List of geotopes in the Rhön-Grabfeld district

This list contains the geotopes of the Lower Franconian district of Rhön-Grabfeld in Bavaria . The list contains the official names and numbers of the Bavarian State Office for the Environment (LfU) as well as their geographical location. This list may not be complete. Around 3,400 geotopes (as of March 2020) are recorded in the Bavarian geotope register. The LfU does not consider some geotopes suitable for publication on the Internet. For example, some objects are not safely accessible or may only be entered to a limited extent for other reasons.

Surname	image	Geotope ID	Municipality / location	Geological unit of space	description	Area m² / extension m	geology	Digestion type	value	Protection status	comment
Former Basalt quarry Altenfeld NW of Urspringen		673A001	Ostheim before the Rhön position	Rhön	In the former, extensive mining area, the exposure conditions are very poor due to the strong overgrowning. However, the quarry serves as an example of natural succession of uncultivated quarries.	120000 400 × 300	Type: Rock Type: Basalt	Quarry	significant	Landscape protection area, FFH area, bird sanctuary
Former Basaltsee quarry northwest of Oberelsbach	more pictures	673A003	Oberelsbach position	Rhön	This exposure shows typical, columnar basalt of the Rhön. Due to the already existing protection status (NSG Rhön), dry and wet biotopes formed in the Bruch. The source outlets in the outcrop feed the basalt lake. Formerly up to 12 m high pillars were opened here, which were dismantled in the 1930s and sent to Holland for dam construction. Only the top ends of the basalt columns are visible. Developed with parking lot, kiosk, barbecue area.	450 30 × 15	Type: basalt columns, rock type, layer source type: basalt	Quarry	significant	Natural monument, nature reserve, landscape protection area
Basaltsee (Silbersee) S of Roth	more pictures	673A004	Hausen position	Rhön	In the central part of the former basalt quarry, fan-shaped or pile-shaped columnar basalt was mined. The massive olivine basalts show columnar formation on the SW wall. At the deepest point of the bottom a lake formed, which is partly surrounded by a picturesque tree population (picnic area and hiking trails open up the place). Beautiful, palisade-like basalt columns along the south and south-west bank.	14000 100 × 140	Type: basalt columns, rock wall / slope, rock type: basalt	Quarry	precious	Landscape protection area, FFH area, bird sanctuary
Former Basalt quarry NNE from Sennhütte		673A005	Fladungen position	Rhön	In the former basalt quarrying, columnar basalt is partially exposed on the steep walls.	21600 120 × 180	Type: Rock type, Basalt columns Type: Basalt	Quarry	significant	Landscape protection area, FFH area, bird sanctuary
Former Basalt quarry E from Sennhütte		673A006	Fladungen position	Rhön	The entire quarry complex (approx. 3 larger extraction areas) opens up tuff, basanite and columnar basalt. Basalt flows store e.g. T. on pyroclastites. In this break there is interesting geology paired with valuable wet and dry biotopes. The entire complex is overgrown and difficult to walk, the two lakes are fishing waters.	120000 300 × 400	Type: Basalt columns, sequence of layers, type of rock Type: Basalt, tuff / tuffite	Quarry	significant	Bird sanctuary, nature park
Former Basalt quarry WSW from Roth		673A007	Hausen position	Rhön	The former quarry is right on the edge of the NSG Lange Rhön. He develops olivine basalts in massive training.	20000 100 × 200	Type: Rock Type: Basalt	Quarry	significant	Landscape protection area, FFH area, bird sanctuary
Former Basalt quarry N of Bischofsheim (am Holzberg)		673A008	Bischofsheim in the Rhön position	Rhön	The extensive basalt quarry complex has two main excavation levels. Above the upper level there are basalt columns showing effusive lava ceilings (similar to those in the neighboring Bauersberg quarry). T. bulky waste, partly in the groundwater area, deposited.	120000 300 × 400	Type: Rock type, Basalt columns Type: Basalt	Quarry	significant	Landscape protection area, nature park
