Volcanic Eifel Explained

The Volcanic Eifel or Vulkan Eifel (German: Vulkaneifel), also known as the East Eifel Volcanic Field (EEVF),[1] is a region in the Eifel Mountains in Germany that is defined to a large extent by its volcanic geological history. Characteristic of this volcanic field are its typical explosion crater lakes or maars, and numerous other signs of volcanic activity such as volcanic tuffs, lava streams and volcanic craters like the Laacher See. The Volcanic Eifel is still volcanically active today. One sign of this activity is the escaping gases in the Laacher See.

Geographical location

The Volcanic Eifel stretches from the Rhine to the Wittlich Depression. It is bordered in the south and southwest by the South Eifel, in the west by Luxembourg and Belgian Ardennes and in the north by the North Eifel including the Hohes Venn. To the east the Rhine forms its geographical boundary, with no volcanicity immediately beyond it.

The Volcanic Eifel is divided into three natural regions:

The centre of the Volcanic Eifel is the region around Daun and Manderscheid and the areas within the Mayen-Koblenz district.

The landscape of the Volcanic Eifel is dominated by recent volcanism. Volcanic craters, thick pumice and basalt layers and maars create a diverse landscape that clearly witnesses to very recent events in geological terms.

The entire Volcanic Eifel covers an area of about 2000adj=on-1adj=on and has a population of about 200,000.

Volcanoes

See also: List of mountains and hills of the Eifel.

The following volcanoes belong to the Eifel, sorted by height in metres (m) above sea level (Normalhöhennull, NHN):

Laacher See

Of particular note is the volcanic caldera known as Laacher See, the site of an eruption around 12,900 years ago that had an estimated VEI of 6.

Geopark and museums

Geology

The tephras deposited by past eruptions of the Volcanic Eifel are lithological deposits that are radiometrically dateable via argon-argon dating of K-feldspar grains. These have in turn been utilised to ascertain the ages of climatic changes such as transitions from glacial to interglacial states during the Pleistocene.

Future activity

There is thought that future eruptions may occur in the Eifel, as:[2] [3]

In 2020, Professor Kreemer noted that Eifel was the only region within an area of Europe studied where ground motion happened at significantly higher levels than expected.[4] It is possible that such movements originate from a rising magma plume. This activity does not imply an immediate eruptive danger, but might suggest an increase in volcanic and seismic activity in the region.

Further reading

External links

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Notes and References

  1. van den Bogaard . P. . Hall . C. M. . Schmincke . H.-U. . York . D. . 30 November 1989 . Precise single-grain 40Ar/39 Ar dating of a cold to warm climate transition in Central Europe . . en . 342 . 6249 . 523–525 . 10.1038/342523a0 . 1476-4687 . 19 December 2023.
  2. https://www.geopark-vulkaneifel.de/en/geo-area/faq/583-still-volcanic-activity.html Is there still volcanic activity in the Eifel?
  3. http://www.q-mag.org/germany-a-danger-of-volcanic-eruptions.html Germany: a danger of volcanic eruptions?
  4. News: Kettley . Sebastian . Volcano warning: 'Something is brewing under Europe' Geologists make incredible discovery . 5 May 2021 . Express . 11 June 2020.

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