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Kranstein
The Kranstein is a rock formation which is designated as a natural monument in the German mountain range of Westerwald. It is situated by the district road, ''Kreisstraße 95'', between Willmenrod and Weltersburg. It is registered as number "ND-7143-507" in the list of natural monuments of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and is a geotope in the Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus Geopark. The basalt summit of the Kranstein has been exposed by a basalt quarry. After work started on northwestern side of the large quarry, basalt columns were found that leaned in on one another like logs in charcoal pile. This geological feature is like a section through a volcanic pipe. Minerals transported to the surface when the volcano erupted gave clues as to the composition of the Earth's crust which is up to 30 kilometres thick. Kranstein is one of the most impressive basalt outcrops in the Westerwald. There are hardly any geological publications or reports on the Westerwald that do not mention the Kranst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weltersburg
Weltersburg is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location Weltersburg lies 4 km southeast of Westerburg. Since 1972 it has belonged to what was then the newly founded ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Westerburg, a kind of collective municipality found only in Rhineland-Pfalz. Its seat is in the like-named town. Natural monuments Between Weltersburg and Willmenrod is the rock formation and natural monument of Kranstein on the edge of a basalt quarry. Politics The municipal council is made up of 7 council members, including the extraofficial mayor (''Bürgermeister''), who were elected in a majority vote in a municipal election on 13 June 2004. Economy and infrastructure South of the community runs ''Bundesstraße'' 8, leading from Limburg an der Lahn to Hennef. The nearest Autobahn interchange is ''Montabaur'' on the A 3 (Cologne–Frankfurt). The nearest In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rock Formation
A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term ''rock formation'' can also refer to specific sedimentary strata or other rock unit in stratigraphic and petrologic studies. A rock structure can be created in any rock type or combination: * Igneous rocks are created when molten rock cools and solidifies, with or without crystallisation. They may be either plutonic bodies or volcanic extrusive. Again, erosive forces sculpt their current forms. * Metamorphic rocks are created by rocks that have been transformed into another kind of rock, usually by some combination of heat, pressure, and chemical alteration. * Sedimentary rocks are created by a variety of processes but usually involving deposition, grain by grain, layer by layer, in water or, in the case of terrestrial sediments, on land through the action of wind or sometimes moving ice. E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natural Monument
A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Under World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines, natural monuments are level III, described as: :"Areas are set aside to protect a specific natural monument, which can be a landform, sea mount, submarine cavern, geological feature such as a cave or even a living feature such as an ancient grove. They are generally quite small protected areas and often have high visitor value." This is a lower level of protection than level II (national parks) and level I (wilderness areas). The European Environment Agency's guidelines for selection of a natural monument are: * The area should contain one or more features of outstanding significance. Appropriate natural features include waterfalls, caves, craters, fossil beds, sand dunes and marine features, along with unique or representative fauna and flo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westerwald
The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif ( or Rhenish Slate Mountains). Its highest elevation, at 657 m above sea level, is the Fuchskaute in the High Westerwald. Tourist attractions include the (394 metres), site of some Celtic ruins from La Tène times (5th to 1st century BC), found in the community of the same name, and Limburg an der Lahn, a town with a mediaeval centre. The geologically old, heavily eroded range of the Westerwald is in its northern parts overlaid by a volcanic upland made of Neogene basalt layers. It covers an area of some , and therefore roughly , making the Westerwald one of Germany's biggest mountain ranges by area. In areas of subsidence, it has in its flatter western part (Lower Westerwald) the characteristics of rolling hills. Typical for the economy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kreisstraße
A Kreisstraße (literally: "district road" or "county road") is a class of road in Germany. It carries traffic between the towns and villages within a '' Kreis'' or district or between two neighbouring districts. In importance, the ''Kreisstraße'' ranks below a ''Landesstraße'' (or, in Bavaria and Saxony, a ''Staatstraße'', i.e. a state road), but above a ''Gemeindestraße'' or "local road". ''Kreisstraßen'' are usually the responsibility of the respective rural district (''Landkreis'') or urban district (''Kreisfreie Stadt''), with the exception of high streets through larger towns and villages. Kreisstraßen are usually dual-lane roads but, in a few cases, can be built as limited-access dual carriageways in densely populated areas. Numbering Unlike local roads (''Gemeindestraßen'') the ''Kreisstraßen'' are invariably numbered, but their numbering is not shown on signs. The abbreviation is a prefixed capital letter K followed by a serial number. In most states the car n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willmenrod
