Around 280 million years ago, a hilly relief existed in the Saarschleife region, with valleys up to 100m deep cut into it. This hilly relief is formed in the rocks of Taunus quartzite, a particularly resistant, hard rock that was formed around 350 million years ago during the Variscan mountain formation from around 400 million year old marine deposits by high pressure and heat at a depth of several tens of kilometers. The mountain range, which was probably several thousand meters high, was eroded down to the hill relief mentioned above - while the entire area was simultaneously raised.
The Taunus quartzite is clearly exposed on the rock face opposite Dreisbach. On closer inspection, the deformations of the rock that occurred at great depths during the mountain formation can still be seen. This was only possible due to great pressure and conditions several hundred degrees Celsius hot, which made the rock plastic. Only when it was lifted up and approached the earth's surface did the rock cool down and become indeformable.
To the right of the rock face, the relief is less steep and wooded. Here, softer volcanic rocks and overlying sandstones are found. These materials filled the valleys mentioned above around 250 million years ago.
Only in geologically recent times (around 2 million years ago) has the Saar once again eroded its valley into this rock package, so that today we can see the slope of a valley that already existed around 280 million years ago at the border of the rock face and the wooded slope.