We returned to Germany in October 2023 to run our “Volcanoes & Famous Fossil Sites” tour. This round-trip from Frankfurt takes in some world famous fossil specimens as well as volcanoes, meteor impact craters and ancient caves! For this trip, we were joined by guests from the UK and Ireland – unusually, six of our group already knew each other, as they were all members of the Irish Geological Association! It added a lovely dynamic to the group and before long, everyone was getting on like old friends! The blog below is a day-by-day diary of our trip illustrated with a selection of the best photos.
Please click on the photos to enlarge them
Day One: Thursday 12th October
Our tour group assembled at a Frankfurt Airport hotel, with a brief welcome meeting followed by a group dinner. We got to know each other, discussed the route and reviewed the various themes that we would be covering on the tour before getting an early night to be ready for our first touring day.
Day Two: Friday 13th October
Our first touring day started with sunshine and warm weather and we headed straight to the Messel Pit site to kick off the tour. The Messel Pit is the most important Eocene fossil site in the world and it is situated in the Bergerstraße-Odenwald UNESCO Geopark. The fossils found here were preserved in an anoxic lake formed in the explosion crater of a maar volcano which erupted 43.7 million years ago. The area around the lake was lush sub-tropical forest and the upper layers of the lake would have supported a great deal of life. It was the overturning of the lake layers and volcanic gas releases which would have killed the animals in this area. We were treated to an excellent tour of the Messel Pit itself, with our guide explaining the process which created the site and the fossil preservation, as well as explaining the more recent history to us. The pit had been dug for iron ore in 1859 and in 1879, during quarrying work for oil shale, the first fossil crocodile was found. The 1960s saw an end of the quarrying and more methodical specimen collecting was undertaken. However, a new threat then appeared – a plan to turn the large crater into a landfill site. With this threat looming, many rescue excavations were undertaken in the 1970s and 80s, to try and rescue and record as much as possible. Permission to create this landfill site was granted in 1987, but thankfully the importance of the site was recognised and in 1995 it was inscribed as a World Heritage Site, offering it the protection it fully deserves. Having completed the guided tour of the pit, we had some time in the visitor centre, before heading on to our next stop. After a short drive from the Messel Pit, we arrived in the beautiful city of Darmstadt and headed for the wonderfully imposing building which houses the Hessisches Landesmuseum. Here we had plenty of time to view the fabulous array of fossils from the Messel Pit which are on display here. Messel is most famous for its mammals which including bats, rodents, anteaters, pangolins, tapirs, rhinos, and “Ida” the most complete primate fossil known. There were also six species of crocodiles, turtles, many birds, amphibians, fish and beautiful insect fossils, as well as many plant species and many, many other specimens. We also took the opportunity to enjoy the excellent museum cafe! Once we had enjoyed the time in the museum, we hit the road for the afternoon’s drive to Rückersdorf, where we spent the night.
Above left: The GeoWorld Travel group stands outside the entrance to the Messel Pit UNESCO World Heritage Site which is situated in the Bergstraße-Odenwald UNESCO Geopark.
Top right: The Messel Pit World Heritage Site, arguably the world’s most import Eocene fossil site. The first pit was dug for iron ore in 1859, followed by quarrying for oil shale from 1875 – resulting in the first fossil crocodile being found. In the 1960s, quarrying stopped and methodical specimen collecting began. During the 1970s and 80s, there were many rescue investigations due to the site potentially becoming landfill site (permission for this was granted in 1987). However, in 1995, it was made a World Heritage Site.
Bottom right: The borehole that proved the Messel Lake was created by a volcanic explosion. The volcanic eruption occurred 43.7 million years ago, forming an explosion crater which subsequently filled with water and became an anoxic lake. The area around the lake was lush sub-tropical forest. The upper layers had a great deal of life while the bottom layers were anoxic due to sheer quantity of organic material and algal blooms. Exceptional fossil preservation occurred in this lake.
Above left: Our local Messel Pit guide explaining the volcanic eruption that created the Messel Lake.
Above right: Fossil leaves that our group found in the Messel Pit oil shale.
Above left: Excavations by both the Senckenberg Museum and the Hessisches Landesmuseum are ongoing at the Messel Pit. Here, in August 2023, the bones of what are believed to be a primitive horse were discovered.
