middle and upper colored sandstone were created, which are separated from one another by "thin layers" with very coarse-grained sandstones ( conglomerates ) (see section Layers of the colored sandstone ). These red sandstone formations were covered 243 to 235 million years ago by approximately 190 meters thick shell limestone deposits ( marl and lime sediments ) of a large inland sea, followed by the sediments of the Keuper period (234-200 million years).
Further deposits formed in the Jurassic (200–142 million years ago) and in the Cretaceous Period (142–65 million years ago), the thickness of which in the interior of the Germanic Basin was originally around 1,300 meters. However, parts of these sediments were eroded away by the beginning of the Paleogene around 65 million years ago .
Storage of the red sandstone
At the beginning of the New Earth Era, the Cenozoic Era, the collision of African and Eurasian plates began in the Palaeogene about 48 million years ago, which led to massive unfolding of the rock layers and as a result to the formation of the Alps. The associated strong stress field influenced the areas north of the Alps, with tensile stresses, probably along an old Variscan weak zone , tearing up the hard, upper part of the earth's mantle , the subcrustal lithosphere , and thereby pushing soft earth's mantle matter ( peridotite ) upwards and superimposing the subcrustal lithosphere . This protuberance of the earth's mantle led to the thinning of the overlying earth's crust , which, for example, is only 24 kilometers thick in the area of the later Upper Rhine Rift and whose rock formations were also subjected to bulging processes ("doming") with considerable tensile stresses ( passive rifting ). These tensions reached their peak about 35 million years ago at the apex of this vault, so that at maximum expansion in the area of today's Upper Rhine, deep fractures and depressions occurred. The earth's crust in the interior of the Upper Rhine Graben sank by around 3300 meters to a thickness of at least 20 kilometers, which led to the formation of a lowland plain on the surface. At the same time, the ditch edges were raised, in the case of the Palatinate Forest by around 1000 meters. These tectonic processes, which are currently still ongoing, had and have four important effects on today's landscape of the low mountain range as a layered landscape:
- First, during the lifting process, around 800 meters of overburden ( Dogger , Lias , Keuper, Muschelkalk) were removed and deposited in the newly created lowland. This resulted in the exposure of the rock layers of the Buntsandstein, Zechstein and, in a few places, deposits of permocarbons, especially the Rotliegend.
- Second, the bulge caused the various layers to tilt. They gradually sink from the edge of the trench to the east, sloping one to four degrees to the west.
- Thirdly, the red sandstone was raised unevenly. The rock layers are not completely level, but have a saddle-trough structure that extends from southwest to northeast (see also the section on the mountain base and sandstones of the Zechstein ). A saddle-shaped bulge in the area of the North Palatinate Bergland (Palatinate Saddle) to the south-east is contrasted by a hollow (Palatinate Mulde) running parallel through the central Palatinate Forest , which is followed by another bulge (Südpfälzer Sattel) even further in the south-east in Wasgau . This means that the rock layers in the northern and southern sections of the Palatinate Forest are higher and in its central part lower. While here - for example in the area around Johanniskreuz and Eschkopf - younger rocks of the Rehberg, Schlossberg and Karlstal layers characterize the relief, in the northern and southern areas layers of the Zechstein and the Lower Buntsandstein and especially the Trifelsschicht dominate the landscape .
- Fourth, the rock strata broke into individual clods by being lifted up and tilted . There were crevices and crevices of various sizes where the rocks were shifted vertically against each other. This phenomenon is particularly evident along the major faults that run through the mountains from northeast to southwest. In addition to the main fault at the edge of the ditch, examples are the Lambrecht and Elmstein faults , which run parallel to it and where the various layers are offset from one another by up to 100 meters.
Development of today's surface design
In the later Palaeogene (34–23.8 million years ago) and Neogene (23.8–2.8 million years ago) erosion processes were again in the foreground, so that there was a further filling of the Upper Rhine Plain. Renewed tectonically caused uplifts towards the end of the Neogene (5–2.8 million years ago) led to the current height of the Palatinate Forest and, through erosion, further exposure of the red sandstone. In the Quaternary (2.8–0.01 million years ago), the last geological period of the New Age, renewed weathering and erosion, especially during the various cold and warm periods , created the surface shape of today's Palatinate Forest. A differentiated, deeply cut valley system developed, especially in its northern and central part, diverse mountain shapes and bizarre rock formations; Examples are the Teufelstisch near Hinterweidenthal and the Eilöchelfels near Busenberg .
structure
The geological structure of today's Palatinate Forest results from its development history: Gneiss, slate and igneous rock form the foundation of today's Palatinate Forest, but are mostly covered by younger rock layers. They occur in the eastern mountain rim to the surface, where for example, in the deep valleys of only a few places Queich and the Imperial creek pending . Accordingly, there are large quarries in which granodiorite near Waldhambach and orthogneiss with a granitic habit near Albersweiler are exposed and are mined as " hard stones ".
