![WeibernV](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/WeibernV.JPG)
The Volcanic Eifel or Vulkan Eifel (german: Vulkaneifel) is a region in 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 ...
Mountains in Germany that is defined to a large extent by its
volcanic
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...
geological history. Characteristic of this
volcanic field
A volcanic field is an area of Earth's crust that is prone to localized volcanic activity. The type and number of volcanoes required to be called a "field" is not well-defined. Volcanic fields usually consist of clusters of up to 100 volcanoes ...
are its typical explosion
crater lake
Crater Lake (Klamath language, Klamath: ''Giiwas'') is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The ...
s or
maar
A maar is a broad, low-relief volcanic crater caused by a phreatomagmatic eruption (an explosion which occurs when groundwater comes into contact with hot lava or magma). A maar characteristically fills with water to form a relatively shallow ...
s, and numerous other signs of volcanic activity such as volcanic
tuff
Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...
s,
lava
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...
streams and
volcanic crater
A volcanic crater is an approximately circular depression in the ground caused by Volcano, volcanic activity. It is typically a bowl-shaped feature containing one or more vents. During Types of volcanic eruptions, volcanic eruptions, molten magm ...
s like the
Laacher See
Laacher See (), also known as Lake Laach or Laach Lake, is a volcanic caldera lake with a diameter of in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, about northwest of Koblenz, south of Bonn, and west of Andernach. It is in the Eifel mountain range, and i ...
. The Volcanic Eifel is still volcanically active today. One sign of this activity is the escaping gases in the Laacher See.
Geographical location
![Wingertsbergwand Laacher See 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Wingertsbergwand_Laacher_See_2010.jpg)
The Volcanic Eifel stretches from the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
to the
Wittlich Depression
The Wittlich Depression (german: Wittlicher Senke or ''Wittlicher Rotliegend-Senke''), less commonly, the Wittlich Basin, is the continuation of the Trier Valley in a northeasterly direction. It is not only recognisable in the terrain as an elon ...
. It is bordered in the south and southwest by the
South Eifel, in the west by Luxembourg and Belgian
Ardennes
The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...
and in the north by the
North Eifel The North Eifel (german: Nordeifel), the northern part of the Eifel, a low mountain range in Germany and East Belgium, comprises the following six sub-regions:
* Venn Foreland,
* Hohes Venn,
* Rur Eifel,
*Limestone Eifel,
* Our Valley and
* High Eif ...
including the
Hohes Venn
The High Fens (german: Hohes Venn; french: Hautes Fagnes; nl, Hoge Venen), which were declared a nature reserve in 1957, are an upland area, a plateau region in Liège Province, in the east of Belgium and adjoining parts of Germany, between the ...
. To the east the Rhine forms its geographical boundary, with no volcanicity immediately beyond it.
The Volcanic Eifel is divided into three natural regions:
* Volcanic West Eifel (
Manderscheid,
Daun
Daun is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the district seat and also the seat of the ' of Daun.
Geography
Location
The town lies in the , a part of the Eifel known for its volcanic history, geogra ...
,
Gerolstein
Gerolstein () is a town in the Vulkaneifel district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Gerolstein is a local municipality of the ''Verbandsgemeinde Gerolstein''. It has been approved as a '' Luftkurort'' (spa town).
History
As early as the Ston ...
,
Obere Kyll
Obere Kyll is a former ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the district Vulkaneifel, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the upper course of the river Kyll, approx. 55 km south-west of Bonn. The seat of the ''Verba ...
,
Hillesheim
Hillesheim () is the third largest town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was the seat of the former ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Hillesheim.
Geography
Location
The town lies almost in the middle, halfway between C ...
(within the parish of
Nohn
Nohn is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Gerolstein, whose se ...
),
* Volcanic High Eifel (
Adenau
Adenau () is a town in the High Eifel in Germany. It is known as the ''Johanniterstadt'' because the Order of Saint John was based there in the Middle Ages. The town's coat of arms combines the black cross of the Electorate of Cologne with the l ...
,
Kelberg
Kelberg is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'', and ...
,
Ulmen
Ulmen is a town in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – a kind of collective municipality – to which it also belongs.