Above right: A replica of ‘Ida’, the only fossil of the species Darwinius masillae, a primate that lived about 47 million years ago. Ida is the most complete primate fossil ever discovered—only her left rear leg is missing. The two halves of the original fossil are in the USA and Norway.
Top left: A fossil of Heterohyus nanus, an apatemyid from the Eocene. This was a small, tree-dwelling creature with elongated fore and middle fingers, in these regards it somewhat resembled a modern-day aye-aye. Photo taken in the Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt.
Top right: The Messel anteater, Eurotamandua joresi. Photo taken in the Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt.
Bottom left: A pregnant primitive horse Eurohippus parvulus. In this example, the fossil foetus can be seen at the rear of the body cavity. 70 specimens of ancestral horses have been found in the Messel Pit from two different species, the smaller one was only 30-35 cm at the shoulder. Photo taken in the Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt.
Middle right: Crocodiles fossils are common in the Messel Pit. Photo taken in the Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt.
Bottom right: A large constrictor, Palaeopython. Photo taken in the Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt.
Day Three: Saturday 14th October
Having enjoyed our night in Rückersdorf, with a delicious meal at the restaurant next to our hotel, we woke up refreshed and raring to go! First stop for the day was the Jura Museum, housed in Willibaldsberg Castle in Eichstätt, which dates back to the 14th century. The museum is home to an extensive exhibit of Jurassic fossils from the quarries of Solnhofen and surroundings. The Solnhofen Limestone is world famous for its Archaeopteryx fossils; so far, 12 Archaeopteryx have been found in it. The Eichstätt specimen (pictured below) was on display in the Jura Museum, along with marine reptiles, pterosaurs, and the well-preserved skeleton of the coelurosaur Juravenator. Having spent some time at the museum marvelling at these wonderful fossils, we headed back to the vehicles and got on the road to our next stop. On the way, we had brief stops at the nearby find-sites of the Berlin and Eichstätt archaeopteryx specimens. We then arrived at the ‘Twelve Apostles’, in the Altmühltal Nature Park, which are made from hard Jurassic limestone and are made up of siliceous sponge-microbial reefs. These reefs formed in the marginal areas of the sea, which existed at the time, and they have taken the form that they have today due to weathering processes. After this, we move on to the Fossilen Besuchersteinbruch quarry, Mühlheim, where the group had the chance to look for their own fossils in the Solnhofen limestone. It was also here that Roland Pöschl discovered the 13th archaeopteryx specimen in 2017. It is classified as Alcomonavis poeschli and was on display in the Jura Museum. We were fortunate to have an introduction to the site by Roland himself before venturing out to look for our own specimens. Despite heavy rain, spirits were not dampened and the fossil hunting continued, but even though we searched carefully, we weren’t able to turn up a new Archaeopteryx specimen in our time at the quarry! Not too disheartened, we hopped into the vehicles and headed over to the Bürgermeister-Müller-Museum in Solnhofen to view some more Archaeopteryx specimens. There are three more original specimens on display here: the Solnhofen Specimen, “Chicken Wings” and the Eleventh Specimen. As well as the archaeopteryx specimens, the museum also houses Jurassic animal and plant fossils from the local quarries at Langenaltheim, Eichstätt and Solnhofen as well as from Brunn , Hienheim and Painten. There are also many species of reptiles , including a fossil Tuatara (Rhynchocephalia), plesiosaurs and several pterosaurs including Pterodactylus kochi. Additionally, there are crabs, echinoderms, ammonites, belemnites, and jellyfish. Having spent some time enjoying the fantastic specimens on display at the museum, we set off for our overnight destination of Nördlingen, making a couple of brief stops on the way to see the single Archaeopteryx feather and ninth specimen discovery sites, and the Langenaltheim quarry site.
Above left: The original Eichstätt Archeopteryx specimen in the Jura Museum, Eichstätt. This was discovered in 1951 near Workerszell and described 1974; it is the fifth and smallest Archaeopteryx specimen with the second-best head. Archaeopteryx is one of the world’s most famous and important fossils. The type specimen of Archaeopteryx was discovered just two years after Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species and seemed to confirm his theory of evolution. Archaeopteryx is currently classified as a genus of avian dinosaurs and is a transitional fossil between non-avian dinosaurs and birds. Between the late 19th century and the early 21st century, Archaeopteryx was generally accepted by palaeontologists and popular reference books as the oldest known bird. Older potential avialans have since been identified, including Anchiornis, Xiaotingia, and Aurornis. Despite their small size, broad wings, and inferred ability to fly or glide, Archaeopteryx had more in common with other small Mesozoic dinosaurs than with modern birds. In particular, they shared the following features with the dromaeosaurids and troodontids: jaws with sharp teeth, three fingers with claws, a long bony tail, hyperextensible second toes (“killing claw”), feathers (which also suggest warm-bloodedness), and various features of the skeleton.