Permocarbon
Rotliegend
The rock layers formed from the Upper Carboniferous to Lower Permian in the Saar-Nahe Basin (see also the section on the mountain base and sandstone of the Zechstein ) are only exposed in a few places in the Palatinate Forest and shape its relief there. This applies, for example, to the stump forest in the north and the Queichtal in the south-east with side valleys in which red clay , silt and fine-grain sandstones from the Kreuznach and Standenbühl Formations and in the lower part an alternation of red siliciclastics , tuff and effusiva are open to the Donnersberg formation . Since marly and clayey sandstones have a relatively soft consistency, they were cleared into wide valleys , especially in the Ramsen area . The same applies to the Queichtal before its exit into the Rhine valley, which also has basin-like features between Annweiler and Albersweiler.
Zechstein
In the Upper Permian (256-251 million years ago) rock layers were formed (see section mountain base and sandstones of the Zechstein ), which come to the surface on the northern edge of the Palatinate Forest between Eisenberg and Waldmohr as Stauf layers - after the place Stauf near Ramsen - and in the The Schwedelbach area is 70 to almost 300 meters thick. They consist mainly of gravel, coarse-grained, predominantly brownish-red sandstones (conglomerates), which have been strengthened particularly strongly by adding iron oxide . Lithostratigraphically , they are divided into a similarly structured upper and lower part, between which almost rubble-free, fine-grain sandstones of low strength (molding sands) are deposited. The ore content of the rock meant that iron ore was mined in several places in the region, at Ramsen as early as the time of the Celts , at Erzenhausen since the Middle Ages and at ore smelters since 1725, and for example it was processed in Eisenberg.
In the southeastern part of the Palatinate Forest, on the other hand, the rock layers consist more of fine-grain sandstones with clayey bonds and shale clays. They extend in a thickness of about 80 to 100 meters from the Annweiler area via Gossersweiler and Silz to the areas southeast of Dahn around Vorderweidenthal , Busenberg and Bundenthal . Since the material is more of a soft consistency and was therefore better cleared, there were also larger planarization areas between which the conical mountains of the Wasgau often rise in isolation. In contrast to other regions of the low mountain range, these deposits are relatively rich in nutrients and weather into fertile soils, so that they were cleared and used for agriculture early on - since the High Middle Ages. In addition, the Zechstein deposits are also of hydrogeological interest, as the clay-rich layers often form spring horizons where the groundwater can accumulate.
According to studies from 1995 and 1996, the southern Palatinate Zechstein is divided into four layers: They begin with the 40 meter thick Queich layers - named after the river of the same name - and Rothenberg layers of the Lower Zechstein , in which fine, medium- and coarse-grained sandstones and, especially in the Rothenberg stratum, also reddish-brown claystone and reddish-gray dolomite (“Zechstein horizon”) are deposited. They are followed in the Upper Zechstein by the 40 to 60 meter thick Annweilerer and above Speyerbach layers , whereby the Annweilerer layers consist more of red, massive to diagonally layered fine and medium-grain sandstones and the overlying Speyerbach layers of brown-red to gray-red claystones.
Triad
Red sandstone
Large parts of the entire left bank of the Rhine - Palatinate Forest, Northern and Middle Vosges - are determined by the red sandstone formations that emerged at the beginning of the Triassic. This rock package for the area of the Palatinate is divided into the following layers or groups with subgroups (red sandstone stratigraphy of the Palatinate) :
Lower red sandstone
It is the characteristic rock of the Palatinate Forest and, with a thickness of 280 to 380 meters - with the exception of the leveling areas in the southeastern Wasgau - determines large parts of the low mountain range. In contrast to the sandstones from the Zechstein period, it contains a lot of quartz, but little feldspar and mica and therefore weathers to sandy, nutrient-poor soils. This fact and the difficulties of the terrain, that is to say, strong devastation with notched valleys and rocky steep slopes (see section valleys ), had the consequence that since the Middle Ages in large areas of the Palatinate Forest there has hardly been any clearing and thus agricultural use, so that the forest area is still in today its compactness was retained. Another typical feature of the Lower Buntsandstein is the formation of several hard rock zones, which are separated by thinly layered, clay-rich sandstones. This results in a breakdown into the following three sub-layers:
Trifels layers
These compact, predominantly fluviatil rock layers with a thickness of up to 145 meters, which are named after the rocky reef on the Trifels castle hill near Annweiler , consist of violet to light red colored diagonally stratified medium and coarse-grained sandstones, which are pebbly bound in the grain structure and therefore have a special strength. They occupy a larger area, especially in the north-western and southern parts of the Palatinate Forest, and form its surface there. In the Middle Palatinate Forest, this series of rocks is mainly found in the eastern regions between Frankenweide and the edge of the Rhine rift due to its inclination , whereby it is mainly exposed in valleys and side slopes up to medium heights.
The Trifels layers in the south-eastern Palatinate Forest are of particular importance. Here, due to their hardness, together with the Rehberg layers, they form the often conical mountain shapes of the Wasgau, which rise between the leveling surfaces of the Rotliegend and Zechstein and often carry bizarre rock formations (see more detailed section Mountains ).