Geography
Location
The town lies in the Eife ...
and Nohn),
* Volcanic East Eifel (
Brohltal
Brohltal is a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the district of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated approximately 30 km north-west of Koblenz
Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spell ...
,
Vordereifel Vordereifel is a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the eastern edge of the Eifel, west of Mayen. The seat of the municipality is in Mayen, itself no ...
,
Mendig
Mendig () is a small town in the district Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated approximately 6 km north-east of Mayen, and 25 km west of Koblenz. Mendig is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective muni ...
,
Pellenz
The Pellenz is a hill country in the northwestern part of the Middle Rhine Basin in Germany between Mayen in the southwest and Andernach in the northeast. In addition Pellenz is the name of a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' in the state of Rhineland-Pal ...
)
The centre of the Volcanic Eifel is the region around Daun and Manderscheid and the areas within the
Mayen-Koblenz district.
The landscape of the Volcanic Eifel is dominated by recent volcanism. Volcanic craters, thick
pumice
Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of highly vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicular vol ...
and
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 ...
layers and maars create a diverse landscape that clearly witnesses to very recent events in geological terms.
The entire Volcanic Eifel covers an area of about and has a population of about 200,000.
Volcanoes
The following volcanoes belong to the Eifel, sorted by height in metres (m) above sea level (
Normalhöhennull
' ("standard elevation zero") or NHN is a vertical datum used in Germany.
In geographical terms, NHN is the reference plane for the normal height of a topographical eminence height above mean sea level used in the 1932 German Mean Height Refere ...
, NHN):
*
Ernstberg
The Ernstberg (also Erresberg) southeast of Hinterweiler is, at 698.8 m, the highest of the west Eifel volcanoes and, after the Hohe Acht, the second highest mountain in the Eifel overall. Its summit consists of pyroclastic rocks (''Schweiß ...
(also: Erresberg), , county of Vulkaneifel – west
*
Scharteberg
The Scharteberg is a mountain, high, near Kirchweiler in the district of Vulkaneifel and is one of the highest peaks in the Eifel region of Germany. On the summit is the Eifel Transmitter which belongs to SWR and is used for FM radio and telev ...
, , county of Vulkaneifel; with the
Eifel Transmitter
The Eifel Transmitter (german: Sender Eifel) is an FM and TV transmission facility for the German broadcasting company of SWR and is located on the Scharteberg near Kirchweiler, Germany. Until 1985, the Scharteberg transmitter used a 160 metr ...
(SWR) – west
*
Prümscheid, , county of Vulkaneifel – not volcanic (eponymous quartzite ridge; other summits being the Scharteberg and
Dietzenley
The Dietzenley in the county of Vulkaneifel in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate is a mountain, ,{{GeoQuelle, DE-RP, LANDIS-Karte and the highest point in the Pelm Forest, a part of the Volcanic Eifel range.
The Dietzenley rises within t ...
)
*
Hochkelberg
At the Hochkelberg is one of the ten highest mountains in the Vulkan Eifel in Germany. It is a former stratovolcano, at the southern foot of which lies the Mosbrucher Weiher, an explosion crater lake or maar. Below the summit of the Hochkelbe ...
, , county of Vulkaneifel; with a transmission mast on its south summit – Tertiary
*
Nerother Kopf
The Nerother Kopf is the conical hill of an extinct volcano (a cinder cone) near Neroth in the Eifel mountains. It is and situated in the county of Vulkaneifel in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Geographical location
The Nerother Ko ...
, , county of Vulkaneifel; with the castle ruins of the
Freudenkoppe – west
*
Dietzenley
The Dietzenley in the county of Vulkaneifel in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate is a mountain, ,{{GeoQuelle, DE-RP, LANDIS-Karte and the highest point in the Pelm Forest, a part of the Volcanic Eifel range.
The Dietzenley rises within t ...
, , county of Vulkaneifel; with a wooden observation tower – west
*
Arensberg, approximately , county of Vulkaneifel – Tertiary
*
Hochsimmer
The Hochsimmer is a volcanic cone, , in the Eifel Mountains in Germany. It rises near Ettringen (Eifel), Ettringen in the Rhineland-Palatine county of Mayen-Koblenz. At the summit is an observation tower, the Hochsimmer Tower.
Geography Loca ...