Willmenrod is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location Willmenrod lies in the valley of the Elbach between the 475-m-high Watzenhahn and the Stromberg in the middle of the Westerwald. Geology The landscape is characterized by basalt and clay deposits. Until after the war, basalt was still being quarried in Willmenrod and broken up into chips and crushed stone in the community. One hundred and twenty hectares of the municipal area is wooded. Neighbouring communities Willmenrod borders in the north on Sainscheid and Westerburg, in the east on Wengenroth and Berzhahn, in the south on Girkenroth and Dorndorf and in the west on Weltersburg and Guckheim. Climate Despite the claim to the contrary in the folksong ''Oh du schöner Westerwald'', the wind does not whistle quite so cold. Rather, a moderate climate holds sway here. In winter, the snow is limited, in summer, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Koblenz, Trier, Kaiserslautern, Worms and Neuwied. It is bordered by North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse and by the countries France, Luxembourg and Belgium. Rhineland-Palatinate was established in 1946 after World War II, from parts of the former states of Prussia (part of its Rhineland and Nassau provinces), Hesse (Rhenish Hesse) and Bavaria (its former outlying Palatinate kreis or district), by the French military administration in Allied-occupied Germany. Rhineland-Palatinate became part of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 and shared the country's only border with the Saar Protectorate until the latter wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geotope
A geotope is the geological component of the abiotic matrix present in an ecotope. Example geotopes might be an exposed outcrop of rocks, an erratic boulder, a grotto or ravine, a cave, an old stone wall marking a property boundary, and so forth. It is a loanword from German ''( Geotop)'' in the study of ecology and might be the model for many other similar words coined by analogy. As the prototype, it has enjoyed wider currency than many of the other words modelled on it, including physiotope Physiotope is the total abiotic matrix of habitat present within any certain ecotope. The physiotope is the landform, the rocks and the soils, the climate and the hydrology, and the geologic processes which marshalled all these resources together in ..., with which it is used synonymously. But the geotope is properly the rocks and not the whole lay of the land (which would be the physiotope). For usage in the context of geoheritage, like e.g. in Friedrich Wiedenbein's contributions (see ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus Geopark
The Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus National Geopark (german: Nationale GeoPark Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus) is a community initiative by the counties of Landkreis Altenkirchen, Altenkirchen, Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Lahn-Dill, Limburg-Weilburg, Westerwaldkreis, Westerwald and Marburg-Biedenkopf. The geopark, which covers an area of 3,846 km², lies within parts of the German states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate and within the natural region of the German Central Uplands. The geopark is primarily a 'geopark of raw materials' ("Geopark der Rohstoffe") and is characterised by the diversity of mineral resources that occur here. From prehistoric times to the present day, mining and the processing of raw materials played an important role for the people of the region. Working with marble, stone and iron as well as clay was the basis for its prosperous economic and cultural development and at the same time the central theme that runs through the entire geopark. On 8 November 2012, the Westerwald-Lahn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial planet, rocky planet or natural satellite, moon. More than 90% of all volcanic rock on Earth is basalt. Rapid-cooling, fine-grained basalt is chemically equivalent to slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro. The eruption of basalt lava is observed by geologists at about 20 volcanoes per year. Basalt is also an important rock type on other planetary bodies in the Solar System. For example, the bulk of the plains of volcanism on Venus, Venus, which cover ~80% of the surface, are basaltic; the lunar mare, lunar maria are plains of flood-basaltic lava flows; and basalt is a common rock on the surface of Mars. Molten basalt lava has a low viscosity due to its relatively low silica content (between 45% and 52%), resulting in rapidly moving lava flo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charcoal Pile
A charcoal pile or charcoal clamp is a carefully arranged pile of wood, covered by turf or other layer, inside which a fire is lit in order to produce charcoal. The pile is tended by a charcoal burner. It is similar to a charcoal kiln, but the latter is usually a permanent structure made of materials such as stone. History Since antiquity, charcoal piles have been used to make charcoal. Charcoal is much lighter than natural timber and therefore easier to transport. In addition, charcoal generates much more heat. Charcoal production was therefore an important part of the economy in early modern times. At that time, charcoal was the only fuel that could generate the heat necessary for iron smelting. In the late 18th century, it is recorded that the duties of a master coalman at an ironworks were not only to ensure the supply of charcoal and to supervise charcoal burners and their assistants, but also to visit frequently the charcoal clearings (''Kohlhäue'') i.e. those parts of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volcanic Pipe
Volcanic pipes or volcanic conduits are subterranean geological structures formed by the violent, supersonic eruption of deep-origin volcanoes. They are considered to be a type of ''diatreme''. Volcanic pipes are composed of a deep, narrow cone of solidified magma (described as "carrot-shaped"), and are usually largely composed of one of two characteristic rock types — kimberlite or lamproite. These rocks reflect the composition of the volcanoes' deep magma sources, where the Earth is rich in magnesium. Volcanic pipes are relatively rare. They are well known as the primary source of diamonds, and are mined for this purpose. Formation Volcanic pipes form as the result of violent eruptions of deep-origin volcanoes. These volcanoes originate at least three times as deep as most other volcanoes, and the resulting magma that is pushed toward the surface is high in magnesium and volatile compounds such as water and carbon dioxide. As the body of magma rises toward the surface, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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