Geopark LM 3 Englisch 2007.indd - Geopark Harz

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Curious sandstone formations Klusfelsen Goslar The 20 metre high rock rib of the Klusfelsen is today hidden behind the home for the elderly at Petersberg 4, east of the Schützenplatz and near the Breites Tor (Broad Gate). It can be reached via the Osterfeld and Petersberg streets. We follow the signs for “Kluskapelle”. The Klusfelsen looks brown due to weathering – but it consists of coarse, porous, yellow Hils Sandstone which was formed in a shallow sea near the coastline in the Lower Cretaceous about 110 million years ago and can reach thicknesses of nearly 100 m. The southerly coastline was only a few kilometres south of where the Klusfelsen stands today in the North Harz Region. Klusfelsen The Hils Sandstone is representative of a distinctive transgression of the Niedersachsen Basin. From the sediment structures, for example the cross bedding, it can be assumed that the prevailing ocean current flowed parallel to the coastline from northwest to southeast. The Hils Sandstone was formerly an important quarry stone, quarried mostly in the area of Langelsheim and Lutter am Barenberge to provide building stones for sacred architecture and for modelling of fine architectural elements. The pores of this sandstone are often incompletely filled with quartz cement, thus the stone tends to disintegrate which can lead to structural damage. The nearby classical geosites, the Ratssandgrube and the Osterfeld Brickyard, have unfortunately been demolished to a great extent. The outcrop line Petersberg (Upper Cretaceous) – Neue Ziegelei Osterfeld (Keuper – Buntsandstein) was a unique supraregional geoprofile. 12 14 15 13 11 10 2 1 3 4 6 5 7 8 9 Kartografie Verwaltungs-Verlag München, Licence No. 07-08-110 Further city maps under www.stadtplan.net The map will assist you in planning your own personal georoute around the Rammelsberg. Tours under competent guidance can also be booked (Dr. Steiger, Managing Director of the team of the Harz Mountains regional association’s geogides, DR. STEIGER, +49 3944 - 36 90 85 or e-mail: T_Steiger@gmx.de). The Regionalverband Harz e. V. wishes you pleasant relaxing holidays and interesting insight into the geology and the history of the part of that Nature and Geopark Harz which you have just been introduced you.
Excursion to the east Sudmerberg and the industrial landscape around Oker From the Klusfelsen we drive toward Oker and soon see the broad Sudmerberg Mountain 4 with its transmission tower. We turn off to the left in the suburb of Sudmerberg, drive to a car park near the Schützenhaus building and climb the forest path to the top of the mountain, consisting of Upper Middle Santonian (Upper Cretaceous) sandstones. The discordances tell the geologist that the last important movements on the Harznordrand Thrust took place here during the transition from Middle to Upper Santonian. The Santonian beds were built up of alternating stratifications of hard calcareous sandstone and softer clay. The yellow sandstone of the Sudmerberg in particular was quarried for use in construction of many buildings in the Goslar region - like the observation tower, from which, especially in the morning hours, one can enjoy a lovely view over Goslar with the sun on one’s back. Looking toward the Harz the settling basins of the former Lean Ore Dressing Works of the Rammelsberg Mine can be seen. We will stop there as we drive toward the east, passing under the railway bridge in Oker and turning right in the Stadtstieg and then going from the tennis courts up to the Bollrich airfield. Even after the closing of the ore dressing facilities the settling ponds have a function: In them the sedimentation of solid materials remaining after water treatment of the pit water from the former ore mines takes place. Depending on the amount of rainfall, up to 90,000 cubic metres of contaminated pit water per year is treated to avoid further pollution of the centurylong non-ferrous metal carrying Abzucht and Oker rivers. In the smelter community of Sudmerberg observation tower Oker, ores from the Rammelsberg have been smelted since the middle ages 5 . The non-fer- Oker industrial landscape rous metal smelting works in Oker-Harlingerode goes back to the Frau Marien Saiger Metallurgic Plant, founded in 1527. Today primary ores are no longer smelted here - the recycling plants treat materials from all over Europe. Looking over the industrial landscape the white wall of a gigantic geological outcrop attracts our interest: the Langenberg. 5 4
Page 1 and 2: Selected Hotels 1 1 Ringhotel Golde
Page 3 and 4: shafts and boreholes for curative d
Page 5 and 6: and, before reaching the railway br
Page 7 and 8: Classic Geological Square Mile The
Page 9: World Cultural Heritage II Old Town

Geopark LM 3 Englisch 2007.indd - Geopark Harz

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