Rehberg layers
It is named after the Rehberg , at 577 m above sea level. NHN the highest mountain in the German Wasgau near the Trifels, the summit area of which is built up by these layers of rock. They come to the surface in large areas of the central and south-western Palatinate Forest and are only about to the west of a line Johanniskreuz (470 m above sea level), Leimen , Münchweiler , Hohe List (476 m above sea level) and Erlenkopf (472 m above sea level) ) replaced by the younger rocks of the Middle and Upper Buntsandstein. A narrow, sandstone layer, which has a higher content of clay minerals, separates the approximately 145 meters thick series of rocks from the Trifels layers; Because of its lower water permeability it forms an important source horizon .
In contrast to the compact rock unit of the Trifels layers, the Rehberg step does not consist of a uniform rock package, but of several diagonally layered and small-scale rock zones that are separated from each other by thin layers . In the rock zones, pebbly bound and thus strongly consolidated medium and coarse-grained sandstones also dominate, which were mostly deposited under fluvial conditions. In contrast, the predominantly aeolian, tonic-bound thin layers mostly run horizontally, have a predominantly fine-grained, less crystallized structure and are therefore more subject to weathering and erosion.
This alternation of differently severely eroded rock zones is reflected, among other things, in characteristic rock formations, whereby, for example, rock overhangs, rock gates and above all mushroom-shaped and table-shaped structures stand out. A well-known example is the Teufelstisch near Hinterweidenthal , whose table-like shape clearly shows the effects of these small-scale weathering processes.
Schlossberg layers
These formations were named after their appearance in the Schlossberg caves in the Saarland city of Homburg . It is a rock step up to 90 meters high, which consists mainly of coarser material, mainly from rolling and jumping grains from shifting dunes . The different color shades of the material are particularly eye-catching, which is mostly red to orange-yellow, but to a lesser extent also white, green or purple.
Medium red sandstone
Another clay-rich rock layer lies between the Middle and Upper Buntsandstein, which again forms an important source horizon. This rock unit is also built up by different sub-layers:
Karlstal layers
It is named after the Karlstal near Trippstadt in the north-west of the Palatinate Forest, where these sandstone formations appear in exemplary form. A distinction is made between the approximately 30 to 40 meter thick Karlstal rock zone and the adjoining Upper Karlstal layers.
The Karlstal rock zone is made up of massive, coarse-grained silicified rock packages that often come to the surface as gray-red, hard boulders with a diameter of several meters. In addition to the Karlstal, these block fields can also be found on other valley slopes of the central Palatinate Forest; One example is the Eiderbachtal , located below the Annweiler forest house , in which this rocky zone is about 300 to 400 m above sea level. NHN is open-minded. Due to the Elmsteiner fault line , a fault line running west of the Eiderbach valley from north to south, the individual rock layers are about 100 meters higher, so that the highest elevations in the central Palatinate Forest are built up by these rocks. For example, on the Eschkopf as well as on the southwest slope and summit plateau of the Weißenberg, the typical block fields of the Karlstalstufe come to the surface.
Since the rock layers of the low mountain range are generally inclined, that is, they rise from west to east, rocks of the Middle and Upper Buntsandstein were increasingly removed east of the Elmsteiner fault, so that the Trifels and Rehberg layers of the Lower Buntsandstein are more dominant here. An exception are some of the highest elevations on the eastern edge of the mountain, the summit area of which is also built up by the Karlstal rock zone. This mountain range, naturally also known as Haardt , is delimited from the inner Palatinate Forest by the Lambrecht Fault; it extends at a distance of two to five kilometers parallel to the edge of the trench and in the Haardt area leads to the displacement of the various rock sequences by 80 to 100 meters below. Because of this tectonically induced subsidence, the Karlstal strata were initially withdrawn from erosion and only eroded later, especially in the course of the various cold and warm periods, to their present form. Corresponding block fields exist, for example, on the Hochberg and above all in the Kalmit area . So is on the Hüttenberg , a southwestern branch of the Kalmit, about 600 m above sea level. NHN a particularly extensive sea of rocks , which, in addition to the Karlstal rock zone, is also formed by rocks of the upper rock zone (see below).
The Karlstalstufe is finally completed by softer rocks of the Upper Karlstalschichten , which mainly consist of rounded, red to orange-yellow colored coarse sandstones and therefore strongly resemble the Schlossbergschichten.
Upper rock zone, main conglomerate and violet border zone
The upper rock zone with a thickness of 9 to 26 meters is made up of heavily silicified, rubble-bearing medium and coarse sandstones of particular strength and forms rock-interspersed steep slopes , especially in the central Palatinate Forest in the area of the inner Palatinate Mulde . A typical example is the Wartenberg in the south-western Weißenberg area, which is characterized by steep walls of the upper rock zone in combination with block fields of the Karlstal layers.
The adjoining main conglomerate , up to 15 meters thick , is mainly located in the southern part of the Palatinate Mulde. It is the result of the deposits of an earlier, deeply cut river system and consists of dark red, gravel-bearing coarse sandstones.
The middle red sandstone with a thickness of about 1.5 meters is closed by the violet border zone , which is mainly exposed in the northern part of the Palatinate Mulde, i.e. in the northwestern part of the Palatinate Forest and primarily consists of mica-rich fine sediments with dolomite knobs (dolomite nodules) consists.
