Messel Pit

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Messel Pit
UNESCO world heritage UNESCO World Heritage Emblem
Messel Pit in March 2016, view from the west
Messel Pit in March 2016, view from the west
Contracting State (s): GermanyGermany Germany
Type: nature
Criteria : (viii)
Reference No .: 720bis
UNESCO region : Europe and North America
History of enrollment
Enrollment: 1995  (session 19)
Map of the Messel Pit

The Messel in Messel , southeast of the eponymous district in Messel Pit , in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in Hesse is a disused oil shale - open pit . Because of the excellent quality of the fossils from the Eocene that were found there , it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. So far representatives of all vertebrate groups as well as insects and plants have been found there. The best-known representatives of the Messel fauna are probably the two early onesEquine Propalaeotherium and Eurohippus , of which over 70 individuals have so far been excavated. Other important finds are the crane bird Messelornis cristata and Darwinius masillae ("Ida"), an early primate .

history

From the beginning until 1970

Kux certificate from the Messel trade union dated July 31, 1894
Oil loading system of the paraffin and mineral oil works Messel (1930s)
Train of the overburden track of the Messel mine on the overburden dump before tipping (before 1950)

The mining history of the Messel Pit began in 1859 with the construction of a lawn iron ore mine . When mining the ore , the lignite-like silting horizons of the Messeler See were encountered , which were also initially mined. Eventually the oil shale was reached, the extraction of which the mining operations concentrated on until the mine was closed in 1971.

The oil shale was from the 1880s by the specially founded to union Messel dismantled and in close proximity to the mine for the extraction of petroleum products carbonized . Various rail systems existed for transporting mining products from the mine and waste products from smoldering to the dumps (see → Messel mine railways ).

As early as 1876, during the first attempts to mine oil shale, an alligator skeleton was found (" Crocodilus ebertsi ") and in 1898 Ernst Wittich published a first comprehensive scientific treatise on the Messel mine in his dissertation in Giessen. In 1912, the then Grand Ducal State Museum in Darmstadt received the rights to fossil finds from the Messel oil shale.

In 1923, the Messel trade union became the property of Stinnes-Riebeck'schen Montan- und Ölwerke AG (part of IG Farben from 1925 ). In 1945 the factory, which was badly damaged in World War II, was confiscated by the US military administration and placed under the IG Farben Central Office in Frankfurt am Main , which was entrusted with winding up IG Farben. Nine years later, in 1954, the Paraffin- und Mineralölwerk Messel GmbH was founded , which received the mining rights for the mine from the State of Hesse. In 1959 the GmbH was taken over by the Swedish Ytong group , which was responsible for the smoldering waste from the oil shaleAerated concrete blocks processed. In 1962, the increasingly unprofitable mineral oil production was discontinued and oil shale was only extracted in relatively small quantities from there.

1970–1990: Landfill or excavation site

Before the final end of industrial oil shale mining, the choice fell on the Messel pit when looking for a suitable location for a central landfill for southern Hesse . The reason for this was on the one hand their size and on the other hand their central location in the Rhine-Main area . The fact that the establishment of such a landfill would inevitably also have led to the end of the fossil excavation did not play a major role in these considerations, especially since scientists at the time did not attach any particularly high value to the Messel oil shale in this regard. Only after the end of the industrial oil shale mining in 1971 did private fossil collectors sensational finds and the underestimated potential of the pit became increasingly clear.

In 1974 the association for waste disposal pit Messel (ZAGM) was founded. In the same year the pit was closed to the public. In 1975, at its own insistence, the Senckenberg Research Institute received participation in the excavation in the pit, whereupon excavations have been carried out regularly since then. In 1976 the Senckenberg paleontologist Jens Franzen published an essay in which he attested the Messel fossils to be of outstanding importance. 1977 ZAGM applied for planning approval at the Hessian Oberbergamtregarding the large landfill. Due to the now obvious high scientific value of the pit, the Senckenberg researchers appealed to the Oberbergamt against the plan approval application in 1979, but were appeased by the then Hessian Prime Minister Holger Börner with the guarantee that the particularly fossil-rich western slope of the pit would remain open for excavations for another 20 years would. After the Oberbergamt approved the construction and operation of the landfill by means of a planning approval in 1981, construction work began the following year.

In 1984, after the emergence of an SPD minority government tolerated by the Greens - all previous decisions on the Messel pit had been made by a social-liberal coalition - the new Environment Minister Armin Clauss ordered a construction freeze in Messel under pressure from the Greens . The operator, meanwhile renamed the Zweckverband Abfallbesicherung Südhessen (ZAS), however, sued the Hessian administrative court and got right, after which construction work was resumed. The funds required for this were initially made available through corresponding resolutions at the municipal level (Darmstadt-Dieburg district, Darmstadt city, association assembly of the ZAS) - with the consent of SPD delegates.

At the end of 1985, two years after the 1983 state elections , the Greens officially joined the Hessian state government . In view of the legal situation, the Red-Green government applied to the Oberbergamt the following year to suspend the planning approval decision at least with regard to the commissioning of the landfill. In addition, after the local elections in spring 1985, the majority in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district had changed in favor of red-green. Among other things, the district council representatives from the SPD and the Greens voted in the association assembly of the ZAS together with a representative of the Greens from the city ​​councilthe city of Darmstadt against the provision of new funds to finance the construction work on the landfill and thus delayed its completion.