Above right: The original Alcomonavis fossil bird in the Jura Museum, Eichstatt. It was discovered in 2017 by Roland Pöschl at the Besuchersteinbruch quarry, near Mühlheim and originally reported as the thirteenth Archeopteryx specimen. In 2019 was renamed as the type species of Alcmonavis poeschli.
Above left: The Twelve Apostles are made from hard Jurassic limestone and are made up of siliceous sponge-microbial reefs. These reefs would have had restricted lagoons between them and other reefs. The waters in these lagoons were stratified, hyper saline at the bottom but full of life in the upper layers. Periodically storms would mix the waters killing the organisms in the upper layers. They would then be fossilised with exceptional preservation in the hypersaline lagoon bottoms that became the Solnhofen limestone Lagerstätte.
Above right: Lyudmyla looks for her own Jurassic Solnhofen limestone fossils in the Fossilen Besuchersteinbruch quarry, Mühlheim.
Above left: The original Solnhofen Archaeopteryx specimen in the Bürgermeister-Müller-Museum, Solnhofen. This specimen was discovered in the 1970s near Eichstätt and was originally described in 1988 as Compsognathus. It was later reclassified as the sixth Archeopteryx specimen and is the largest specimen known. However it is now thought it may belong to a separate genus and species, Wellnhoferia grandis. It is missing only portions of the neck, tail, backbone, and head.
Top right: The original ‘Chicken Wing’ Archaeopteryx specimen in the Bürgermeister-Müller-Museum, Solnhofen. This is the ninth Archaeopteryx specimen, discovered in 2000.
Bottom right: The original Munich Archaeopteryx specimen in the Bürgermeister-Müller-Museum, Solnhofen. It is seventh specimen and was discovered on 3 August 1992 near Langenaltheim.
Day Four: Sunday 15th October
The group enjoyed a leisurely start to the day, with the option to take some time to look at the town of Nördlingen, situated in the Ries UNESCO Global Geopark. One of the attractions in the town (for geologists!) is St George’s Church, which is built from suevite, which formed in the Nördlingen Reis meteor impact. We found out much more about this meteor impact at our first scheduled stop of the day at the Reis Crater Info-Center. The Nördlinger Ries is a meteorite impact crater formed 14.808±0.038 million years ago in the Miocene. The original crater rim had an estimated diameter of 24 km (15 mi). The present floor of the depression is about 100 to 150 m (330 to 490 ft) below the eroded remains of the rim. It was originally assumed that the Ries was volcanic in origin, but in 1960, it was demonstrated that it was in fact caused by a meteorite impact. We took the time to read the many interesting information panels in the museum and to watch the informative videos before moving on to our next stop. We headed about 30 miles to the south-west of Nördlingen, arriving at Steinheim am Albuch. Stenheim is the location of another meteor crater, this one impacting around 15 million years ago. A lake existed in the crater for 1 million years, which attracted many animals and resulted in a rich fossil record for this area. There have been many mammal fossils found here, as well as finds of snail fossils and crayfish which clearly demonstrate evolution of these species. We had actually had the opportunity to look for some of these tiny snail fossils ourselves at a location on the edge of Steinheim prior to heading to the local museum. The museum showed us a very informative video, which explained about the formation of the crater and the subsequent history of the area. Having watched this, a few of the group joined a walk up to the crater rim to take in the views over the town. We then enjoyed a lovely traditional lunch at a local Gasthaus! After lunch, we journeyed to our destination for the next two nights – Blaubeuren. On arrival in the wonderfully picturesque town of Blaubeuren, we parked up at our hotel and then made our way down the street to the URMU (Urgeschichtliches Museum – Prehistory Museum). Here we were able to view some of the wonderful man-made objects which have been found in the prehistoric caves of the Ach and Lone valleys, which make up the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the “Caves and Ice Age Art of the Swabian Alb”. At around 40,000 years old, there are among the oldest works of art known to mankind. The objects include animal and human figures carved from mammoth ivory, flutes made of mammoth ivory and bird bones, and numerous jewellery finds. Seeing these inspirational objects was a great way to round off the day.