Karlstal rock zone, upper rock zone and main conglomerate form several striking rock reefs due to their resistance to weathering , the most famous examples being the Altschlossfelsen near Eppenbrunn with a length of almost two kilometers. The approximately one to two meter thick spherical rock horizon , which is to be assigned to the upper rock zone, contains spherical structures that are eroded in this form due to different iron enrichment in the rock. They are often surrounded by a loose coat and can therefore easily fall out of the rock or become detached. This geological peculiarity characterizes various rocks in the Pirmasens area , with the eponymous spherical rock on the Rödelschachen being a particularly striking example.
Upper red sandstone
Intermediate layers and Voltziensandstein are subgroups of the Upper Buntsandstein, which covers the older sediments of this rock unit with a thickness of about 100 meters. They influence the relief especially in the western and southwestern part of the Palatinate Forest, for example in the Graefensteiner Land , Holzland and in the areas south and southeast of Pirmasens; on the other hand, they were removed in regions to the east because of the general inclination of the rock layers.
Intermediate layers
This rock unit, which is around 75 meters thick, is also the result of deposits from a river system and in its lower areas is composed of gray to light red, partly scree-bearing medium to coarse sandstones, while the upper areas are composed of purple or brown-red fine sandstones with a higher content Mica , carbonates and clay minerals exist.
Voltziensandstein
The 25 meter thick Voltziensandstein contains fossilized plant remains of the conifer species Voltzia heterophylla ; they are indicators of changed deposit conditions at the beginning of the shell limestone age. Its lower part - the ashlar zone - consists of red, fine and medium-grain sandstones, which are still extracted today in quarries, for example in Schweinstal near Schopp , in addition to Eselsfürth near Kaiserslautern , and have a considerable historical application tradition. They have been used as a popular building material for different purposes in southwest Germany since ancient times, shape the appearance of castles, churches, even entire villages in the region and are still used frequently in the construction of village fountains, monuments, bridges and railway tunnels to this day. In the field of architecture , ornamental architectural parts and grave stones from light varieties were made . Significant monuments like the one in the Romanesque style , built Speyer Cathedral or the likewise Romanesque abbey church Ottersberg , also many of the baroque buildings of the originally -zerbst rule sustained architect Friedrich Joachim Stengel in Saarbrücken have been equipped with this sandstone.
The upper area - the Latvian region - is characterized by clay deposits, which indicate the beginning of the influence of the Muschelkalkmeer.
Intermediate layers and volcanic sandstone weather due to their properties to form nutrient-rich soils, which are better suited for agricultural use than the “poor” sandy soils of the lower and middle red sandstone. In the Holzland in particular, high-altitude clearing islands emerged early on, in which high-altitude villages such as Heltersberg , Schmalenberg and Trippstadt could develop in the period that followed.
Surface shape
Landscape character
| layers | Rock type | surface shape |
|---|---|---|
| Basement | Gneiss, slate |
Mountain base |
| Rotliegend, Zechstein |
Sandstone, slate clay |
Trees, terraces, wide valleys |
| lower red sandstone |
Sandstone, quartz, silicified thin layers with clay stone |
Shift gradually relief, mold variety |
| medium red sandstone |
Silicified quartz sandstone alternating with other sandstone |
Boulders , block collections, " seas of rocks" |
| upper red sandstone |
Sandstone, clay mica, carbonates, fossils |
Plateau, (leveling), clearing islands |
Rock layers of different hardness led to more or less severe weathering and erosion in the Palatinate Forest. For example, the formations of the Rotliegend and Zechstein were cleared to a greater extent to form levels and wide valleys, while the more resistant rocks of the Lower and Middle Buntsandstein were preserved as layers . Together with a dense, deeply cut valley system, the complex layered relief of today's Palatinate Forest developed.
While the mountains in the south continue as the northern Vosges without geomorphological delimitation and gradually merge into the Westrich plateau to the west, there are several layers and fractures in its northern and eastern parts. On the northern edge, there are two layers of layers that demarcate the low mountain range from the North Palatinate Uplands. These are, on the one hand, the Staufer layer at Ramsen with a height of 40 to 70 meters and, on the other hand, a much higher land step made up of Rehberg and Karlstal layers, which runs parallel to the Westrich lowland at Landstuhl with a thickness of about 200 meters .
In the east, the edge of the mountain forms a striking, approximately 300 to 400 meter high fracture step , which in its north and middle part consists mainly of rocks from the Lower and Middle Red Sandstone and is only interrupted by narrow notch valleys. South of the Queich, due to the changed geological conditions, this fracture step no longer continues as a compact mountain wall, but rather as an open chain of rather separate cone and ridges. This landscape applies to the entire south-eastern part of the Palatinate Forest, so that no coherent strata formed in this area.
The Karlstalschichten also do not appear in the central and eastern Palatinate Forest as a coherent rock layer, but only as isolated rock steps. Since the rock layers are generally inclined, they are found in higher mountain regions such as on the Rahnfels ( 516.5 m ), the Teufelsberg near Burrweiler ( 597.6 m ) and the Kalmit ( 672.6 m ) (see section Middle Buntsandstein ) .
Valleys
Characteristic of the Lower and Middle Buntsandstein are narrow notch valleys cut deep into the rock with a narrow valley bottom and steep side slopes. They are the typical valley shape in the central Palatinate Forest, while in its southern and northern parts so-called box valleys with wider valley bottoms predominate.