After a CDU- led government took over official business in Hesse in the spring of 1987, the application for suspension was withdrawn, whereupon the Messel citizens' initiative to prevent the landfill , which had already formed in the 1970s and since then has brought several unsuccessful lawsuits against the mine, for their part, filed an emergency appeal against the commissioning before the Administrative Court in Kassel and in December 1987, due to formal errors in the plan approval procedure and new expert reports on the safety of the landfill, was given the right to do so in November 1988 in the main proceedingshas been confirmed. Although a revision of this procedure was approved by the Federal Administrative Court , the Hessian Ministry of the Environment and the ZAS finally abandoned their plans for the Messel mine, among other things because improvements to the landfill planning would have cost around 300 million marks. By then the project had already swallowed 65 million marks.

From 1990: Declaration as a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Special postage stamp “UNESCO World Heritage Site: Messel Pit”, 1998

After the mine had been bought by the State of Hesse in 1991 for 32.6 million marks, it transferred the operation of the mine to the Senckenbergische Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, which has since been mining oil shale for scientific purposes there, officially under mining law.

In the meantime, the Messel Pit had risen to a world-class fossil deposit due to numerous finds of unique quality, which is why the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art applied to UNESCO to include the Messel Pit on the World Heritage List in 1994 . On December 8, 1995, she was under the entry Messel Pit Fossil Site to UNESCO World Heritage declared.

†  Eoconstrictor fischeri , a representative of the " giant snakes ".

In 2004, a fossil python from the oil shale Palaeopython fischeri was named in honor of Joschka Fischer , who, as the Hessian Environment Minister, campaigned against the use of the mine as a landfill and signed the contract for the purchase of the mine by the State of Hesse in 1991 .

In 1997, a viewing platform was built on the southern edge of the pit and guided tours for visitors began; the visitor center only opened thirteen years later. On December 9, 2010, the 55 residents of the Messel community who had sued against the construction of the landfill were honored. On the occasion of the ceremony to mark the 15th anniversary of their inclusion in the World Heritage Site, these people were awarded honorary cards "for their meritorious civic engagement", which grant them free access to the visitor center for life.

geology

Schematic cross-section through the Messel Pit at the time the Messel Formation ( Lutetium ) was deposited . The illustration shows the lake in its late phase, with a relatively shallow water depth.

Geological framework

The Messel Pit is located on the northern extension of the Odenwald - Scholle , the so-called Sprendlinger Horst. Odenwald and Sprendlinger Horst together in turn form the northern part of the eastern shoulder of the Upper Rhine Graben . While the Variscan basement comes to light in the Crystalline Odenwald , which is included in the Central German Crystalline Sill, on the Sprendlinger Horst it is mainly covered by deposits of the Rotliegend ( Lower Permian ). The sediments of the Messel Pit (Messel Formation) form an isolated Eocene deposit in the middle of these Rotliegendsediments.

History of the Messel Pit

Early phase

The rocks on which the sediments of the Messel Eocene rests were formed in ancient times , over 300 million years ago. Some of these are granitoid plutons , which arose in the late phase of the Variscan orogeny in the Upper Carboniferous , and some of them are even older, mostly igneous rocks that were sunk deep into the earth's crust during ore formation and there as a result of the high pressure and the high temperature transformed were (z. B. amphibolite ).

Syenite quarry on the Mainzer Berg south of the Messel pit. The rock extracted here belongs to the crystalline basement of the Sprendlinger Horstes.

As a result of the erosion of the Variscan high mountains, sedimentary layers of erosion debris, so-called molasses , were deposited at the end of the Carboniferous and in the course of the Permian in basins in the interior of the mountains and in the foothills . This variscid molasse is now generally summarized in Central Europe under the term Rotliegend . In the Messel area it is the so-called Moret layers of the Oberrotliegend.

Rotliegend-Sande (Unterperm) in the western embankment of the Messel pit. The sediments, which are usually red in color , are bleached here due to the reducing conditions emanating from the Messel oil shale.

In the Middle Ages , the Rotliegend Molasse was covered by other sediments, including the sandstone and claystones of the Buntsandstein ( Lower Triassic ), which can be found today southeast and east of the Darmstadt area, in the sandstone Odenwald and in the sandstone Spessart .

Origin of the oil shale

The history of the Messel oil shale begins about 48 million years ago in the Eocene. As a result of plate tectonics, Europe was a little closer to the equator and the average global temperature was significantly higher than it is today. The formation of the Alps triggered geodynamic in and below the crust of Central EuropeProcesses that led, among other things, to the sinking of the Upper Rhine Graben and the uplift of the Black Forest-Odenwald plaice, including the Sprendlinger Horstes. As a result of the removal of the uppermost areas of the raised clods, the Variscan basement was exposed in the Black Forest and in the western Odenwald. In the less elevated Sprendlinger Horst, erosion only occurred up to the Rotliegend. Associated with the tectonic movements was the formation of volcanic herds.

