Steinheimer Schneckensand
Steinheim snail sand is the name for the sand mixed with fossil snail shells , which comes to light in many places in the Steinheim basin (in the Baden-Württemberg district of Heidenheim , municipality of Steinheim am Albuch ).
Emergence
At the edges of the basin created by a meteor strike, the rocks were shattered and mixed up to form the colorful breccia . In the resulting lake (the natural water network was blocked by the impact) numerous fossils were deposited . The paleontologist Franz Hilgendorf noticed that the snail shells slowly changed their shape in successive layers, which was the earliest direct evidence for Charles Darwin's theory of evolution .
literature
- Johannes Baier: Geological features in the Albuch. In: fossils . Special volume Geopark Swabian Alb, 2015, 47–51.
- Johannes Baier: The geological nature trail in the Steinheim basin - a cosmic search for traces. In: fossils. 30 (4), 2013, 228-232.
- Johannes Baier: The Steinheimer Schneckensand - a Miocene fossil deposit of world format. - Fossils, 29 (6), 368–371, 2012.
- Johannes Baier & Armin Scherzinger: The new geological educational trail in the Steinheim impact crater . - Jber. Middle Upper Rhine. geol. Ver, NF 92, 9-24, 2010.
- Paul Groschopf and Winfried Reiff: The geological hiking trail in the Steinheim basin , Heidenheim 1993