Matterhorn Trek
9 day circuit hike around Matterhorn, Weisshorn and Dent Blanche
Tag: geology
Lithium: Production and Usage
Interactive graph with producing countries and usage of lithium
The Age of Oceanic Lithosphere
The movements of plate tectonics become particularly clear on maps showing the age of the oceanic crust.
Upper Harz Water Regale
Walks along the channels and ponds once created for mining in the Harz Mountains
Unconformity at Siccar Point
Probably the (historically) most important outcrop of geology is located on the coast about 40 miles east of Edinburgh. In 1788, at a time when geology did not yet exist as an independent science and hardly anyone doubted the common teaching that the earth — according to the creation story in the Bible — was … Continue reading “Unconformity at Siccar Point”
Glen Coe
Hike to the Hidden Valley in the former Caldera (Scotland)
Cenotes of Yucatán
Spectacular sinkholes for diving, snorkelling, swimming (Mexico)
At the Prebisch Gate (Pravčická brána) in Bohemian Switzerland
A day hike combines the impressive rock arch in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains with a boat trip through the Edmundsklamm gorge.
Cone karst in Franconian Switzerland
It is no coincidence that the limestone towers in Upper Franconia are reminiscent of famous landscapes in Southeast Asia.
Floating salt crystals
Like little boats, strangely shaped salt crystals sometimes float on salt lakes or in saltworks: hopper halite or fleur de sel.
Iguazú Falls
At perhaps the most spectacular waterfalls on earth (Argentina/Brazil)
Basalt columns near Garni, Armenia
“Symphony of Stones”: Spectacular but relatively unknown basalt columns in Azad Canyon
The Caldera of Nemrut Dagi
Volcano with obsidian lava and lakes in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey
Meke Gölü
Spectacular hypersaline crater lake (maar) with a cinder cone in the centre (Central Anatolia, Turkey)
Tuz Gölü
Shallow water as far as the eye can see and a reddish colour due to halobacteria — the Great Salt Lake in Central Anatolia (Turkey)
Pobiti Kamani near Varna
The “Stone Forest” in Bulgaria
Uvac Gorge
Deeply incised meanders of the Uvac in a rarely visited reserve in Serbia
Modro Jezero (Blue Lake) and Crveno Jezero (Red Lake)
Large sinkholes near Imotski in Croatia
Velebit
Karstified mountains in Croatia
Plitvice Lakes
Karst landscape with lakes and waterfalls in Croatia
Bijele Stijene
Bizarre karst formation in Croatia
Lake Como
Many of the deep lakes in the Alps are known to fill valleys that were once carved out by the glaciers of the ice ages. However, this is not the case with the lakes in the Southern Alps. Where Lake Como, Lake Lugano, Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore are located today, there were already deep … Continue reading “Lake Como”
Isle of Skye
Hikes to Cuilin Mountains and Old Man of Storr
Ben Nevis and neighbouring Munros
Hiking in the mountains of Scotland
Orkney Islands
Seastacks and stone circles on the islands in the north of Scotland
Cabo de Gata
Nature on the Mediterranean coast of Andalusia (Spain)
A sample of the Moho
Since I don’t have any recent photos to show, here is a picture of a rock sample that has been lying around in my room for a long time. It is one of my favourite samples because I can torture every geoscientist who visits me with the question of what he sees here. Two different … Continue reading “A sample of the Moho”
Rammelsberg mine
Old mine in the huge SEDEX deposit in the Harz Mountains
The Petrified Forest of Sarmiento
Petrified trunks of Cretaceous palms and conifers in the Patagonian steppe (Argentina)
Dinosaur tracks near Rovereto
Footprints of reptiles in the Southern Alps (Trentino, Italy)
Rügen
Chalk cliffs in Jasmund National Park
La Palma: Hiking Ruta de los Volcanes and Ruta de la Cresteria (GR 131)
The GR 131 hiking trail on La Palma combines the Ruta de los Volcanes with the Ruta de la Cresteria for a four-day hike, an island crossing that is scenically and geologically spectacular (Canary Islands, Spain)
Traverse of Teide and Pico Viejo
The most beautiful way to climb Teide is to traverse Montaña Blanca, Teide and Pico Viejo with an overnight stay at the Refugio de Altavista
Tenerife
It was about time that I paid a visit to the Canary Islands. After all, Teide is the highest hotspot volcano after Hawaii’s and much quicker to reach… However, there are also a few important differences to Hawaii, for example, a stratovolcano like Teide is not exactly typical of a hotspot, nor are the large … Continue reading “Tenerife”
La Gomera
Valle Gran Rey, Garajonay and Roque de Ojila (Canary Islands, Spain)
Folds of the Morcles nappe
Hike to the most beautiful folds of the Alps, which not only gives insights into the geology of the mountains (folds, overthrusts, nappes), but also beautiful views of the mountains.
Glarus Thrust and Bregaglia Granite
Short geological excursion in Switzerland
Makhtesh Ramon
The “crater” Ramon in the Negev Desert in Israel was not formed by a meteorite impact, but by erosion of a fold
Mud volcanoes in Azerbaijan
Instead of glowing lava, cool mud and natural gas emerge from mud volcanoes. This phenomenon can be observed in regions where clay quickly reaches great depths.
Rocks and minerals from Ilimaussaq
Photos of selected samples from the agpaitic intrusion in Greenland
Ilimaussaq, Greenland
A journey to ice and tugtupite
Tamazeght Complex in Morocco
Expedition to an intrusion with alkaline rocks (syenites, carbonatites, pyroxenites, etc.) in the High Atlas
Zhangjiajie: the sandstone towers of Wulingyuan
Surreal landscape in Hunan (China)
Zermatt-Saas Ophiolite (excursion)
The rocks of the Zermatt-Saas zone are an ophiolite, i.e. originally oceanic lithosphere (of the Penninic Ocean, the deep-sea basin of the Alpine Tethys). However, the unit is highly deformed, so that the normal sequence of serpentinite (mantle), gabbro, basalt and sediments cannot be found in one piece. Furthermore, they were metamorphosed (eclogite facies, retrograde … Continue reading “Zermatt-Saas Ophiolite (excursion)”
Expedition to Oldoinyo Lengai
Fieldwork for my diploma thesis at the World’s only active carbonatite volcano
Excursion: Volcanism Southern Italy
More than 2 m of pumice was deposited on the first day of the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius. The weight caused roofs of buildings to collapse, but people died in the pyroclastic flows (surges) that came down the mountain towards the end of the eruption. A caldera formed during the eruption, and Mt. Somma … Continue reading “Excursion: Volcanism Southern Italy”
Adamello Exkursion
Contact aureole
Santorini
Geological excursion: explosive volcanism in the Mediterranean (Greece)