A research borehole that was sunk in autumn 2001 revealed that such a volcanic center was also located in the Messel area. From there, basaltic magma rose towards the surface of the earth and hit groundwater , causing a huge steam explosionwas triggered. This explosion occurred less than 100 meters below the surface of the earth at that time and not only blasted a deep crater into the landscape, but also disrupted the surrounding rock. This enabled water to penetrate towards the volcanic center and the next steam explosion then took place at a correspondingly greater depth. Repeating this process several times resulted in a more than 700 meter deep explosion funnel in the basement. According to a study published in late 2014, these explosions occurred 48.49 to 47.89 million years ago. While the lower part of the funnel contains rock debris ( breccias ) and tuff , the upper 200-300 meters filled with water after the volcanism subsided and it formedMaar lake . Various sediments were then deposited in this lake, mainly the bituminous mudstone , which is now known as "Messeler Ölschiefer".

The generally warm climate and the slight seasonal temperature fluctuations, together with the very large depth of the lake in relation to the surface, prevented water exchange by convection . This inevitably leads to a lack of oxygen and a high proportion of sulfur in the deeper water layers . Due to these Euxinian conditions in the depths of the maar, a sludge formed which offered dead animals and plants that reached the lake floor the best conditions for their fossil conservation. In the course of the following millions of years this mud condensed into a black clay stone(also black pelite), the oil shale. The oil shale deposits are up to 150 meters thick, which suggests a deposition period of around 1.5 million years.

Petrography of the oil shale

Oil shale freshly cut in the course of the fossil excavations (middle ground).

The more mining term oil shale is, from a petrological point of view, incorrect in two respects. Firstly, it is not shale, as it is not a rock whose "schisty" structure has tectonic causes, and secondly, the rock does not contain petroleum , but solid, carbon-rich compounds, so-called kerogens . This material is a preliminary stage of crude oil, from which crude oil can only be obtained through a technical process known as smoldering . The correct petrographic name is therefore black pelite or black clay stone. What is striking about the oil shale is its fine lamination, i. i.e., alternating stratification in the millimeter range.

Close-up of an oil shale handpiece with sidereal laminae (orange).

The Messeler oil shale consists mainly of smectites . These are clay minerals that originate from the chemical weathering of basic volcanic rocks. In some cases they formed before they were washed into the lake, but in some cases only after the initial minerals ( olivine , pyroxene , hornblende) had been deposited). Most of the entry was made by rainwater running off, the smectites and their starting minerals from the slopes of the tuff wall that surrounded the lake, washed away and washed into the lake. It is possible, however, that some of the raw materials found their way into the lake in the form of ash rain, which came from the eruptions of nearby volcanoes. Other mineral components are siderite , pyrite (partly responsible for the dark color of the rock), quartz / opal and zeolite. The high proportion of siderite, which is concentrated on less than 1 millimeter thick, yellowish-gray or orange-colored layers (laminae), is a special feature of Messel oil shale increased strongly at the lake floor with an increased iron content of the water.

Algae are also the source of the majority (around 80%) of the organic components of oil shale, the kerogens. The most common type of algae is Tetraedron minimum . A large part of the lamination of Messel oil shale corresponds to the alternating stratification, particularly rich in organic matter with layers richer in clay. This is explained by the fact that the algae reproduced particularly strongly in the drier, sunnier months of the year and sank to the bottom of the lake after their death. In the rainier half of the year, clay minerals were washed in and deposited. If this hypothesis is correct, the lamination of the oil shale would be a real varveal layeract. Since the sedimentation rate of mineral matter was naturally higher at the lake edges, the proportion of organic matter in the oil shale at the edge of the pit is correspondingly lower ("edge slate"). The lamination is also not so clearly pronounced there. Approximately 19% of the organic components come from higher land plants and only 1% come from animals, with microorganisms ( zooplankton ) making up by far the largest proportion.

Fossils

General

Oil shale that was freshly mined and split during the fossil excavation

The fossil finds from the Messel Pit are very extensive and include not only plants but also invertebrates and vertebrates . More than 75 families with over 200 species are known to exist in micro- and macro-fossil plants alone. To date, a good 130 taxa have been identified among vertebrates , including over 40 species from more than 30 genera of mammals alone . Numerous taxa received their first description with fossil material from Messel . The state of preservation of the fossils embedded in the oil shale is excellent: in vertebrates, stomach contents or details of the soft tissues are occasionally passed down, in insectsVeining of the wings or the original color of the chitin shell . Such information is usually lost during fossilization.

The Senckenberg Nature Museum in Frankfurt and the Hessian State Museum in Darmstadt regularly carry out excavations during the summer months.

There is a problem of conservation with the fossils from the Messel pit: the supporting material, the claystone (oil shale), contains around 40 percent water. If it dries up, it tears and breaks up into small leaves, similar to bark mulch . It has only been possible since the early 1960s to transfer fossils to synthetic resin ( epoxy resin or polyester resin ) and thus to preserve them permanently, to preserve them for research and to exhibit them. The method was developed by hobby researchers in the 1970s to the form still used today, as the private mining of oil shale was tolerated by the authorities until 1974.

The reburial procedure

In order to protect the Messel vertebrate fossils from damage or destruction as a result of the oil shale drying out in the air, they are separated from the oil shale and preserved in several steps .