Former Shell limestone quarry northwest of Hollstadt		673A009	Hollstadt position	Northern Franconian Plates	The former quarry opens up a section of the Lower Muschelkalk with the Beta 2 oolite bank under the upper edge. The main wall, which is formed by a single large fissure area, shows a karst chute and primary sedimentary structures (sedimentary landslides, inclined stratification, bioturbation) that have been excellently prepared by weathering. Buildings have been heavily overbuilt since the initial survey.	1000 50 × 20	Type: sedimentary structures, rock type, karst chimney, karst crevice Type: limestone	Quarry	precious	no protected area
Clay pit ENE from Kleinbardorf		673A010	Bad Königshofen in the Grabfeld position	Hassberge region	The uppermost section of the myophoria layers is exposed, consisting of alternating blue-green and red-brown clay silt stones with hard dolomitic marl banks (stone marls) inserted into them. The open fracture tectonics is a typical (Germanotype or Saxon) alternative tectonics. The outcrop is the type locality of the Grabfeld formation.	1600 80 × 20	Type: Type locality, disturbance, sequence of layers Type: Clay marl	Clay pit / clay pit / marl pit	especially valuable	Landscape protection area, nature park
Outcrop at the Judenhügel NE of Sulzfeld		673A011	Sulzfeld position	Hassberge region	In a ravine on the hill, clay-marly layers of the Middle to Upper Burgsandstein (basin facies) are well exposed in a slightly (20 °) inclined position. They are marked by stone marl banks with gray-greenish and red-brown clay silt stones in between. The gray-greenish (chemically-reduced?) Clay siltstone inclusions directly below the stone marl banks are typical.	800 80 × 10	Type: Layer sequence, type of rock Type: Clay marl	embankment	precious	Landscape protection area, nature park
Basalt prism wall on the Gangolfsberg WNW of Urspringen	more pictures	673A016	Oberelsbach position	Rhön	Basalt columns (approx. 30–40 cm in diameter) lying on top of each other like a stack of wood. Spectacularly open-minded and visible. Information board on the wall base. Medium-sized sea of blocks to the right of the prism wall. Very rare type of digestion. Approx. 50 m west to the right of the path there is a small outcrop with contact between basalt / tuff and slag. Possibly. Remnant of a cinder cone?	150 30 × 5	Type: basalt columns, contact, rock type: basalt, tuff / tuffite	Slope crack / rock wall	precious	Nature reserve, landscape protection area, FFH area
Brend gate NW of Schönau		673A017	Schönau at the Brend Position	Rhön	The 10 m high outcrop on the steep bank of the Brend shows part of the Volpriehausen alternation. It represents the only major outcrop in this sequence in the entire region.	0 not specified	Type: sequence of layers, sediment structures Type: sandstone, claystone, siltstone	Impact slope / river bed / stream profile	precious	Landscape protection area, FFH area, nature park
Gypsum marl outcrop at Altenburg SE von Trappstadt		673A019	Trappstadt position	Hassberge region	Below the Altenburg plateau, which is formed from layers of Coburg sandstone, the Heldburg marl is exposed. A plaster lens used to be removed here. Today only a small outcrop is left overgrown with rare plants typical of the site.	120 30 × 4	Type: Type of rock, sedimentary structures Type: gypsum, marlstone	Open pit	significant	Nature reserve, landscape protection area, FFH area
Aufgel. Rhätsandsteinbruch SE by Johanneshof		673A020	Sulzfeld position	Hassberge region	The abandoned quarry at the holiday complex is located in the lower part of the Rhät. What is particularly striking in the quarry is a dense array of crevices and faults that literally break the sandstone layers into dominoes. Some of the sandstone banks are tilted and placed at an angle. The brackish water mussel Haßbergia haßbergensis can be found in the uppermost parts of the sandstone. Information board No. 15 of the Haßberge route.	250 25 × 10	Type: Fault, Animal Fossils, Rock Type: Sandstone	Quarry	precious	Landscape reserve, bird sanctuary, nature park
Abandoned clay pit S from Großbardorf		673A021	Großbardorf position	Hassberge region	The layers of the grave field formation with their alternating blue-green and red-brown clay silt stones are exposed. Hard dolomitic stone marl benches are inserted in it. The prominent bench in the uppermost area is the so-called beta bench.	1200 120 × 10	Type: sequence of layers, sediment structures Type: clay, marlstone	Clay pit / clay pit / marl pit	precious	no protected area
