The Pfahl is a 150-kilometre-long quartz vein that runs through the northeastern Bavarian Forest in Germany. From a geomorphological point of view, it represents a residual ridge that has been formed by weathering and erosion over millions of years.
The Pfahl is a 150-kilometre-long quartz vein that runs through the northeastern Bavarian Forest in Germany. From a geomorphological point of view, it represents a residual ridge that has been formed by weathering and erosion over millions of years.
The Pfahl consists of quartz that was deposited as a hydrothermal vein about 275 million years ago within the existing fault structure. [1] The Pfahl was probably active as a fault several times. Because the rock of the Pfahl was harder than the surrounding rock, it was left standing like a wall as softer rocks were eroded. Today the Pfahl forms a residual ridge 150 kilometres long and 10 to 40 metres high. The shining white quartz of the Pfahl consists of up to 98% silicic acid; any yellowish to reddish or grey coloration is caused by iron compounds and impurities (Pfahlschiefer). The interpretation of the actual Pfahl fault as a suture is disputed; but it has been confirmed that it separates various magmatic rocks. [2] [3] [4]
The Pfahl begins in the northwest in the Upper Palatinate, southeast of Schwarzenfeld, passes the town of Cham to the southwest and runs in a southeasterly direction via Viechtach, Regen, Grafenau and Freyung and into Upper Austria's Mühlviertel. The quartz only outcrops in a few places (and not at all southeast of Freyung); [5] otherwise the Pfahl is only recognisable as a ridge. In Weißenstein near Regen it reaches a height of 758 metres above sea level; on this summit stand the ruins of Weißenstein Castle. The quartz formations are most easily visible near Viechtach (west of the town) and here they rise up to 30 metres above the ground. With a few exceptions the Pfahl has survived as a continuous geological formation.
Through the Zellertal valley between Bad Kötzting and Bodenmais another Pfahl-like slate zone runs parallel to the actual Pfahl and in which the quartz does not immediately outcrop. [5] This 'secondary pfahl' is called the Rundingen Pfahl Zone (Rundinger-Pfahlzone). Its southeastern outcrop lies near Bettmannsäge southwest of Zwiesel. There is another secondary pfahl in the southeast of the Bavarian Forest, the Aicha-Hals Secondary Pfahl (Aicha-Halser-Nebenpfahl), which is responsible for the double bend on the Ilz near Hals as well as a bend in the River Danube to the north just behind Passau. There is yet another one between Kirchberg vorm Wald and Gerlesberg. [5]
The longest section of the Pfahl runs through the Regen Depression. Here there are several, individual, southeast-running residual ridges that are repeatedly interrupted by basins and transverse valleys. From a natural regional perspective, the Pfahl is divided into the following sub-divisions as follows (from NW to SE): [6] [7]
Southeast and on the far side of the Regen Depression, in the Abteiland, the sections of the Pfahl are geomorphologically less obvious and do not form their own natural regions. One notable geotope there is the Buchberger Leite.
In 2006 the Pfahl was added to the list of 77 outstanding national geotopes in Germany. [9]
The Bavarian Forest is a wooded, low-mountain region in Bavaria, Germany that is about 100 kilometres long. It runs along the Czech border and is continued on the Czech side by the Bohemian Forest. Most of the Bavarian Forest lies within the province of Lower Bavaria, but the northern part lies within Upper Palatinate. In the south it reaches the border with Upper Austria.
The Holzberg is a small range of hills up to 444.5 m above sea level (NHN) in south Lower Saxony, Germany.
Regen is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and the district town of the district of Regen.
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The Upper Palatine-Bavarian Forest, is a natural region in Germany in the northeast of Bavaria. It mainly comprises the low mountain ranges of the Bavarian Forest and Upper Palatine Forest which are up to 1456 m high and border on the Bohemian Massif immediately inside the Czech Republic's southwestern border with Germany.
The Leine Uplands is a region in Germany's Central Uplands which forms a part of the Lower Saxon Hills and lies along the River Leine between Göttingen and Hanover. It borders on the Weser Uplands in the west, the Innerste Uplands in the northeast, the Harz in the east and Untereichsfeld in the southeast.
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The Külf is a ridge, up to 260 m above NN, in the Leine Uplands in the district of Hildesheim in the German state of Lower Saxony.
The Hochberg is a 635.3-metre-high mountain in the central Haardt in the Palatine Forest in Germany. It lies on the territory of the municipality of Sankt Martin (Palatinate) in the county of Südliche Weinstraße in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. After the Kalmit, the Kesselberg and the Roßberg it is the fourth highest peak in the Palatine Forest.
The Wasserkuppen Rhön or Wasserkuppenrhön, named after its highest peak, also the highest summit in the entire Rhön Mountains, the Wasserkuppe, is an exposed highland ridge and natural region in the Hessian county of Fulda and Bavarian county of Rhön-Grabfeld. Together with the Long Rhön and its eastern flank it forms the Central Rhön. The Red Moor lies within this natural region.
The Long Rhön is a ridge in the Central Rhön which forms part of the High Rhön within the Rhön Mountains. The Long Rhön is an elongated basalt plateau in the centre, roughly 800 metres above sea level, which is only occasional interrupted by mountain peaks. Its highest mountain is the Heidelstein. A majority of the area is part of the Long Rhön Nature Reserve. In this area of the Rhön is the Black Moor.
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