  1. With a fine tool ( scalpel or dissecting needle ) overlapping rock remnants on the cleft surface of the oil shale, on which parts of the skeleton are already visible, are removed to such an extent that about half (the "top") of the skeleton is completely exposed.
  2. A two to three centimeter high frame (e.g. made of plasticine ) is attached to the rock slab around the fossil that has been exposed so far, so that a kind of flat pan is created, the bottom of which is formed by the oil shale with the skeleton still half-embedded in it .
  3. The skeleton is dried with a hot air gun until it is a little lighter than the surrounding rock. The plate is now wrapped in plastic wrap to keep the oil shale moist.
  4. After the film has been removed, liquid synthetic resin is poured into the frame until the skeleton is covered with a layer no more than one centimeter thick. The resin takes about 12 hours to cure.
  5. The frame is then removed. The plate can now be turned over and the "underside" of the skeleton firmly connected with the synthetic resin can be freed from the remaining oil shale using a suitable tool.

Finds

A jewel beetle with its shell still shimmering

Invertebrates

Although Messel used to be a lake, hardly any water-dwelling invertebrates are found. Freshwater prawns , snails such as the pond snail Viviparus and the water beetle can only be found in certain layers of oil shale. Land-living insects are much more common . Dung beetles , jewel beetles and weevils dominate, and there are also representatives of the Cupedidae , which are missing in Europe today. On some copies there are even paint residues. The same applies to a green ram from the Zygaenidae family, in which the color of the wings could be determined. Further insects are represented by representatives of the leaf cutter bees , large representatives of the leaf locust and by singing cicadas . A special find is a walking leaf of the genus Eophyllium , which was very similar to its current relatives. Flying insects are passed down among other things with two-winged birds from the Nemestrinidae family (including Hirmoneura ) and hymenoptera . The latter include the real bees that live in Messel with Pygomelissa and Protobombushave been proven. In addition come various parasitic representatives of parasitic wasps before, so among other Trigonator , Mesornatus , Polyhelictes , Rhyssella and Xanthopimpla ago. Some of the forms such as Mesornatus or Polyhelictes cannot be systematically assigned exactly, but Trigonator belongs to the Labeninae , which actually represent a fauna element of the southern continents (Africa, South America and Australia). Antsare mainly only represented by queens and flightable males. Among them were weaver ants as well as the largest ant species ever: the queens of the genus Titanomyrma with the species Titanomyrma gigantea have a wingspan of up to 16 cm. The discovery of the parasitic fungus of the species Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which specializes in ants, is also interesting .

fishes

†  Amphiperca multiformis .

The most common fish species in Messel are original ray-finned fishes , of which three species were discovered in Messel: The mud fish Cyclurus kehreri and gars Masillosteus Kelleri and Atractosteus kinkelini (former A. strausi ). Modern ray fins ( Teleostei ), such as the salmon-like Thaumaturus intermedius , the eel Anguilla ignota and the three perch-like Amphiperca multiformis , Palaeoperca proxima and Rhenanoperca minuta, are rarer .

Amphibians

In addition to the terrestrial toad frog Eopelobates wagneri , representatives of the extinct family Palaeobatrachidae and the salamander Chelotriton robustus were also discovered in Messel .

Reptiles

†  Diplocynodon darwini .
†  Allognathosuchus main

The turtles are in Messel by Terrapin Palaeoemys (from sometimes Euroemys is separated) to the Papua Trionychidae belonging allaeochelys , the soft-shelled turtle Palaeoamyda and the neck Wender Turtle Neochelys represented. Noteworthy here are several individuals of Allaeochelys found in pairs , each representing male and female individuals. Some of the couples are in direct physical contact with each other and have their tails placed next to each other as in the mating position, which is accordingly a sexual actis interpreted. The finds belong to the oldest fossilized evidence of copulation in vertebrates.

The crocodile-like of the Messel Formation are represented by both more original, albeit relatively specialized, forms as well as more modern forms. The former include Pristichampsus rollinatii and Bergisuchus dietrichbergi , which were most likely pure rural residents . In contrast , the diplocynodontins Diplocynodon darwini and Baryphracta deponiae , which are related to the alligators and caimans , lived the alligators Hassiacosuchus maini (formerly Allognathosuchus maini ) and Allognathosuchus gracilis as well as the "Asiatosuchus" germanicus germanicus, which is related to the real crocodiles mainly in the water.

The snakes of the Messel Eocene all belong to the “primitive” roller snakes and “ giant snakes ”. The giant snakes are represented among others by sand boas and of up to two meters long Eoconstrictor and the smaller forms Messelophis and Rieppelophis . Labial pits on the skull of the Eoconstrictor indicate that the animals were already able to perceive infrared ranges . With Eurheloderma an early representative could beaded lizards and cryptolacertaa representative of the double sneaks or real lizards ( Lacertibaenia ) can be detected in Messel. The long-tailed lizards Eolacerta and Stefanikia are also close to the real lizards . The former shape reached a body length of around 27 cm, the latter was only about half as long. A rare example of a juvenile individual has also come down to us from Eolacerta . Other finds include Placosauriops and Ophisauriscus from the sneak group . Shinisaurus belongs here tooin the close relatives. Currently there is only one discarded tail, the scale armor of which is similar to that of the Chinese crocodile tail lizard. It is not only the first record of the genus in Paleogene Europe, but also the earliest record of such a crocodile-like tail of this group of lizards. Like the Chinese crocodile tail lizard, which is highly endangered today, the Messel counterpart was probably also aquatic. Furthermore came with Ornathocephalus a big-headed lizard, with Geiseltaliellus an iguana and " Saniwa " possibly a member of the monitor lizards before.