Above left: St George’s Church in Nördlingen is built from suevite which formed in the Nördlingen Reis meteor impact.
Above right: A close-up of the suevite masonry in St George’s Church in Nördlingen.
Above left: Inside the Nördlingen Reis Geopark information centre, with an animation explaining the meteor impact that formed the Nördlingen Reis crater. The Nördlinger Ries is a meteorite impact crater formed 14.808±0.038 million years ago in the Miocene. The original crater rim had an estimated diameter of 24 km (15 mi). The present floor of the depression is about 100 to 150 m (330 to 490 ft) below the eroded remains of the rim.
Above right: A moon rock in the Geopark Info-Center Nördlingen
Above left: Looking for fossil snails in the Steinheim am Albuch meteor crater. The meteor crater was created by an asteroid hit 15 million years. There was a lake within the crater for the first million years, in which many fossils were preserved.
Top right: The GeoWorld Travel group stand by an information sign on the rim of the Steinheim am Albuch meteor crater. The other side of the crater rim can be seen in the far distance.
Bottom right: The 40,000-year-old Venus carved from mammoth ivory which was found in the Hohle Fels cave in 2008. This is the oldest figural art in the world. Hohle Fels is in the UNESCO World Heritage Site Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura, and also in the Swabian Alb UNESCO Global Geopark.
Day Five: Monday 16th October
The group enjoyed a slightly more leisurely start to the day today! There was an optional walk to the incredibly beautiful Blautopf, at the northern end of Blaubeuren, to start the day, for those who wanted to join. The Blautopf is a 22m deep karst spring that is connected to a greater cave network (the Blue Cave system, which is 13km long). The water is turquoise due to the absorption of red-light spectra and reflection from CaCO3 crystals and the water temperature is 9°C all year round. Seasonal variation sees the water flow range from up to 520,000 gal/min to as low as 4,755 gal/min after hot, dry months. After enjoying the lovely setting of the Blautopf, we headed back to the hotel to pick up the vehicle and then to head to the Laichinger Tiefenhöhle (Laichingen Pothole). This is the deepest show cave in Germany and was only discovered in 1982. It descends 80m – although only the first 55m is accessible to the public. The cave is cut into late Jurassic white limestone and reef sponges can be seen in the cave walls. We braved the rather steep steps to get down into the cave and were rewarded with wonderful views of the rock formations! We returned to Blaubeuren to enjoy lunch in the town before reconvening for an afternoon trip out to the ‘Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura’ UNESCO World Heritage Site. This World Heritage Site was inscribed in 2017 and includes caves in the Ach and Lone valleys. The first cave we visited was Geißenklösterle cave, which is the site of the oldest modern human settlement in central Europe (also Neanderthal remains), and in it were found 40,000-year-old figures carved in mammoth ivory and three flutes made of swan bones or mammoth ivory. The next cave we visited was Hohle Fels cave, where more than 80,000 stone tools and 300 ornaments have been found. Mammoth ivory figurines and a Griffin vulture bone flute have also been found here, all around 40,000 years old. Perhaps the most famous figurine though is the ‘Venus’, with her exaggerated reproductive features, which was discovered here in 2008. We finished our afternoon of cave visits with Sirgenstein cave. Excavations here in 1906 showed that it was previously occupied by both Neanderthals and modern humans. Having enjoyed these fascinating caves in a beautiful valley setting, we returned to Blaubeuren for our second night in the town.
Above left: The Blautopf, Blaubeuren, in the Swabian Alb Geopark. This is a 22m deep karst spring which is connected to a greater cave network (the Blue Cave system), which is 13km long). The water is turquoise due to the absorption of red-light spectra and reflection from CaCO3 crystals. Seasonal variation sees the water flow range from up to 520,000 gal/min to as low as 4,755 gal/min after hot, dry months. The water temperature is 9°C all year round.
Above middle left: The GeoWorld Travel group entering the Laichingen Pothole (Laichinger Tiefenhöhle). This is the deepest show cave in Germany and was only discovered in 1982. It descends 80m – although only the first 55m is accessible to the public. The cave is cut into late Jurassic white limestone and reef sponges can be seen in the cave walls.
Above middle right: One of the flights of steps in the Laichingen Pothole.
