Wingertsbergwand

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wingertsbergwand

The Wingertsbergwand near Mendig is a pumice and tuff wall up to 60 meters high and several hundred meters long that was exposed by the extraction of volcanic raw materials. The outcrop documents the eruption of the Laacher See volcano around 12,900 years ago.

Emergence

About 12,900 years ago, the Laacher See volcano, about 2 kilometers north of today's Wingertsbergwand, erupted within a few days. Only the final phase probably dragged on for several months. The most powerful volcanic eruption in recent geological history in Central Europe ejected around 6.5 km³ of volcanic material, whereby the eruption was not uniform but highly complex. The different eruption mechanisms led to different deposits of volcanic rock and are visible today at the outcrop of the Wingertsbergwand.

The lowest layers of deposits contain particles that were carried away when the earth's surface was broken through, such as gravel, clays, basalts from older volcanic cones and charcoal from uprooted trees.

In the main Plinian phase , a column of eruptions rose up to 30 kilometers high and led to fall deposits of pumice, also known as "fallout". The pumice layer is repeatedly interspersed with bombs up to 4 meters in diameter, as the eruption broke through older lava flows and hurled the rock up to 2 kilometers through the air. This is followed by dark bands of slate, rich in foreign rock, which indicate that the eruption had changed: the crater walls had collapsed and the chimney shifted. In the further course, glowing avalanches, pyroclastic currents , which are responsible for light deposit layers, ignimbrites , developed. In valley lowlands such as the Krufter Bachtal , the deposits of the glowing avalanches reached a thickness of around 30 meters. The highest Plinian eruption column of the entire eruption followed. The column rose more than 30 kilometers in height and conveyed particularly large amounts of pumice. The fall deposits are visible on the Wingertsbergwand as a so-called “Autobahn”, a striking, regular double layer of fall deposits.

After a long break, the outbreak entered the final phase, which probably lasted for several months. Repetitions of phreatomagmatic eruptions with base surges and glowing avalanches resulted in dune-like gray layers of deposits over 15 meters thick.

Scientific and touristic importance

The Wingertsbergwand, a landscape monument in the volcanic park , is one of the " National Geotopes " in Germany. It is of great international importance for volcanologists. Their exploration and decoding contributed to the explanation of volcanic phenomena worldwide. The wall was again examined in detail by the geologist Cornelia Park in collaboration with the volcanologist Hans-Ulrich Schmincke between 2012 and 2014. Your latest research results were taken up by Vulkanpark GmbH and the volcanology, archeology and history of technology research department in Mayen, a branch of the Roman-Germanic Central Museum in Mainz , and are the basis of the information boards on site. The panels explain in detail the eruption of the Laacher See volcano and the resulting structure of the wall. The geopath is freely accessible to visitors.

literature

Web links

Commons : Wingertsbergwand  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A new geographic path is being created on the Wingertsbergwand. Press release 05/31/2013. Blick-aktuell, accessed on February 9, 2015 .

Coordinates: 50 ° 23 ′ 32.1 ″  N , 7 ° 16 ′ 32.9 ″  E