Rüdersdorf limestone quarry

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Rüdersdorf opencast mine seen from the west end

The Rüdersdorf limestone quarry is a large quarry or open-cast mine near the small town of Rüdersdorf, east of Berlin on the southern edge of the Barnims . It is the largest geological disruption in northern Germany for the Mesozoic (Mesozoic). The mining of limestone takes place there for about 800 years.

geology

Geological map of Berlin and the surrounding area with island-like Rüdersdorfer Muschelkalk occur on the southern edge of the Barnims

The limestone belongs to the Germanic Triassic and was formed in the Middle Triassic period about 240 million years ago. The corresponding rock series is known as shell limestone . The sequence of layers in the quarry ranges from "Wellenkalk" ( Lower Muschelkalk ) to "Hauptmuschelkalk" ( Upper Muschelkalk ).

The surface geology of the State of Brandenburg is predominantly characterized by Quaternary sediments, in particular the deposits of the last and penultimate ice ages ( Weichsel and Saale glacial periods ). Rocks from the Middle Ages are usually a few hundred to over 1500 meters below the surface. In the underground of Rüdersdorf, however, there is a cushion of salt , the so-called Rüdersdorf structure . This structure was created by the halokinesis of the salt rocks of the Zechstein series ( Oberperm ) and has vaulted the younger, overlying (hanging) layers. As a result of the slow but steady bulging, these younger rocks were eroded down to the layers of the Middle Triassic . The Rüdersdorf quarry is the only shell limestone outcrop in Germany east of the Elbe.

In addition to its importance as a shell limestone outcrop, the quarry is of value for glaciology . In 1875 discovered Otto Torell Kritzspuren on to the surface pending limestone, which he made his home Sweden knew and as glacial striae were interpreted. This was the first evidence of inland freezing south of the Baltic Sea .

The shell limestone in Rüdersdorf is, as is common for most of the layers of shell limestone, relatively rich in fossils . Fossils of marine invertebrates are particularly common , especially mussels and armpods , and less often cephalopods ( nautilids and ammonites ). Vertebrates are the rarest . The most common reptiles discoveries (usually individual teeth or bones) are from the genus Nothosaurus .

Most limestones, including those in Rüdersdorf, consist mainly of very finely crystalline calcium carbonate , but larger calcite crystals have formed in the cracks, crevices and other cavities in the rock over time . Crystals of other carbonate minerals or sulfidic minerals such as pyrite are rarer .

museum

Rüdersdorfer Bergmann in habit

There is an open-air museum right next to the quarry . On the one hand, it documents the geological history of the region and, on the other hand, the history of the mining and processing of Rüdersdorf limestone, including technical monuments such as a Rumford furnace and a shaft furnace battery from the 19th century.

literature

Current
  • Peter Bachstein, Peter Homann: Rüdersdorf open-cast limestone mine (= time leaps ). Sutton, Erfurt 2003, ISBN 3-89702-530-2 .
  • Karl-Bernhard Jubitz, Dieter Göllnitz: Geotope protection in the Rüdersdorf opencast mine near Berlin. Brandenburg geoscientific contributions. Vol. 3, No. 1, 1996, pp. 97-110 ( PDF 6.5 MB).
Historical
  • Thomas Philipp von der Hagen: Description of the limestone quarries near Rüdersdorf, the city of Neustadt-Eberswalde, and the Finow Canal, as well as the local steel and iron factory, the brass works and copper hammer. A contribution to the Märkische history from documents and secure supplements compiled. In the Paulische Buchhandlung, Berlin 1785, digitized .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ V. Manhenke, W. Stackebrandt: Map of the thickness of Cenozoic layers 1: 1,000,000. Atlas of the geology of Brandenburg. State Office for Mining, Geology and Raw Materials Brandenburg (LBGR), Cottbus 2010 ( PDF 1.4 MB).

Coordinates: 52 ° 28 '52.1 "  N , 13 ° 48' 1.4"  E