Above right: Flowstone inside the Laichingen Pothole
Above left: Geißenklösterle Cave was the site of the oldest modern human settlement in central Europe (also Neanderthal remains), and in it were found 40,000-year-old figures carved in mammoth ivory and 3 flutes made of swan bones or mammoth ivory.
Above right: The view down the Ach Valley in the UNESCO World Heritage Site Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura. Many millennia ago, mammoths would have migrated up this glacially eroded valley and were hunted by the human inhabitants of the caves in the valley sides.
Above left: Sirgenstein Cave. Excavations of the cave in 1906 showed that it was previously occupied by both Neanderthals and modern humans.
Above right: The GeoWorld Travel group stands outside the entrance to the Hohle Fels cave.
Day Six: Tuesday 17th October
We only had two main geological stops today, but they were certainly impressive stops! The first stop of the day was Urweltmuseum Hauff, one of the largest private natural history museums in Germany, now run by the fourth generation of the Hauff family. The specimens on display in the museum are, in many cases, absolutely breath-taking – as shown in the photos below. One of the highlights is the ichthyosaur which is the size of a killer whale – Temnodontosaurus from the Lower Jurassic of Holzmaden. There have also been a high percentage of pregnant female and juvenile ichthyosaurs found in this area, which suggests that this could have been a birthing area to which animals migrated. Another highlight is the skeleton of Hybodus hauffianus, a shark from the Lower Jurassic Posidonia Shale, whose stomach still contains belemnites. But perhaps the most impressive exhibit on display is the stunning fossil of an 18m long Seirocrinus crinoid colony attached to a 12m long floating log. The room that this crinoid is displayed in was built specifically for the display of this incredible, giant fossil! Various other interesting displays really filled in the story of this area. Our second geological stop of the day was just a short hop from the museum, so a short drive and we arrived at Schieferbruch Kromer (Kromer Quarry), where the group had a chance to search for their own Holzmaden Shale fossils. The slate in this quarry is from the 180-million-year-old deposits, so the most common finds are sea creatures, such as ammonites, belemnites and shells. However, rare finds of fossil driftwood, fish and bones of marine reptiles are also possible. Our group made some nice finds and thoroughly enjoyed their fossil hunting! Handing back our fossil-hunting tools, we got back on to the road and started the drive to our overnight destination, the World Heritage Site and cathedral city of Speyer. On arrival in Speyer, there was some lovely afternoon sunshine and a chance to explore the beautiful city. Some of the group took the chance to visit the cathedral, which founded in 1030, was remodelled towards the end of the 11th century and is one of the most important Romanesque monuments from the time of the Holy Roman Empire. No less than eight medieval emperors and kings of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation were interred in the vault of the cathedral.
Above: An ichthyosaur the size of a killer whale – Temnodontosaurus from the Lower Jurassic of Holzmaden.
Above: The very impressive 18m long crinoid fossil in the Hauff Museum, Holzmaden. This is a Jurassic Seirocrinus crinoid colony attached to a 12m long floating log.
Above: A Stenopterygius ichthyosaur, with dorsal fin and preserved skin clearly visible, on display in the Hauff Museum, Holzmaden. This specimen was prepared by Bernhard Hauff, the museum’s founder, in 1903.
Above left: A belemnite with soft-body parts preserved, on display in the Hauff Museum, Holzmaden
Top right: Inside the Hauff Musuem, Holzmaden. An excellent exhibit showing the different layers within the Lower Lias of the Holzmaden Lagerstätte, one of the world’s most important fossil sites with exceptional soft-bodied preservation – perhaps most famous for its pregnant ichthyosaur specimen.
Bottom right: The Hauff Museum, Holzmaden
Above: A hybodont shark, an extinct group of shark-like chondrichthyans, which existed from the late Devonian to the late Cretaceous. On display in the Hauff Museum, Holzmaden.
Above left: Some of the GeoWorld Travel group hunting for fossils at Kromer Quarry. The slate in this quarry is from the 180-million-year-old deposits, so the most common finds are sea creatures, such as ammonites, belemnites, and shells. However, rare finds of fossil driftwood, fish and bones of marine reptiles are also possible.
Top right: An ammonite found in the Kromer Quarry, in the Holzmaden Shale Lagerstätte
Bottom right: Collecting hammers for our fossil hunting at Kromer Quarry in the Jurassic Holzmaden Shale Lagerstätte.
