Part 1. 𝗩𝘂𝗹𝗸𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗶𝗻
𝑽𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒉𝒂𝒌𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒉
Around 285 to 280 million years ago, during the Rotliegend age, the area around Baumholder looked very different than it does today. It was a time marked by strong volcanism. Molten rock from chimneys and large fissures penetrated to the earth's surface and formed lava flows up to 1000 meters thick. "The volcanic rocks that were formed in this way can also be found in the area of the Bärenbach path. They are called andesites because of their chemical and mineralogical composition. They are similar to basalts and essentially consist of the minerals plagioclase (feldspar) and pyroxene. When they are fresh, they are Andesites are dark grey-greenish in colour, they take on brownish to reddish hues when weathered.They are mostly dense and compact, in some cases larger feldspar crystals are present as phenocrysts, which "swim" in a fine-crystalline to glassy, dense matrix.Rock sections that look like this are often found like a dark bath sponge or as if they were studded with peas. As the lava cools, the volcanic gases collect in bubbles below the surface of the lava flows. As the molten rock solidifies, they become trapped like in a Swiss cheese. These former gas bubbles can be empty, mostly found in it, however, ve Various minerals that crystallized out of mineral-containing, aqueous solutions after the solidification of the lava. The rocks with filled gas bubbles are also called "almond stones". Rock crystal, smoky quartz, amethyst, agate, chalcedony and jasper are often found in the almonds. These minerals used to form the basis of the Idar-Oberstein gemstone industry Collector's item for lovers of beautiful minerals Source: Text info board