Birds

†  Messelirrisor halcyrostris with shadow- like plumage .

Among the ground-dwelling birds in Messel were flightless bird Palaeotis weigelti which Hühnervogel Paraortygoides messelensis , the two-meter-high goose Related Gastornis cf. geiselensis that "Messel-Rail" Messelornis cristata which Seriema related Idiornis , strigogyps (former Aenigmavis ) and Salmila robusta . Water birds are rare. So far only one relative of the flamingos and grebes , Juncitarsus merkeli , the ibis, has been described Rhynchaeites messelensis and the pelican Masillastega rectirostris .

Tree breeders have included the Tagschläfer Paraprefica Kelleri that "Messel-Hopf" Messelirrisor that sailors Parargornis messelensis and szarskii Scaniacypselus that parrots Pseudasturides macrocephalus and Serudaptes Pohli that Racke Eocoracias brachyptera , the bird of prey gratulator Messelastur which Eisvogelartige Quasisyndactylus longibrachis , the cuckoo Rail Plesiocathartes Kelleri , the Schwalm bird Hassiavis laticauda , variousSpecies of owls , mouse birds and the bird Eurofluvioviridavis . With Eofringillirostrum and Psittacopes also early representatives from the relationship of could passerines are occupied. The former fed on hard-shelled seeds due to its finch-like beak, while the beak of the latter is similar to that of today's bearded tit. Primozygodactylus is also closely related to the two genera .

Mammals

†  Masillamys is one of the oldest rodents in the history of the earth
†  Messelobunodon schaeferi .

The marsupials found in Messel so far include the genera Mimoperadectes , Amphiperatherium , Peratherium and Peradectes . They are distant relatives of today's tree-dwelling opossum rats in America .

The vast majority belong to the higher mammals . Insectivores are represented by the hedgehog related Pholidocercus , Macrocranion (two species) and the Leptictidium (three species) jumping on two legs . The rodents include the one meter long Ailuravus , the "Messelmäuse" Masillamys and Hartenbergeromys as well as the bilch Eogliravus . The primitive Kopidodon , the Apatemyide Heterohyus , a finger animal , which is reminiscent of today's insect eater , lived on trees resembling mammal, and the pangolins Eomanis , Euromanis, and Eurotamandua , the latter originally being classified as an anteater . For the most part, the lemurs have only survived in fragments , including several species of Europolemur . However, Darwinius (first described as Godinotia ) also has one of the most complete skeletons of all, which became world-famous under the nickname "Ida". In contrast, Buxolestes , a representative of the Pantolestidae , lived like an otter .

Predatory mammals are very rare in Messel. So far only three genera have been discovered. Lesmesodon belongs to the so-called mock or primal carnivores ( Creodonta ), while Paroodectes and Messelogale belong to the modern predators ( Carnivora ). The bats , which belong to at least three different families, show a remarkably high diversity . The representatives of the genus Palaeochiropteryx , which were specialized insectivores, are important and most common . Tachypteron or Hassianaycteris, on the other hand, are less common .

Five genera of the herbivorous unpaired ungulates have already been described in Messel. The traditional with a complete skeleton Tapir related hyrachyus is the largest known mammal in Messel. He shared his habitat with the ancient horses Hallensia , Propalaeotherium and Eurohippus . The two latter genera each represent several species and together comprise over 70 skeletons. Their systematic position within the equine relationship is not entirely clear, as a reference to both the Palaeotheriidae and the Equidae is being discussed. Lophiodon, a more distant relative of the tapirs, is represented by the skeleton of a young animal. In contrast to odd-toed ungulates , even-toed ungulates are rarer in Messel, but they have at least four genera: Messelobunodon , Aumelasia , Masillabune and Eurodexis .

Soft tissues

In addition to the tracing of body outlines, fur and feathers caused by bacteria, structures that are reminiscent of blood cells and bone cells could be detected in the turtles Allaeochelys and Neochelys , the crocodile Diplocynodon and the pangolin Euromanis .

miscellaneous

Some fossils unearthed by private collectors in the 1970s and 80s were later resold. For example, the holotype of Darwinius masillae , which became known to the public in May 2009 under the name "Ida", was purchased for a six-figure sum from the Natural History Museum in Oslo.

Public access

and display information about the image

Panoramic view from the pit gen south-southwest through north to north-east, in August 2006. In the light gray appearing embankments in the north-north-west of the pit slope is the Committee stockpile of immediately adjacent Ytong -Werks.

Mine inspection

The pit can be visited in guided groups. Guided tours are offered regularly. A viewing platform at the edge of the pit allows a view into the pit without taking part in a guided tour. Information boards help you to explore on your own. In addition, the road into the pit is being renovated and an experience-oriented design with stations and weather protection is being built.