In the upper reaches of the streams, the difference in height between the valley floor and the surrounding mountain slopes decreases more and more, so that hollow valleys with flowing waters and dents without flowing waters characterize the relief. The Wellbachtal is an example of these shapes : From the Eschkopf downhill towards Annweiler, it is initially a Muldental, which turns into a Kerbtal after a few kilometers. After the confluence of the Modenbach on the Zwiesel, a Kastental is created, which joins the Queichtal after five to six kilometers.
In the south-western Palatinate Forest, for example in the Eppenbrunn, Fischbach and Ludwigswinkel areas , the Woog valleys characterize the landscape. Their valley floor is particularly wide and is therefore well suited for the construction of ponds ( wooge ), ponds and small lakes. Due to the diverse plant communities that settle there and the surrounding natural mixed forests, these valleys, like the Stüdenbachtal near Eppenbrunn, are valuable biotopes and nature reserves.
mountains
Depending on the prevailing rock sequences, there is a variety of different mountain forms in the Palatinate Red Sandstone Mountains. Typical of the northern and central Palatinate Forest are towering mountain blocks and elongated trapezoidal ridges with often rocky summits, of which the Almersberg (564 m above sea level ) and the Kesselberg (661.8 m above sea level) on the eastern edge of the mountain are characteristic examples. In the western Palatinate Forest in the area of the Upper Buntsandstein, these landscape forms are increasingly changing into plateau-like mountain formations with cleared areas, to which the Westrich plateau, which is dominated by shell limestone , adjoins to the west of a line Landstuhl, Waldfischbach , Pirmasens, Eppenbrunn (see section Upper Buntsandstein ).
While the geomorphological conditions in the south-western part of the Palatinate Forest are similar to those further north, different geological conditions apply in its south-eastern part. In the area of the Südpfälzer Sattel , the layers of the Buntsandstein were particularly strongly bulged and bent, which led to considerable weathering and erosion of these layers and the exposure of the sediments of the Rotliegend and Zechstein. At the same time, however, parts of the particularly resistant Trifels and Rehberg layers were preserved, so that a particularly diverse surface design was created. The typical landscape of the south-eastern Wasgau is therefore characterized by mountain forms that are often isolated, towering above the layers of the Zechstein, which have a wealth of forms and often bear bizarre rock formations. In this context, Geiger distinguishes between six different mountain forms, whereby above all mountain blocks (e.g. Rindsberg ), cone ridge mountains (e.g. Rehberg), mountain ridges (e.g. Dimberg ) and pure mountain cones (e.g. Burgberg des Lindelbrunn ) mark the low mountain range.
rock
Weathering and erosion have created a multitude of bizarre rock formations over millions of years, depending on the weather-related resistance of the sandstone, which, due to the special geological conditions - as described in the previous section - are mainly to be found in the southeastern part of the low mountain range. Depending on the erosion of the Trifels layers , rock towers (e.g. Hundsfelsen near Waldhambach ), rock walls (e.g. Asselstein near Annweiler), rock walls (e.g. Dimberg near Dimbach ) and rock blocks (e.g. Lindelbrunn near Vorderweidenthal). Rock openings, peat rocks (e.g. Eichelberg near Busenberg ) and table rocks (e.g. Teufelstisch near Hinterweidenthal) (see section Rehberg Layers ) resulted from small-scale weathering of narrow layers of different hardness . On the almost two kilometer long rocky reef of the Altschlossfelsen, crevices , overhangs and weathered honeycombs can also be seen; In contrast, rocky seas and boulder fields tend to characterize valley, but also mountain regions in the Middle Palatinate Forest (see section Karlstal layers ).
If the rock layers were undisturbed, the typical landscape structure of the rock country would end shortly after Annweiler. However, tectonic processes (see also section Storage of the Buntsandstein ) led to shifts and displacements of the individual layers, so that west of the Elmstein Fault, for example from Wilgartswiesen , Spirkelbach , Schwanheim , Erlenbach to Niederschlettenbach, the rock-forming Trifels layers were raised by around 80 to 100 meters and therefore continue to shape the surface structure in the Dahner Felsenland. Only to the west of the (Wies-) Lauter do these layers finally submerge under the younger Rehberg and Karlstal layers, so that the landscape of the western Wasgau from there onwards corresponds more to that of the Middle Palatinate Forest.
Water balance
A typical feature of the Palatinate Forest is its abundance of water , which results in a differentiated system of streams , small rivers and wetlands , e.g. B. has led moors , ponds and small lakes . Its water flow is generally very even, so that a balanced water balance is guaranteed even during persistent dry periods or very rainy weather . This is not only due to the above-average amounts of precipitation in the mountains, which are around 900 to 1,100 mm in middle and higher altitudes, but above all the hydrogeological properties of the various rocks of the Buntsandstein. The sandy soils caused by weathering are very permeable to water, seeping so that rain water quickly in the ground, as ground water through fissures and columns can be forwarded the sandstone core ( gap aquifer ).
