![RSG-NASA-250 Ausschnitt mit Umriss](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/RSG-NASA-250_Ausschnitt_mit_Umriss.jpg)
The Rhenish Massif, Rhine Massif or Rhenish Uplands (german: Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, : 'Rhenish Slate Uplands') is a geologic
massif
In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...
in western
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, eastern
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
,
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
and northeastern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. It is drained centrally, south to north by the river
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
and a few of its tributaries.
West of the indent of the
Cologne Bight it has the
Eifel
The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...
and the Belgian and French
Ardennes; east is its greatest German component, the
Süder Uplands
The Süder UplandsHunsrück
The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced upland in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued by the Taunus mountains, past ...
hills form its southwest. The
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 ...
is an eastern strip. The
Lahn
The Lahn is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km).
It has its source in t ...
-
Dill
Dill (''Anethum graveolens'') is an annual herb in the celery family Apiaceae. It is the only species in the genus ''Anethum''. Dill is grown widely in Eurasia, where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavouring food.
Growth ...
area is a small central zone and the
Taunus Mountains
The Taunus is a mountain range in Hesse, Germany, located north of Frankfurt. The tallest peak in the range is ''Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are ''Kleiner Feldberg'' (825 m) and ''Altkönig'' (798 m).
The Taunus range spans ...
form the rest, the south-east.
The massif hosts the
Middle Rhine
Between Bingen and Bonn, Germany, the river Rhine flows as the Middle Rhine (german: Mittelrhein) through the Rhine Gorge, a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river a ...
Valley (
Rhine Gorge
The Rhine Gorge is a popular name for the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, a 65 km section of the Rhine between Koblenz and Rüdesheim in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse in Germany. It was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage S ...
), a
UNESCO World Heritage
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
site linked to the lowest parts of the
Moselle (german: Mosel, lb, Musel).
Geology
![Geology of the Rhenish Massif](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Geology_of_the_Rhenish_Massif.png)
Geologically the Rhenish Massif consists of
metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causin ...
s, mostly
slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
s (hence its German name),
deformed and
metamorphosed
Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causi ...
during the
Hercynian orogeny
The Variscan or Hercynian orogeny was a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica (Laurussia) and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea.
Nomenclature
The name ''Variscan'', comes f ...
(around 300 million years ago). Most of the massif is part of the
Rhenohercynian zone of this orogeny, that also encompasses the
Harz
The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...
further east and Devonian rocks of
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
(southwestern
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
).
Most rocks in the Rhenish Massif were originally sediments, mostly deposited during the
Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...
and
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...
in a
back-arc basin called the
Rhenohercynian basin. In some places in the Ardennes, even older rocks of
Cambrian
The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...
to
Silurian
The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozo ...
age crop out as massifs overlain by Devonian slates. These older rocks form smaller massifs of their own (
Stavelot
Stavelot (; german: Stablo ; wa, Ståvleu) is a town and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Francorchamps and Stavelot.
It is best known as the home of Sp ...
,
Rocroi
Rocroi () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France.
The central area is a notable surviving example of a bastion fort.
Population
History
Rocroi was fortified by Francis I of France and expanded by Henry II of France. Bec ...
,
Givonne and
Serpont). In the eastern Rhenish Massif some very limited outcrops in the Sauerland show rocks of
Ordovician
The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start ...
and lower Siliurian age. Further Ordovician rock exposures are part of the southern
Taunus
The Taunus is a mountain range in Hesse, Germany, located north of Frankfurt. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are ''Kleiner Feldberg'' (825 m) and '' Altkönig'' (798 m).
The Taunus range span ...
.
The second rock type are
Tertiary
Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago.
The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
and
Quaternary
The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...
igneous rock
Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main The three types of rocks, rock types, the others being Sedimentary rock, sedimentary and metamorphic rock, metamorphic. Igneous rock ...
s, which most prominently occur in the
Vulkaneifel
Vulkaneifel () is a district (''Kreis'') in the northwest of the state Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the least densely populated district in the state and the fourth most sparsely populated district in Germany. The administrative centre of ...
, the Westerwald and the
Vogelsberg
The is a large volcanic mountain range in the German Central Uplands in the state of Hesse, separated from the Rhön Mountains by the Fulda river valley.
Emerging approximately 19 million years ago, the Vogelsberg is Central Europe's largest ...
. The volcanic rocks have been linked to a
mantle plume
A mantle plume is a proposed mechanism of convection within the Earth's mantle, hypothesized to explain anomalous volcanism. Because the plume head partially melts on reaching shallow depths, a plume is often invoked as the cause of volcanic hot ...
that, due to its low density and buoyancy, uplifted the entire region during the last few hundred thousand years, as measured from the present elevation of old river terraces.
Garcia-Castellanos, D., S.A.P.L. Cloetingh & R.T. van Balen, 2000. Modeling the middle Pleistocene uplift in the Ardennes-Rhenish Massif: Thermo-mechanical weakening under the Eifel? Global Planet. Change 27, 39-52, doi:10.1016/S0921-8181(01)00058-3
/ref>
Mountain and hill ranges
The mountain and hill ranges within the Rhenish Massif - some with maximum height in metres above sea level (NN)) are given below:
References
Literature
* d´Hein: ''Nationaler Geopark Vulkanland Eifel. Ein Natur- und Kulturführer.'' Gaasterland Verlag Düsseldorf 2006, .
* Fliegel, D.: ''Ein geologisches Profil durch das Rheinische Schiefergebirge''. Cöln, 1909
Online-Ausgabe dilibri Rheinland-Pfalz
* von Winterfeld, Claus; Bayer, Ulf; Oncken, Onno; Lünenschloß, Brita; Springer, Jörn (1994): ''Das westliche Rheinische Schiefergebirge.'' Geowissenschaften; 12; 320-324, .
* Meyer, W.: ''Geologie der Eifel'', Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, 1986. .
* Schmidt, E. et al.: ''Deutschland. Harms Handbuch der Geographie''. Paul List Verlag KG, 26th edn., Munich, 1975. .
* Thews, J.-D.: ''Erläuterungen zur Geologischen Übersichtskarte von Hessen 1:300.000'', Geol. Abhandlungen Hessen Bd. 96, Hess. L.-A. für Bodenforschung, Wiesbaden, 1996. .
* Vogel, Andreas, Hubert Miller and Reinhard Greiling, ''The Rhenish Massif: Structure, Evolution, Mineral Deposits and Present Geodynamics.'' Wiesbaden: Springer, 1987. .
* Walter, R. et al.: ''Geologie von Mitteleuropa''. 5th edition, Schweizerbarth’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, 1992. (German).
{{Authority control
Geology of Germany
Geography of North Rhine-Westphalia
Geography of Rhineland-Palatinate
Geography of Hesse
Rhineland
Geology of Belgium
Geology of Luxembourg
Geology of France