Visitor and information center

Entrance to the visitor and information center

A visitor and information center right on the edge of the Messel pit was opened in August 2010. The architecture of the building and the exterior design are derived from the layering of the oil slate. It was designed by the architects Landau + Kindelbacher and the landscape architects Keller Damm Roser from Munich. The visitors “wander” through the layers of the earth. Around 100,000 visitors were expected every year. The actual attendance at around 40,000 visitors a year remained far below these expectations.

In 2011, 500 negatives and glass plates were purchased from Kurt Röhrig , which were probably made in 1949 from mining and operation in the oil shale mine.

Exhibitions

In the literature

The Messel Pit is a central location in Bernhard Kegel's novel The Oil Slate Skeleton.

literature

  • Anita Bagus: The Messel Pit for children and other researchers. Interest group for the preservation of the fossil site, Messel 2003, ISBN 3-00-011776-8 .
  • Georg Beeger: Chronicle of the Messel Pit 1884–1964 . In: Stephan Schaal, Ulrich Schneider (Ed.): Chronicle of the Messel Pit . Gladenbach 1995. ISBN 3-88343-016-1 , pp. 3-195.
  • Gabriele Gruber, Norbert Micklich: Messel. Treasures of prehistoric times. Theiss, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-2092-6 (book accompanying the exhibition in the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt from March 29 to September 30, 2007, Leiden 2007–2008, Oslo 2008, Hanover 2009, Stuttgart 2009, Basel 2009– 2010, Münster 2010–2011).
  • Wighart von Koenigswald, Gerhard Storch (ed.): Messel. A Pompeii of paleontology. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1998, ISBN 3-7995-9083-8 .
  • Gerhard Storch: The Messel Pit: Mammals at the beginning of their great career. In: Biology in Our Time. 34 (1), 2004, ISSN  0045-205X , pp. 38-45.
  • Stephan FK Schaal, Krister T. Smith, Jörg Habersetzer: Messel - A fossil tropical ecosystem. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-510-61410-3 .
  • Torsten Wappler (Ed.): Messel under the microscope. Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Darmstadt 2005, ISBN 3-926527-76-5 .
  • Hans W. Wolf: Treasures in the slate. Fascinating fossils from the Messel Pit. Westermann, Braunschweig 1988, ISBN 3-07-508996-6 .

Movies

  • Treasures of prehistoric times - garbage of the modern age Documentation, Germany 1985, 29 min. Film by: Uschi Madeisky and Klaus Werner, Production: ZDF , first broadcast April 27, 1985.
  • Window to prehistoric times - Messel Pit World Heritage Site. Documentation, Germany 1998, 30 min. Production: Stadtfernsehen Dreieich
  • The Messel Pit - tropical forest in the Eocene. Documentation, Germany 2002, 7 min. Script, direction, camera and sound: Heribert Schöller. Production: hr nature magazine “service: natur”, first broadcast on January 26, 2002 Summary
  • A window to prehistoric times. The Messel Pit. Documentation, Germany, 2008, 45 min., Script and direction: Götz Balonier, production: hr , first broadcast April 15, 2008
  • The Messel Pit. Documentation, Germany, 2008, 15 min., Written and directed: Josef Becker, production: SWR , series: Schätze der Welt, online video
  • Primeval times at the ghost lake. In search of the messel of today. Documentation, Germany 2009, 43 min., Directors: Klaus Sparwasser, Iris Sparwasser, ZDF
  • The secret discovery. The fossil and its message. Documentation, Germany, 2009, first broadcast May 31, 2009, 45 min., Film by Anthony Geffen, production: ZDF , series: Terra X , online video

gallery

Web links

Commons : Grube Messel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Messel Pit  - Travel Guide