Day Seven: Wednesday 18th October
We said goodbye to Speyer this morning and started the drive to Bundenbach, where we would be spending a few hours in the Hunsrück Slate area. We arrived at the Herrenberg Slate Quarry Visitor Mine in Bundenbach and met up with our local guide, Michael Brzoska. Unfortunately the mine is now closed to visitors, but we were fortunate enough to be able to enjoy many specimens from this area in the museum next to the mine. The fossils are some of the most important fossils in the world, with soft body parts beautifully preserved as pyrite. The organisms were living on a shallow seabed and would periodically be catastrophically buried by anoxic sediments that had a low organic content but a high iron content. Once buried, sulphate-reducing anaerobic bacteria broke down the organic material, producing sulphide. This then converted to iron monosulphide and aerobic bacteria oxidized it to pyrite. The mudstone was later converted to slate in the Variscan orogeny and the reason why the fossils can be recovered is that in the Bundenbach area, tight folding means the cleavage and bedding planes are parallel. Some of these fossils are pictured below. The Hunsrück Slate is a a Devonian Lagerstätte. After we had had a chance to look at these fascinating specimens, which included echinoderms, eurypterids, sea-spiders, fish and rare marrellomorphs and anomalocarids (found in 2009), Michael took us to a nearby quarry where we had the opportunity to search for our own Hunsrück Slate fossils. This was a little more challenging than some of the other fossil hunting we had done previously! However, people enjoyed the challenge and did find some promising features in the rock.
Having had a very informative time with Michael, we bade him farewell and headed off to Strohn, our first stop in the Vulkaneifel area. The Vulkaneifel UNESCO Global Geopark was designated in 2015 and covers the area known as The Efiel, which is a hilly landscape with deep, glacially carved valleys cut into old Devonian sediments (360-415 million years old).There are volcanoes scattered across this landscape, with 350 known eruption centres. Two volcanic phases created Vulkaneifel: the first was active around 45 to 35 million years ago. The second phase was around a million years ago that ended with the most recent eruption, the Ulmener Maar, 10,900 years ago. The area is the international type locality of maar volcanoes. Our first stop in this area was at the Strohn Lava Bomb, an accretionary lava ball which weighs in at 120 tons. Although called a lava bomb, it was actually formed by being repeatedly fired away from the eruptive vent, each time rolling back down the inside of the scoria cone receiving a new coating of lava. A little way down the road from the lava bomb, at Wartgesberg, we also saw a section cut into the side of a scoria cone. The first of our final three stops of the day was Pulvermaar, which at 11,000 years old is the youngest volcano in Germany, forming a perfect circular crater occupied by a lake. Then, just a short drive away, our penultimate stop of the day was at The Eyes of the Eifel (or the Daun Maars). We parked between the Schalkenmehrener Maar and Weinfelder Maar and discussed their formation. The former is actually a double maar (one dry and one with a lake), which was formed 10,500 years ago after a volcanic steam explosion. The latter was created around 30,000 years ago, also in a volcanic steam explosion. And finally, we stopped for a view over the Gemündener Maar, another 30,000 year old maar. We then arrived at our hotel in Schalkenmehren, situated on the edge of the maar and with fabulous views!
Above left: The entrance to the Herrenberg Mine, Bundenbach, which is sadly no longer open to visitors. Here, Hunsrück Slate was mined and many wonderful soft-bodied Devonian fossils were found.
Middle left: A rare arthropod fossil, Nahecaris sturtzi, on display at the Hunsrück Museum.
Middle right: Parisangulocrinus zeaeformis, a crinoid from the Early Devonian, on display at the Hunsrück Museum.
Above right: Palaeoisopus problematicus, a sea spider from the Early Devonian, on display at the Hunsrück Museum.
Above left: Looking for our own Devonian Hunsrück Slate fossils
Above right: Lunch time at the quarry with our local guide, Michael!
Above left: The GeoWorld Travel group at the Stohn ‘lava bomb’. The accretionary lava ball known as the Strohn Lava Bomb is located in the Vulkan Eifel UNESCO Geopark.
Top right: The GeoWorld Travel group look at a section cut into the side of a scoria cone at Wartgesberg, Strohn.
Bottom right: The group at Weinfelder Maar, a volcano and one of the Eyes of the Eifel. The Maarsee was created around 30,000 years ago in a volcanic steam explosion and is around 525m long, 375m wide and 51m deep.
