Ruhr sandstone

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The stone tower in Dortmund is made of Ruhr sandstone.
The church of St. Peter zu Syburg in Syburg is made of Ruhr sandstone.

A sandstone occurring along the Ruhr in North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany , which is used as a building material in a variety of ways, is called Ruhr sandstone .

Emergence

The Ruhr sandstone emerged from river sediments around 320 million years ago in the so-called Namur C , a period of the Upper Carboniferous . During the movements of the earth's crust, the layers of carbon were folded and compressed ( Variscan fold ). These movements resulted in fissures in the rock (cracks perpendicular to the direction of strike of the banks).

properties

In contrast to most other sandstones extracted in Central Europe , the Ruhr sandstone is characterized by low water absorption, very high compressive strength, abrasion resistance and weathering resistance. It is intensely pebbly cemented and strengthened by grain binding . In Germany, the Ruhr sandstone is one of the most resistant sandstones of all.

It has both gray and yellowish, reddish and brownish tones. The tinting occurs in particular through oxidation processes ( iron hydroxide , limonite ). The shiny particles in the Ruhr sandstone mostly come from muscovite mica. Some layers also contain tubers of iron ore . Occasionally one finds fossils of plants ( shed trees , ferns and so on) as floating debris in the Ruhr sandstone . Charcoal flakes can appear on layered surfaces ; coal seams are temporarily stored in some sandstone banks .

  • Stone surfaces from Ruhr sandstone (gray pattern)

  • polished

  • flamed

  • sandblasted

use

Reception building of the Hattingen train station made of Ruhr sandstone
Coal seam in the Ruhr sandstone at the Nachtigall colliery

Ruhr sandstone was historically used for many sacred and profane buildings, especially in the Ruhr area and in the Bergisch-Mark region. It is used for masonry, stairs, flooring, window and door frames and wall coverings. In interior construction, Ruhr sandstone is also used for kitchen countertops and washstands, chimneys and chimney covers. It is one of the most wear-resistant sandstones in Germany and is one of the few sandstones that can be polished (experts refer to this as partially polished).

Occurrence

Near-surface rock occurrences of the Ruhr sandstone are generally located north of the Ruhr in the Ardey Mountains near Dortmund and west of it on both sides of the Ruhr valley as far as Mülheim . In the narrower sense, geologists only refer to the sandstone of the "(lower and upper) Sprockhövel layers" as Ruhr sandstone.

Quarries

In the past centuries there have been hundreds of large and small Ruhr sandstone quarries in the region. The farmers operated their own small quarries in the forest. It was different with the large quarry contractors, who also acted as building contractors.

Meanwhile, Ruhrstandstein is only quarried in four quarries (from east to west):

Decommissioned quarries (selection)

Information board for the Opherdicke quarry
business designation Place / location
Opherd thickness Opherd thickness Holzwickede
Ebberg Ebberg Swords
Imberg Universitätsstrasse Bochum
Imberg Syburg Dortmund
neck Herdecke
Bosselmann Sirrenberg Sprockhövel
Nippus Sirrenberg Sprockhövel
bird Sirrenberg Sprockhövel
Kopperschläger Hammertal Witten
Wigmann Hammertal Witten
Blankenagel Hammertal Witten
Rough Coal sieves Witten-Gedern
Bandman Witten-Vormholz
Külpmann Albringhausen Weather Albringhausen
Külpmann Altenhain Weather Albringhausen
Külpmann Altenhain Weather Albringhausen
Külpmann Hödey Wetter-Vosshöfen
Külpmann At the Ostholz Weather-Volmarstein

See also

literature

  • Olaf Otto Dillmann: The Ruhr sandstone. In: natural stone. 12/1998. 53rd Jg., Ulm, ISSN  0028-1026 , pp. 62-67.
  • Olaf Otto Dillmann: Occurrence and extraction of natural stone on the northern edge of the Sauerland (excursion F on March 27, 2008). Jber. Middle Upper Rhine. geol. Ver., NF 90, Stuttgart 2008, pp. 255-265 (10 figs.).

Web links

Individual evidence