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jens Lorenz Franzen, Philip D. Gingerich, Jörg Habersetzer, Jørn H. Hurum, Wighart von Koenigswald, B. Holly Smith: Complete Primate Skeleton from the Middle Eocene of Messel in Germany: Morphology and Paleobiology. PLoS ONE 4 (5), 2009, p. E5723. doi : 10.1371 / journal.pone.0005723
  2. ^ Ernst Wittich: Contributions to the knowledge of Messel brown coal and its fauna. Inaugural dissertation from the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Giessen. Giessen 1898 online
  3. ↑ a b c S. Schaal: Kissed awake after 47 million years ... Chronicle of the Messel site. In: Messel Pit Fossil Deposit. Snapshots from the Eocene. Vernissage, series: Unesco World Heritage, No. 21/05, 13th cent. (2005), pp. 60-62
  4. ↑ a b c d e Regina Urban: Messel or the garbage emergency. Die Zeit , October 9, 1987
  5. ↑ Jens Lorenz Franzen: The fossil discovery site Messel - their importance for paleontological science. Naturwissenschaften 63 (9), 1976, pp. 418-425, doi : 10.1007 / BF00599410
  6. ↑ Barbarism with deodorant. Der Spiegel, 4/1984
  7. ↑ Confused legal situation - does a green city councilor have to carry out instructions? Darmstädter Echo, October 17, 1986, p. 10.
  8. ↑ Planning approval for the Messel pit waste disposal site invalid due to formal errors, 23 November 1988. Contemporary history in Hessen. (As of October 30, 2012). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  9. ↑ a b Diemut Klärner: Hoofed animals on the trees. Die Zeit , December 8, 1995
  10. ↑ Naming in memory of the preservation of the Messel pit. www.senckenberg.de
  11. ↑ Late recognition for landfill opponents. Frankfurter Rundschau, December 10, 2010
  12. ↑ a b c d e H. Buness, M. Felder, G. Gabriel, F.-J. Harms: Explosive tropical paradise. Geology and geophysics in fast motion. In: Messel Pit Fossil Deposit. Snapshots from the Eocene. Vernissage, series: Unesco World Heritage, No. 21/05, 13th cent. (2005), pp. 6-11
  13. ↑ a b c Thomas Nix: Investigation of the engineering geological conditions of the Messel pit (Darmstadt) with regard to the long-term stability of the pit slopes. Dissertation to obtain the academic degree of doctoral engineer (Dr.-Ing.), Department of Materials and Geosciences at the Technical University of Darmstadt. Darmstadt 2003, p. 31 ff., Online
  14. ↑ Olaf K. Lenz, Volker Wilde, Dieter F. Mertz and Walter Riegel: New palynology-based astronomical and revised 40Ar / 39Ar ages for the Eocene maar lake of Messel (Germany). In: International Journal of Earth Sciences. December 21, 2014, doi: 10.1007 / s00531-014-1126-2
  15. ^ Thomas Lehmann, Stephan FK Schaal: Preface. In: Thomas Lehmann, Stephan FK Schaal (Ed.): The world at the time of Messel. Puzzles in Palaeobiology, Palaeoenvironment and the History of Early Primates. 22nd International Senckenberg Conference Frankfurt am Main, 15th - 19th November 2011, pp. 7–8
  16. ↑ a b What do we do with fossils like this? Description of the reburial procedure on the website of the University of Oslo (English), last accessed on January 23, 2013
  17. ↑ Alexander G. Kirejtshuk: Taxonomic Review of Fossil Coleopterous Families (Insecta, Coleoptera). Suborder Archostemata: Superfamilies Coleopseoidea and Cupedoidea. Geosciences 10, 2020, p. 73, doi: 10.3390 / geosciences10020073
  18. ↑ Thomas Hörnschmeyer, Gert Tröster, Sonja Weidmann: The Eocene beetle faunas of the Geiseltal and the Messel pit - a comparison and systematic and paleoecological aspects. Hallesches Jahrbuch für Geoswissenschaften B 17, 1995, pp. 107–119
  19. ↑ Sonja Wedmann: A nemestrinid fly (Insecta: Diptera: Nemestrinidae: cf. Hirmoneura) from the Eocene Messel pit (Germany). Journal of Paleontology 81 (5), 2007, pp. 1114-1117
  20. ↑ Torsten Wappler, Michael S. Engel: The Middle Eocene bee faunas of Eckfeld and Messel, Germany (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Journal of Paleontology 77 (5), 2003, pp. 908-921
  21. ↑ Tamara Spasojevic, Sonja Wedmann and Seraina Klopfstein: Seven remarkable new fossil species of parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) from the Eocene Messel Pit. PLoS ONE 13 (6), 2018, p. E0197477, doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0197477
  22. ^ Walter G. Joyce, Norbert Micklich, Stephan FK Schaal and Torsten M. Scheyer: Caught in the act: the first record of copulating fossil vertebrates. Biology Letters 8, 2012, pp. 846-848, doi: 10.1098 / rsbl.2012.0361
  23. ↑ Agustín Scanferla, Krister T. Smith, Stephan FK Schaal: Revision of the cranial anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of the Eocene minute boas Messelophis variatus and Messelophis ermannorum (Serpentes, Booidea). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 176, 20167, pp. 182-206
  24. ^ A b Agustín Scanferla, Krister T. Smith: Exquisitely Preserved Fossil Snakes of Messel: Insight into the Evolution, Biogeography, Habitat Preferences and Sensory Ecology of Early Boas. Diversity 12, 2020, p. 100, doi: 10.3390 / d12030100
  25. ↑ Johannes Müller, Christy A. Hipsley, Jason J. Head, Nikolay Kardjilov, André Hilger, Michael Wuttke, Robert R. Reisz: Eocene lizard from Germany reveals amphisbaenian origins. Nature 473, 2011, pp. 364-367, doi: 10.1038 / nature09919
