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Natural Monuments

Basalt Rose (Andesite Spheroid) on the Achatweg

Natural Monuments

Basalt Rose (Andesite Spheroid) on the Achatweg

Highlight • Natural Monument

Basalt Rose (Andesite Spheroid) on the Achatweg

Recommended by 125 hikers out of 130

This Highlight is in a protected area

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Saar-Hunsrück

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Location: Freisen, St. Wendel, Saarland, Germany

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Best Hikes to Basalt Rose (Andesite Spheroid) on the Achatweg

4.7

(109)

468

hikers

1. Andesite Rose Trail Sign – Hellerberg Shelter loop from Eckersweiler

10.2km

02:59

290m

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.

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Moderate

5.0

(5)

hikers

2. Hellerberg Shelter – Andesite Rose Trail Sign loop from Freisen

15.6km

04:31

410m

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Moderate

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3. Source of the Pfeffelbach – Andesite Rose Trail Sign loop from Reichweiler

5.63km

01:40

170m

Moderate hike. Great for any fitness level. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.

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Moderate

Tips

𝒯𝒶𝓃𝒿𝒶

January 6, 2022

𝑾𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒌 𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑬𝒓𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒕𝒆 - 𝑲𝒖𝒈𝒆𝒍 𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝑺𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒃𝒂𝒖

Like a broken sphere made of concentric shells, a strange phenomenon has developed in the andesite rock of the Hellerberg. On the "Achatweg" in the quarry walls further outcrops with similar semicircular shapes can be discovered, although none is as impressive to look at as this one. The shape popularly known as the "Basalt Rose" raises questions, especially one. How did it come about? A special process of desquamation, which can occur in igneous rocks when the pressure is relieved, must first be considered as the cause of the phenomenon: the so-called exfoliation. Pressure relief occurs, for example, when the rock masses lying on top of it are removed by erosion or valley formation and the previously compressed rock underneath is freed from the load or the lateral pressure. This causes the exposed rock to expand somewhat, in the direction of the decreasing pressure. Fissures and fissures form parallel to the surface of the land, creating an onion skin-like appearance. Transverse stresses create additional cracks. Weathering can then model the shell formation even more concisely. Source: Text information board

𝐿𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑚, 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑁𝑒𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑘𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟?

It is questionable whether the phenomenon can already be adequately explained by the pressure relief. As is so often the case in nature, different processes overlap here too. It is obvious, especially in the case of an old volcanic landscape like the Hellerberg, that stress cracks were created while a flowing body of igneous melt was cooling, which later led to a platy-shelled secretion under pressure changes. The shape cut in the outcrop could originally have emerged from a small lava flow or an underground melt, an intrusion, perhaps also from a volcanic secondary crater. Source: Text information board

Translated by Google •

𝒯𝒶𝓃𝒿𝒶

January 6, 2022

𝐸𝑟𝑘𝑙ä𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑠𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑒 - 𝐴𝑏𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑟ö𝑚𝑒

Similar outcrops were investigated during the construction of the nearby A62 motorway. It turned out that the superficial shell structure subsides and finally penetrates in a complex manner. An attempt to explain the situation suggests that lava flows were torn off when volcanic unconsolidated rocks overflowed and were thereby isolated. However, it should also be considered that shell formation through exfoliation can only occur close to the surface anyway, because pressure relief no longer has an effect in the deeper rock. Source: Text information board

𝐹𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟

Every igneous rock shows its own facets, which are created by weathering during cooling or when the pressure is released. Granite weathered into rounded "wool sacks" and crumbly cast granite. Pillars often form in the basalt. Andesite, on the other hand, tends to be flaky. Source: Text information board

Translated by Google •

𝒯𝒶𝓃𝒿𝒶

January 6, 2022

𝑾𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒌 𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑬𝒓𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒕𝒆 - 𝑲𝒖𝒈𝒆𝒍 𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝑺𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒃𝒂𝒖

Like a broken sphere made of concentric shells, a strange phenomenon has developed in the andesite rock of the Hellerberg. On the "Achatweg" in the quarry walls further outcrops with similar semicircular shapes can be discovered, although none is as impressive to look at as this one. The shape popularly known as the "Basalt Rose" raises questions, especially one. How did it come about? A special process of desquamation, which can occur in igneous rocks when the pressure is released, must first be considered as the cause of the phenomenon: the so-called exfoliation. Pressure relief occurs, for example, when the rock masses lying on top of it are removed by erosion or valley formation and the previously compressed rock underneath is freed from the load or the lateral pressure. This causes the exposed rock to expand somewhat, in the direction of the decreasing pressure. Fissures and fissures form parallel to the surface of the land, creating an onion skin-like appearance. Transverse stresses create additional cracks. Weathering can then model the shell formation even more concisely. Source: Text information board

𝐿𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑚, 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑁𝑒𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑘𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟?

It is questionable whether the phenomenon can already be adequately explained by the pressure relief. As is so often the case in nature, different processes overlap here too. It is obvious, especially in the case of an old volcanic landscape like the Hellerberg, that stress cracks were created while a flowing body of igneous melt was cooling, which later led to a platy-shelled secretion under pressure changes. The shape cut in the outcrop could originally have emerged from a small lava flow or an underground melt, an intrusion, perhaps also from a volcanic secondary crater. Source: Text information board

Translated by Google •

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Elevation 590 m

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Monday 15 December

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Location: Freisen, St. Wendel, Saarland, Germany

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Basalt Rose (Andesite Spheroid) on the Achatweg

1. Andesite Rose Trail Sign – Hellerberg Shelter loop from Eckersweiler

2. Hellerberg Shelter – Andesite Rose Trail Sign loop from Freisen

3. Source of the Pfeffelbach – Andesite Rose Trail Sign loop from Reichweiler

Other Popular Places to Check Out

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