, , county of Mayen-Koblenz – east
*
Gänsehals
Goose Neck Tower () is an 87-metre concrete radio tower near Bell and Mendig in Western Germany. Built in 1976, it serves as an internal radio relay link for German electric and natural gas public utility company RWE.
Goose Neck Tower is one o ...
, , county of Mayen-Koblenz – east
*
Engelner Kopf, , county of Ahrweiler (near
Kempenich
Kempenich is a municipality in the Ahrweiler (district), district of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
References
Ahrweiler (district)
{{Ahrweiler-geo-stub ...
-Engeln) – east
*
Hochstein, , county of Mayen-Koblenz – east
*
Steineberger Ley, , county of Vulkaneifel; with a ''Volcano Information Platform'' (observation tower) – Tertiary
*
Rockeskyller Kopf, , county of Vulkaneifel – west
*
Hoher List
The Hoher List is a stratovolcano, , near the town of Daun in the Eifel region. The hill is in the county of Vulkaneifel in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Location
The Hoher List lies in the Volcanic Eifel, part of the Eifel Mountains ...
, , county of Vulkaneifel; with the
Hoher List Observatory
Hoher List Observatorium is an Observatory located on the Hoher List mountain (549 m ASL) about 60 km south-west of the city of Bonn, close to the town of Daun in the Eifel region (Rhineland-Palatinate)
History
The observatory of Bonn was fo ...
– west
*
Wartgesberg, approximately , county of Vulkaneifel (near
Strohn) – west
*
Veitskopf, , county of Ahrweiler; near Laacher See; with an observation tower, the
Lydia Tower – east
*
Ettringer Bellberg, , county of Mayen-Koblenz (south of
Ettringen) – east
*
Karmelenberg, , county of Mayen-Koblenz – east
*
Mayener Bellberg, , county of Mayen-Koblenz (north of
Mayen
Mayen is a town in the Mayen-Koblenz District of the Rhineland-Palatinate Federal State of Germany, in the eastern part of the Volcanic Eifel Region. As well as the main town, additional settlements include Alzheim, Kürrenberg, Hausen-Betzing, ...
) – east
*
Korretsberg, , county of Mayen-Koblenz (near
Kruft) – east
Laacher See
Of particular note is the volcanic caldera known as
Laacher See
Laacher See (), also known as Lake Laach or Laach Lake, is a volcanic caldera lake with a diameter of in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, about northwest of Koblenz, south of Bonn, and west of Andernach. It is in the Eifel mountain range, and i ...
, the site of an eruption around 12,900 years ago that had an estimated
VEI of 6.
Geopark and museums
*
Vulkanland Eifel National Geopark
*
Volcano Museum, Daun
*
Volcano House, Strohn
*
German Volcano Museum, Mendig
Future activity
There is thought that future eruptions may occur in the Eifel, as:
Germany: a danger of volcanic eruptions?
/ref>
*Each year the Eifel rises by about a millimetre.
*Geophysicists found that crust under the Eifel is thinner than most continental crust, suggesting that under the Eifel is a hot zone where magma is rising.
*Persistent small earthquakes and underground heating.
Map of flood lake that may happen if the Rhine is blocked by a voluminous eruption in the Eifel
In 2020, Professor Kreemer noted that Eifel was the only region within an area of Europe studied where ground motion
Ground motion is the movement of the earth's surface from earthquakes or explosions. Ground motion is produced by seismic waves that are generated by sudden slip on a fault or sudden pressure at the explosive source and travel through the earth a ...
happened at significantly higher levels than expected. It is possible that such movements originate from a rising magma 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 hots ...
. This activity does not imply an immediate eruptive danger, but might suggest an increase in volcanic and seismic activity in the region.
References
Further reading
* Werner P. D’hein: ''Vulkanland Eifel. Natur- und Kulturführer, mit 26 Stationen der „Deutschen Vulkanstraße“.'' Gaasterland Verlag, Düsseldorf 2006, ,
* Wilhelm Meyer: ''Geologie der Eifel.'' Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1986.
*
External links
Homepage of Vulkaneifel district
German Volcanological Society
*
*
{{Authority control
Landscapes of Rhineland-Palatinate
Pleistocene volcanism
Holocene volcanism
Volcanism of Germany
Regions of the Eifel
Global Geoparks Network members