  26. ↑ Nicholas R. Longrich, Jakob Vinther, R. Alexander Pyron, Davide Pisani, Jacques A. Gauthier: Biogeography of worm lizards (Amphisbaenia) driven by end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 282, 2015, Item No. 20143034, doi: 10.1098 / rspb.2014.3034
  27. ↑ Andrej Čerňanský, Krister T. Smith: Eolacertidae: a new extinct clade of lizards from the Palaeogene; with comments on the origin of the dominant European reptile group - Lacertidae. Historical Biology 30 (7), 2018, pp. 994-1014, doi: 10.1080 / 08912963.2017.1327530
  28. ↑ Andrej Čerňanský, Krister T. Smith: The first juvenile specimen of Eolacerta (Squamata: Eolacertidae) from the early-middle Eocene of the Messel Pit (Germany). Comptes Rendus Palevol 18, 2019, pp. 735-745, doi: 10.1016 / j.crpv.2019.04.004
  29. ^ Krister T. Smith: First crocodile-tailed lizard (Squamata: Pan-Shinisaurus) from the Paleogene of Europe. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 37 (3), 2017, p. E1313743, doi: 10.1080 / 02724634.2017.1313743
  30. ^ Daniel T. Ksepka, Lance Grande, Gerald Mayr: Oldest Finch-Beaked Birds Reveal Parallel Ecological Radiations in the Earliest Evolution of Passerines. Current Biology 29, 2019, pp. 1-7, doi: 10.1016 / j.cub.2018.12.040
  31. ↑ a b Gerhard Storch: Small mammals from the Geiseltal and Messel in the context of ancient tertiary fauna development. Hallesches Jahrbuch für Geoswissenschaften B 17, 1995, pp. 59–64
  32. ↑ Timothy J. Gaudin, Robert J. Emry, John R. Wible: The Phylogeny of Living and Extinct Pangolins (Mammalia, Pholidota) and Associated Taxa: A Morphology Based Analysis. Journal of Mammal Evolution 16, 2009, pp. 235-305
  33. ↑ Gerhard Storch: Eurotamandua joresi, a Myrmecophagid from the Eocene of the "Messel Pit" near Darmstadt (Mammalia, Xenarthra). In: Senckenbergiana lethaea. 61 (3/6), 1981, pp. 247-289
  34. ↑ Jens Lorenz Franzen: Europolemur kelleri n. Sp. von Messel and an addendum to Europolemur koenigswaldi (Mammalia, Primates, Notharctidae, Cercamoniinae). Senckenbergiana lethaea 80 (1), 2000, pp. 275-287
  35. ↑ Jens Lorenz Franzen: The sixth Messel Primate (Mammalia, Primates, Notharctidae, Cercamoniinae). Senckenbergiana lethaea 80 (1), 2000, pp. 289-303
  36. ↑ Hans-Ulrich Pfretzschner: Buxolestes minor n. Sp. - a new Pantolestide (Mammalia, Proteutheria) from the Eocene Messel Formation. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 216, 1999, pp. 19-29
  37. ↑ a b Gabriele Gruber, Norbert Micklich: Messel, treasures of primeval times. Theiss, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-89678-778-1
  38. ↑ Jens Lorenz Franzen: Hyrachyus minimus (Mammalia, Perissodactyla, Helaletidae) from the Middle Eocene oil shale of the "Messel Pit" near Darmstadt (Germany, S-Hessen). Senckenbergiana lethaea 61 (3/6), 1981, pp. 371-376
  39. ↑ Jens Lorenz Franzen: The primordial horses of the dawn. Munich, 2007, pp. 45-73
  40. ↑ Jens Lorenz Franzen: Unpaarhufer - primitive horses and tapir-like. In: Stephan FK Schaal, Krister T. Smith, Jörg Habersetzer (eds.): Messel - a fossil tropical ecosystem. Senckenberg-Buch 79, Stuttgart, 2018, pp. 293-301
  41. ↑ Jens Lorenz Franzen: The primordial horses of the dawn. Munich, 2007, pp. 147–149
  42. ↑ Jens Lorenz Franzen: The first skeleton of a Dichobunid (Mammalia, Artiodactyla), recovered from Middle Eocene oil slates from the “Messel Pit” near Darmstadt (Germany, S-Hessen). Senckenbergiana lethaea 61 (3/6), 1980, pp. 299-353
  43. ↑ Heinz Tobien: An anthracotherioider artiodactyla, Mammalia) from the Eocene from Messel near Darmstadt (Hessen). Geological Yearbook Hessen 108, 1980, pp. 11-22
  44. ↑ Jörg Erfurt, Jean Sudre: Eurodexeinae, a new subfamily of the Artiodactyla (Mammalia) from the Lower and Middle Eocene of Europe. Palaeovertebrata 25 (2-4), 1996, pp. 371-390
  45. ↑ Edwin Cadena: Microscopical and elemental FESEM and Phenom ProX-SEM-EDS analysis of osteocyte- and blood vessel-like microstructures obtained from fossil vertebrates of the Eocene Messel Pit, Germany. PeerJ 4, 2016, p. E1618, doi: 10.7717 / peerj.1618
  46. ^ "Great-great-great-aunt Ida." Interview with Jens L. Franzen in the Badische Zeitung, August 15, 2009
  47. ↑ Prime Minister Koch and State Minister Kühne-Hörmann open visitor and information center at the World Heritage Site / Land invests ten million euros. ( Memento from February 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Press release from the Hessian Ministry for Science and Art, August 26, 2010
  48. ↑ Messel Pit Visitor Information Center. In: Baunetz_Wissen. Retrieved October 14, 2020 .
  49. ↑ Werner Breunig: Ten million for fossils. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Rhein-Main), August 26, 2010
  50. ↑ Thomas Bach: Messel Pit: World Heritage Society works with many small steps to attract visitors. In: echo-online.de. Darmstädter Echo , February 17, 2017, accessed December 8, 2020 .
  51. ↑ A picture treasure for the Messel Pit. Main-Echo (Rhein-Main / Hessen), October 18, 2011
  52. ↑ Bernhard Kegel: The oil slate skeleton. A journey through time. 4th edition. Ammann, Zurich 1996, ISBN 3-250-10288-1 .

Coordinates: 49 ° 55 ′ 3 ″  N , 8 ° 45 ′ 24 ″  E