This groundwater is then stored in various rock zones, so-called groundwater reservoirs , and only released back to the surface as spring water with a delay. Of the individual layers of the Buntsandstein, the extensive rock banks and zones of the Trifels layers in the Lower Buntsandstein and the rock zone of the Karlstalschichten in the Middle Buntsandstein are of particular importance, as they also contain more extensive amounts of groundwater, partly due to the expansion of the fissures larger cavities and small cave systems (sandstone karstification) , can be quickly continued and stored for a longer period of time. The conditions for new groundwater formation are also favorable: Due to the high infiltration rates and thus low surface runoff, only two thirds of the annual rainfall evaporates, so that the rest is directly available for the groundwater and its new formation.
The abundant groundwater comes to the surface in a variety of springs and wetlands and is partly used for the population by building rich deep wells . It is a characteristic of the red sandstone that in its layer sequence, groundwater-conducting rock zones are replaced by thin layers with rather clayey sandstones (see section Red sandstone ). These series of layers are only slightly permeable to water and therefore often form source horizons in which the groundwater can rise to the surface as a layer source ; one example is this the Rehberg source that originates on a thin layer of Rehberg layers in the summit area of this mountain. Stratified sources are therefore the most common source type in the Palatinate Forest, while fault sources in the border area of water-conducting and water-retaining strata such as the Wolfsbrunnen near Bad Bergzabern and valley edge springs such as the Lauterspring near Kaiserslautern are less common.
Not only the quantity but also the quality of the available groundwater make the Palatinate Forest a particularly valuable drinking water reservoir for many Palatinate communities . Since the sandstone is very poor in minerals and its groundwater therefore only has low solution content, it is water with a low hardness range (hardness range soft ). Also, pollution from anthropogenic influences, especially from wastewater and agricultural fertilization, is seldom detectable due to the remote location of many wells and the filter function of the sandstone. In terms of spatial planning , the aim is to align future drinking water production even more precisely with hydrogeological criteria and at the same time to take greater account of ecological issues, for example the preservation of wetlands.
particularities
Haardtsandstein
On the eastern edge of the mountains, light yellow, bleached sandstone is exposed in some regions, which used to be quarries near Bad Bergzabern , Frankweiler and Hambach or is still being mined as near Leistadt and Haardt . Since the formation of the Upper Rhine Plain, numerous faults and fissures have formed in the fracture zone between the Palatinate Forest and the Rhine Rift, through which hot solutions rose and carried away the reddish iron oxides . This led to the discoloration of the sandstone at the edge of the hair, while these processes led to deposits of iron ore in fissures and crevices in other parts of the mountain range, which was mainly mined between the 17th and 19th centuries (see also section Zechstein Formations ). One of these mines, the St. Anna tunnel near Nothweiler , has been developed as a visitor mine. During a guided tour and in a small museum, the geological processes are illustrated and the sometimes extreme working and mining conditions underground are experienced directly.
Earlier volcanic activity on the Pechsteinkopf
Basics
When the Upper Rhine Graben was formed in the paleogene, tensile stresses in the area of the rift fracture resulted in the thinning and weakening of the earth's crust (see also section Storage of the Buntsandstein ) and thus a reduction in pressure with subsequent melting processes in the plastic rock of the earth's mantle below. These melts had a lower density and thus a lower weight than the solid surrounding rock and therefore began to rise in the fractures of the earth's crust. By relieving pressure during the ascent, the magma was decompressed so that gases that had previously been dissolved in it could escape. A gas overpressure was created , the intensity of which depends , among other things, on how strongly the magma was previously permeated with gases. In the event of a volcanic eruption , therefore, either explosive eruptions - with high gas pressure - or longer lasting, effusive eruptions - with lower gas pressure - occur.
Formation of the volcano
While there was increased volcanism in various regions during the formation of the Upper Rhine Rift - examples are the Kaiserstuhl in southern Baden, the Vogelsberg in Central Hesse and the Katzenbuckel in the Odenwald - in contrast to this, in the area of the Palatinate Rift Valley, volcanic activity was only detected on the Pechsteinkopf near Forst . It was created in several sections:
In a first phase, an explosive eruption resulted in the formation of a funnel, which was filled with volcanic loose material (tephra) such as bombs , slag , lapilli and ash . Then magma rose in a second section, probably in a calm and non-explosive form (effusive eruption), so that it could gradually cool and solidify. Dark, upright or inclined columns of olivine nephelinite were secreted in the volcano's extraction slot within the tephra , although it is not certain whether the magma reached the surface at that time. In this context, some authors express the opinion that gas explosions also occurred during the effusive phase and shattered columns into chunks. Other authors propose a different explanation. The steep crevices that can be seen in the volcanic vent are therefore not the result of volcanic activities, but rather later tectonic movements in the rift valley.
There are different data on the age of the volcano: While older studies assumed it was 29 or 35 million years old, more recent geological studies, using the potassium-argon method, among other things, showed an age of 53 million years.
Until the 1980s, large areas of the basalt-like rock were mined in a quarry ; the disused site forms a geotope in which the various volcanic processes described above and their rock deposits can be viewed on site.
See also
literature
- Michael Geiger et al. (Hrsg.): The Palatinate Forest, portrait of a landscape . Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 1987, ISBN 3-9801147-1-6 , pp. 21-46.