Abandoned reed sand quarry NNW of Eyershausen		673A022	Bad Königshofen in the Grabfeld position	Hassberge region	The dismantling walls document a mighty and homogeneous sandstone, which is traversed by sloping fissures. The parting line that divides the sandstone is only slightly formed. The quarry is located in the center of a former river channel. At the lower entrance to the break, the transition to the Middle Estherian layers is open. The upper part was cleared out by the river system.	8100 90 × 90	Type: Rock Type: Sandstone	Quarry	precious	Landscape protection area, FFH area, bird sanctuary
Gypsum hill SE from Alsleben		673A023	Trappstadt position	Hassberge region	In the nature reserve southeast of Alsleben, a pronounced subrosion landscape has been preserved over an area of around 200 200 meters. Numerous unevenness are the remains of the leaching of gypsum (gypsum karst) from the gypsum keuper. In the wider area, due to intensive agriculture, no evidence of subrosion can be seen. Occasionally, however, smaller pieces of plaster of paris can be found on the arable land.	40000 200 × 200	Type: subrosion landscape, sinkhole, sinkhole, layer level Type: plaster	Slope crack / rock wall	precious	Nature reserve, landscape protection area, nature park
Former Basalt quarry on the northern slope of the Kreuzberg		673A024	Bischofsheim in the Rhön position	Rhön	The small basalt quarry located on the slope shows extremely regular basalt columns, as if drawn with a ruler. The quarry is growing rapidly.	400 20 × 20	Type: Rock type, Basalt columns Type: Basalt	Quarry	significant	Landscape protection area, FFH area, bird sanctuary
Former basalt quarry Steinernes Haus 2		673A025	Oberelsbach position	Rhön	Former dismantling of basalt columns, which stand in the partially overgrown up to 8 meter high exposed walls in horizontal to vertical position. In the late summer of 2010, parts of the outcrop were deforested. Unusual is the occurrence of the swamp heart leaf (Parnassia palustris), an indicator for damp locations, which prefers chalky-marly locations. This may indicate backfilling with foreign material.	17500 175 × 100	Type: Rock type, Basalt columns Type: Basalt	Quarry	significant	Nature reserve, landscape protection area, FFH area
Sand pit S by Wollbach		673A026	Wollbach position	Rhön	The sand pit is owned by the municipality and opens up an approx. 4 m thick sand deposit. After consulting the municipal administration, private individuals may remove sand for non-commercial purposes. The cross-layered sand contains irregular, thin layers of light gray plastic clay. On the northern excavation face there are brood tubes from hymenoptera (presumably solitary bees). In the eastern area there is a seldom drying out accumulation of surface water. Approx. 500 m northwest There is another sand pit. This is operated sporadically. It is fenced in and entry is prohibited. In the clay lenses there, relics of leaves, fruits and seeds were found, which allow a stratigraphic assignment to the Pliocene. The organic matter was dissolved by circulating water, so that only prints remained. It is assumed that these are deposits of a primeval Saale with a river-side forest. Thus one of the oldest known river systems in Northern Bavaria is documented here.	2700 90 × 30	Type: Vegetable Fossils, Open Pit Type: Sand, Clay	Gravel pit / sand pit	especially valuable	no protected area
Frickenhäuser See ESE from Frickenhausen	more pictures	673R001	Mellrichstadt position	Northern Franconian Plates	The almost circular, inflow and outflow-free Frickenhäuser Lake, the only naturally formed lake in northern Lower Franconia, lies on a fault that separates a slab of Lower Muschelkalk in the NE from the Upper Buntsandstein in the SW, about 20 degrees to the SW. Since half of the lake lies in the area of the lower shell limestone, which was previously there, it must have been dissolved. It remains to be seen whether the fundamental cause is leaching of Zechstein salt.	22500 150 × 150	Type: sinkhole, rock type: limestone	Slope crack / rock wall	especially valuable	Natural monument, landscape protection area	Bavaria's most beautiful geotopes No. 12
