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Re: Solnhofen quarrying pattern
In article <20050913.145748.-993603.0.bigelowp@juno.com>, Phil Bigelow
wrote:
> I have seen photos of the Solnhofen quarry that show a rather large
> operation.
>
I went on holiday to Bavaria for the 1999 eclipse (something
vaguely appropriate about watching the "return of the light" from the
heart of darkness at Dachau KZ. "Arbeit mach frei", awa bile yer heid,
as they say in Torry.) and of course visiting Solenhofen was a
necessary part of the agenda.
There are a considerable number of mines in use and abandoned
around Solenhofen, mostly dug in from the edges of the dissected
plateau around 100m above the river where Solenhofen itself is.
Evidently, from the shape of the quarries and the lay of the beds
within them, they're targeting particular beds, mostly 10~20m below the
surface. That gives the characteristic "strip mined" appearance of the
active quarries. The restoration of the abandoned mines is pretty good
though - nice woodland walking. Not really designed for getting around
on foot though, but it would be nice country on a pedal bike.
The local maps mark a number of areas as being for
"hobbysteinbrukken", hobby stone breaking or fossil collecting, with
the clear implication that it's not permitted in other areas. A lot of
the abandoned quarries are unsecured with appreciable sub-vertical
exposures and the obvious risks of rockfall from above and
trip/slip/fall hazards underfoot on the spoil, so I can see why the
landowners want at least a modesty board of discouraging tourists from
getting injured. Good boots and a good semi-hard hat should be quite
sufficient if there's a modicum of common sense inside the skull.
(Seeing the pics in the PDF that Jerry Harris refers to, that's
at Langenaltheim, which is WSW of Solenhofen, SW of Pappenheim, about 8
km away from each up on the plateau. There are several unsecured,
abandoned quarries nearer the drop into the valley.)
> How much deeper does the micritic lagoonal facies go in this area?
>
The entire series is on the order of 50m thick around Solenhofen
itself ; I think it's a little thicker to the East at Eichstaat. It's
thinner to the SW around the Nordlingen meteorite crater, and also
dirtier so unsuitable for lithography. you really would need a car to
get around the sites at Nordlingen, whereas the train runs through the
Eichstaat/ Solenhoen/ Pappenheim valley which makes Shank's pony quite
enjoyable for a holiday.
--
Aidan Karley,
Aberdeen, Scotland,
Location: 57°10' N, 02°09' W (sub-tropical Aberdeen), 0.021233
Written at Wed, 14 Sep 2005 08:38 +0100
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