- Michael Geiger: The landscapes of the Palatinate. In: Michael Geiger et al. (Hrsg.): Geographie der Pfalz . Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 2010, ISBN 978-3-9812974-0-9 , pp. 98-101.
- Jost Haneke / Michael Weidenfeller: The geological structural units of the Palatinate . In: Michael Geiger et al. (Hrsg.): Geographie der Pfalz. Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 2010, ISBN 978-3-9812974-0-9 , pp. 74-91.
- Adolf Hanle: Meyer's nature guide, Palatinate Forest and Wine Route . Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim 1990, ISBN 3-411-07131-1 , pp. 7-12.
- Ulrike Klugmann (Ed.): Palatinate Forest Nature Park, nature magazine outside , No. 24 . Harksheider Verlagsgesellschaft, Norderstedt o. J., pp. 20–29.
- State Office for Geology and Mining Rhineland-Palatinate (Hrsg.): Geology of Rhineland-Palatinate. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-510-65215-0 .
- State Office for Geology and Mining Rhineland-Palatinate (Ed.): Geological overview map of Rhineland-Palatinate 1: 300 000. Mainz 2003.
- State Office for Geology and Mining Rhineland-Palatinate (Ed.): Steinland-Palatinate . Verlag von Zabern, Mainz 2005, ISBN 3-8053-3094-4 .
- Roland Walter: Geology of Central Europe . Schweizerbart'sche Verlagbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-510-65225-9 .
- Ludwig Spuhler: "Introduction to the geology of the Palatinate". Publishing house of the Palatinate Society for the Advancement of Science Speyer, 432 p., 4 maps, 55 + 106 ills., Speyer 1957.
- Wolfgang Stucke: “Geology and tectonics in the area of the Elmstein fault between Wilgartswiesen and Eschkopf (Palatinate Forest)”, 198 p., 94 fig., (Doctoral thesis University of Karlsruhe) Karlsruhe, 1977
- Geological overview map 1: 200,000 sheets Mannheim, CC 7110, Hanover 1986.
Web links
- Pollichia, Association for Nature Research and Land Care e. V., Geosciences Working Group
- State Office for Geology and Mining Rhineland-Palatinate
- German Stratigraphic Commission
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c State Office for Geology and Mining (Ed.): Geological overview map of Rhineland-Palatinate . Retrieved January 18, 2012.
- ^ Emil Meynen , Josef Schmithüsen : Handbook of the natural spatial structure of Germany . Federal Institute for Regional Studies, Remagen / Bad Godesberg 1953–1962 (9 deliveries in 8 books, updated map 1: 1,000,000 with main units 1960).
- ↑ Helmut Beeger et al.: The landscapes of Rheinhessen-Pfalz - naming and spatial delimitation. In: Reports on German regional studies, Volume 63, Issue 2, Trier 1989, pp. 327–359.
- ↑ Thomas Reischmann / Gerald Anthes: The crystalline basement on the NW edge of the Rhine rift. In: Michael Geiger (Ed.): Haardt and Weinstrasse - Contributions to regional studies . Publishing house of the Palatinate Society for the Advancement of Science in Speyer, Speyer 1996, pp. 36–59.
- ↑ It is the designation of structural units that are taken from the lithostratigraphy of the Rotliegend in the Saar-Nahe basin, which is valid today; see. Jost Haneke / Michael Weidenfeller: The geological building units of the Palatinate , table p. 79
- ↑ Jost Haneke / Michael Weidenfeller: The geological building units of the Palatinate . In: Michael Geiger et al. (Hrsg.): Geographie der Pfalz. Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 2010, cf. Table for the lithostratigraphy of the Rotliegend in the Saar-Nahe basin of the German Stratigraphic Commission 2002, p. 79.
- ^ Adolf Hanle: Meyers Naturführer, Palatinate Forest and Wine Route . Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim 1990, good summary pp. 7-12.
- ↑ Ulrike Klugmann (ed.): Palatinate Forest Nature Park, nature magazine outside, No. 24 . Harksheider Verlagsgesellschaft, Norderstedt o. J., pp. 20–29.
- ↑ Tensile failure model of the ditch formation Website by Christian Röhr: Der Oberrheingraben . Retrieved May 6, 2011.
- ↑ Henning Illies: The Upper Rhine Graben - a chapter from the Palatinate geological history. In: Michael Geiger (Ed.): Palatinate regional studies - contributions to geography, biology, folklore and history. Self-published, Landau / Pf. 1981, pp. 175-192
- ↑ Michael Geiger et al. (Ed.): The Palatinate Forest in a geographical overview. In: Michael Geiger (Ed.): The Palatinate Forest, a portrait of a landscape , pp. 29–32
- ↑ Michael Geiger et al. (Ed.): The Palatinate Forest in a geographical overview. In: The Palatinate Forest, a portrait of a landscape . Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 1987, pp. 29-36, structure map and transverse profiles pp. 34 and 35.
- ^ Karl Stapf: New findings on the tectonics of the Palatinate Rhine rift edge. In: Michael Geiger (Ed.): Haardt and Weinstrasse - Contributions to regional studies . Publishing house of the Palatinate Society for the Advancement of Science in Speyer, Speyer 1996, pp. 60–69.
