8

A visit to the geologist

It makes a difference whether you are just hiking or actually climbing the mountains on a rope, not only with regard to the effort it takes but also in terms of the geological terrain you are covering. The rocks rise steeply in the landscape and determine character and name of this small range. Roughly 100 million years ago, during the Cretaceous, the sediments forming the sandstone sank down to the ground of the sea. The mountains with their rounded tops do not consist of that sandstone but, on the contrary, of basalt originating from the Tertiary about 60 – 20 million years ago. As a consequence of the folding of the Alps the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) rose while at the same time south of the range the Eger valley graben developed. The intensive vulcanic activities in the area is also noticeable in the weak zones of nearby Elbsandsteingebirge (Saxon Sandstone Mountains).