The Vulkanland Eifel Geopark (german: Geopark Vulkanland Eifel) is a German national geopark in the Volcanic Eifel region that was established on 19 April 2005. Covering an area of 2,200 km², the geopark extends from the Belgian border in the west over 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 to the

River Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sourc ...

in the east. The countryside here which has been shaped by the volcanism of the past contains numerous

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 ...

cinder cone A cinder cone (or scoria cone) is a steep conical hill of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic clinkers, volcanic ash, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are formed by explosive eruptions o ...

lava flow 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 und ...

lava dome In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions on ...

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

s and bubbling springs. The largest caldera was formed by 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 ...

volcano that last erupted about 13,000 years ago. A sign of continuing volcanic activity in this region are the volcanic gases that are still visibly being discharged into the atmosphere.

Literature

* Karl-Heinz Schumacher und Wilhelm Meyer: ''Geopark Vulkanland Eifel. Lava-Dome und Lavakeller in Mendig.'' Redaktion: Karl Peter Wiemer. Rheinischer Verein für Denkmalpflege und Landschaftsschutz, Cologne, 2006 (=Rheinische Landschaften, Heft 57). *Werner d´Hein: ''Nationaler Geopark Vulkanland Eifel. Ein Natur- und Kulturführer.'' Gaasterland-Verlag, Düsseldorf, 2006,

External links

Nationaler Geopark Vulkanland Eifel
{{Coord, 50.17708, N, 6.847892, E, type:landmark_region:DE-RP, display=title

Eifel Geology of Germany 2005 establishments in Germany