- ↑ Michael Geiger among others: Naturally shaped structures of Palatinate landscapes. In: Michael Geiger (Ed.): Palatinate regional studies. Contributions to geography, biology, folklore and history. Volume 1, self-published, Landau / Pf. 1981, pp. 38-43
- ↑ Jost Haneke / Michael Weidenfeller: The geological building units of the Palatinate . In: Michael Geiger et al. (Hrsg.): Geographie der Pfalz. Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 2010, cf. Table and map pp. 76–77.
- ↑ German Stratigraphic Commission (Hrsg.): Stratigraphische Tisch von Deutschland 2002 (STD 2002) . Retrieved April 9, 2011.
- ↑ Thomas Reischmann / Gerald Anthes: The crystalline basement on the NW edge of the Rhine rift. In: Michael Geiger (Ed.): Haardt and Weinstrasse - Contributions to regional studies . Publishing house of the Palatinate Society for the Advancement of Science in Speyer, Speyer 1996, pp. 39–44
- ↑ Jost Haneke / Michael Weidenfeller: The geological building units of the Palatinate . In: Michael Geiger et al. (Hrsg.): Geographie der Pfalz. Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 2010, pp. 80-81.
- ↑ El Ounenli, A./Stapf, KRG (1995); Dittrich, D. (1996); quoted based on: Jost Haneke / Michael Weidenfeller: The geological structural units of the Palatinate , p. 80
- ↑ Jost Haneke / Michael Weidenfeller: The geological building units of the Palatinate . In: Michael Geiger et al. (Hrsg.): Geographie der Pfalz. Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 2010, p. 81, table of the Zechstein stratigraphy of the Palatinate.
- ↑ Jost Haneke / Michael Weidenfeller: The geological building units of the Palatinate . In: Michael Geiger et al. (Hrsg.): Geographie der Pfalz. Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 2010, cf. Table p. 83.
- ↑ Due to recent geological studies, for example by Dittrich (1996, quoted from Jost Haneke / Michael Weidenfeller, Landau / Pf. 2010, p. 80 ff.), The Zechstein and red sandstone stratigraphy of the Palatinate was fundamentally changed. The presentation of the article text is based on this new structure.
- ↑ Jost Haneke / Michael Weidenfeller: The geological building units of the Palatinate . In: Michael Geiger et al. (Hrsg.): Geographie der Pfalz. Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 2010, cf. Table p. 82.
- ↑ Michael Geiger et al. (Ed.): The Palatinate Forest in a geographical overview. In: Michael Geiger (Ed.): The Palatinate Forest, a portrait of a landscape , p. 25f.
- ^ State Office for Geology and Mining, Geotourism and Geotope Protection in Rhineland-Palatinate, website of the State Office for Geology and Mining. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
- ↑ Ingrid Dörrer: The edge of hair in the geomorphological spatial structure of the Palatinate Rhine rift edge. In: Michael Geiger (Ed.): Haardt and Weinstrasse - Contributions to regional studies . Publishing house of the Palatinate Society for the Advancement of Science in Speyer, Speyer 1996, pp. 92–95.
- ↑ Hans Zehfuß: Spherical Rocks. In: Adolf Hanle (Ed.): Meyers Naturführer, Pfälzerwald and Weinstrasse . Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim 1990, pp. 80-81.
- ↑ Wilhelm Weber: Important architectural and art monuments in the Palatinate Forest . In: Michael Geiger et al. (Ed.): The Palatinate Forest, a portrait of a landscape . Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 1987, pp. 309f.
- ↑ W. Dienemann , O. Burre: The usable rocks Germany and their deposits. II. Volume Solid Rocks . Stuttgart 1929, p. 254
- ^ Wolfgang Diehl: Evidence of architecture in the Palatinate . In: Michael Geiger et al. (Hrsg.): Geographie der Pfalz . Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 2010, pp. 284-286
- ↑ Michael Geiger et al. (Ed.): The Palatinate Forest in a geographical overview. In: The Palatinate Forest, a portrait of a landscape . Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 1987, cf. Chart p. 41.
- ↑ The rocks of the Palatinate Forest . Website of the hiking portal Pfalz. Retrieved April 9, 2011.
- ↑ German Weather Service Weather and Climate from a single source . Website of the German Weather Service. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
- ↑ Hubert Heitele, Dietmar Kotke, Herrmann Fischer: The groundwater and its use . In: Michael Geiger et al. (Ed.): The Palatinate Forest, portrait of a landscape . Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 1987, pp. 253-262.
- ↑ Thomas Kärcher, Hubert Heitele: The groundwater and its use . In: Michael Geiger et al. (Hrsg.): Geographie der Pfalz . Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 2010, pp. 114–127.
- ↑ a b Michael Geiger: Pechsteinkopf . In: Adolf Hanle: Meyers Naturführer, Pfälzerwald and Weinstrasse . Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim 1990, pp. 100-102.
- ↑ Jost Haneke / Michael Weidenfeller: The geological building units of the Palatinate . In: Michael Geiger (ed.): Geography of the Palatinate. Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 2010, p. 81.