Basalt block sea Johannisfeuer on Kreuzberg	more pictures	673R002	Bischofsheim in the Rhön position	Rhön	Immediately to the east of the transmitter mast lies a wide sea of boulders made of massive basalt. The Kreuzberg is the most popular excursion mountain in the Bavarian Rhön (monastery). As a result, the block sea is also better known than the block sea on neighboring mountains. The block flow on the eastern slope feeds on the basalt on the edge of the plateau / valley slope.	8000 200 × 40	Type: Block Sea, Rock Type: Basalt	other information	precious	Landscape protection area, FFH area, bird sanctuary
Teufelskeller on Gangolfsberg NW of Oberelsbach	more pictures	673R003	Oberelsbach position	Rhön	Rock wall with cut of two basalt ceilings over a discordance: in the hanging wall a more or less horizontally layered ceiling, underneath a ceiling consisting of steep basalt columns that are bent over directly under the discordance. The Teufelskeller is a 5 3 1.5 m large natural cave under a huge fall block at the foot of the steep wall, where numerous small blocks lie around. The earlier interpretation of the formation as a gas bubble in the magma cannot be confirmed.	4000 100 × 40	Type: volcanic vent, basalt columns, boulder, contact, rock type: basalt	Slope crack / rock wall	precious	Nature reserve, landscape protection area, FFH area
Basalt block rubble at the Eisgraben WSW von Hausen		673R004	Hausen position	Rhön	The deposit is located on the slope of the Eisgraben behind a house (Eisgraben hut) and turns into a slide down the valley.	6000 60 × 100	Type: Blockmeer Type: Basalt	Slope crack / rock wall	precious	Nature reserve, natural monument, landscape protection area
Shell limestone strata NW of Ostheim		673R005	Ostheim before the Rhön position	Northern Franconian Plates	The Weyershauk nature reserve is located on a slab of Lower Muschelkalk (wave limestone) that dips to the east at about 20 °. The path leading to the top rises especially in its upper half (up to the summit cross) with the streaking on the edge of the terrain and z. Partly well exposed limestone layers (especially with a conglomerate bank).	240000 300 × 800	Type: Layer Type: Limestone	Slope crack / rock wall	precious	Nature reserve, landscape protection area, FFH area
Sinkhole NNW of Großbardorf		673R006	Großbardorf position	Northern Franconian Plates	The circular, approx. 10 m deep and funnel-shaped widened hole was created in 1989 by leaching in the Upper Muschelkalk, approx. 350 m west of the Untertanningsmühle in the forest.	4 2 × 2	Type: sinkhole, karst shaft cave Type: clay marl stone, gypsum	other information	precious	no protected area
Teufelsmühle SSE by Holzberg	more pictures	673R007	Bischofsheim in the Rhön position	Rhön	Surrounded by canyon forest lies a legendary 3 m deep fall.	60 20 × 3	Type: Waterfall Type: Basalt	Impact slope / river bed / stream profile	significant	Natural monument, landscape protection area, FFH area
Schwarzes Moor WNW von Hausen	more pictures	673R008	Hausen position	Rhön	The Black Moor is one of the largest and best preserved moorlands in the Rhön. The visitors are led through the raised bog on wooden planks. Signs show the origin and ecology of the moor. An observation tower provides an overview.	1200000 1500 × 800	Type: raised bog, low bog Type: peat, basalt	no information	precious	Nature reserve, landscape protection area, FFH area	Bavaria's most beautiful geotopes No. 47
Basalt block heaps on Gangolfsberg NW of Oberelsbach		673R009	Oberelsbach position	Rhön	The block heap made of early Tertiary basalt covers large areas of the west side of the Gangolfsberg.	20000 200 × 100	Type: Blockmeer Type: Basalt	block	precious	Nature reserve, landscape protection area, FFH area
Arnsberg NE volcanic residue from Wildflecken		673R010	Bischofsheim in the Rhön position	Rhön	The summit area of the Arnsberg consists of a morphologically striking basalt dome, which towers over the surrounding Lower Muschelkalk by about 50 m. The hiking trail leading to the summit shows the Lower Muschelkalk pending, while the partially wooded hilltop offers opportunities to find basalt (partly pending, partly as reading stones).	250000 500 × 500	Type: volcanic vent, cliff Type: basalt, limestone	Rock slope / cliff	precious	Landscape protection area