Day Eight: Thursday 19th October
Almost before we knew it, our final full touring day had arrived! From our maar-side hotel in Schalkenmehren, we set off to view the Wingertsbergwand – an amazing wall, exposed by quarrying, which gives a complete cross-section through the pyroclastic flows, surges and pumice fallout of the Laacher See eruption. Most of the material was deposited in a few days with a large amount of this occurring in the first six hours. The layers also show dunes and waves showing that the pyroclastic density currents must have flowed at terrific speeds. The bottom layers are phonolitic but the later layers were produced from less evolved parts of the magma chamber. The scale of the wall is quite something! Our next destination was the Vulkanmuseum Lava-Dome in Mendig, where we enjoyed a guided tour of the museum and then the lava cellars. The lava cellars were carved by hand by cutting away basaltic cooling columns in a 200,000-year-old lava flow; any broken columns were made into mill stones. The cellars started in the Middle Ages and were later used for brewing beer. Once we had completed our tour of the cellars, we enjoyed a lovely lunch (and some enjoyed the local brew!) at the neighbouring Vulkan Brauhaus! Feeling refreshed, we then took a short drive to the shore of the Laacher See caldera. This caldera was formed in Central Europe’s largest volcanic eruption in recent earth history which had a VEI of 6 (making it 1.5 greater than Pinatubo). The eruption occurred 13,000 years ago and was both hydrovolcanic and magma-emitting, producing a Plinian eruption with a 30km high eruptive column which created pyroclastic density currents (PDCs). This caldera was formed in the final stages of the Plinian eruption and the CO2 still bubbles up in places. A short distance from the Laacher See, we parked up and walked to the Lydiaturm, where a few members of the group ascended the tower to enjoy the view over the lake. Having taken in the view and enjoyed stretching our legs, we headed back to the vehicles and hit the road to our final stop of the tour – Meurin Roman Mine. Despite arriving in torrential rain, we were able to enjoy the (mostly!) undercover exhibit where historic mines are preserved and presented with a raised walkway over the 2,000-year-old Roman tunnels. Initially, the Roman tunnels were under a layer of pumice 4m thick, which was formed during the later stages of the Laacher See eruption. The white tuff was mined as building stone and this was part of the largest Roman tuff stone mining area north of the Alps. Returning to the vehicles, we then headed back to Frankfurt where we returned to the airport hotel we started the tour in. We enjoyed a farewell group meal together, looking back on some of the fantastic places we had visited and the memories that we had made.
Above left: The Wingertsbergwand, an amazing wall, exposed by quarrying which gives a complete cross-section through the pyroclastic flows, surges and pumice fallout of the Laacher See eruption. Most of the material was deposited in a few days with a large amount of this occurring in the first six hours.
Above right: Dan and Mila at the Wingertsbergwand. The layers show dunes and waves showing that the pyroclastic density currents must have flowed at terrific speeds. The bottom layers are phonolitic but the later layers were produced from less evolved parts of the magma chamber.
Above left: In the Mendig Lava Dome caverns. The creation of these caverns began in the Middle Ages and were later used for storing beer and in the brewing process.
Top right: Learning about the Laacher See volcano.
Bottom right: Our museum guide by a model of the caverns at the Lava Dome, Mendig. The lava cellars were carved by hand by cutting away basaltic cooling columns in a 200,000-year-old lava flow. Broken columns were made into millstones.
Above left: The Laacher See caldera formed in Central Europe’s largest volcanic eruption in recent earth history. The eruption occurred 13,000 years ago and was both hydrovolcanic and magma-emitting, producing a Plinian eruption with a 30km high eruptive column which createdpyroclastic density currents. This caldera was formed in the final stages of the Plinian eruption, and, in places, CO2 can still be seen bubbling to the surface.
Above right: Meurin Roman mines where tuff, which formed in the Laacher See eruption, was extracted.
Day Nine: Friday 20th October
Today was departure day, with most of the group heading home, but a couple of people extending their travels in Germany. We had a great time seeing the, often surprising, geological diversity that Germany has to offer. It was a thoroughly enjoyable trip and we thank the guests for their company and entertaining discussions! We will be returning to Germany again in the future – please see our website for dates, prices and availability: https://www.geoworldtravel.com/Germany.php
