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Eifel

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Not to be confused with Eiffel (disambiguation).
Eifel
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Highest point
PeakHohe Acht
Elevation747 m (2,451 ft)
Dimensions
Length100 km (62 mi)
Area5,300 km2 (2,000 sq mi)
Geography
CountriesGermany, Belgium and Luxembourg
StatesRhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia
Parent rangeRhenish Slate Mountains
Geology
Orogenylow mountains
Rock type(s)slate, limestone, quartzite, sandstone, basalt
Eifel scenery
View of the Laacher See, one of the lakes in the Volcanic Eifel

The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium.

The Eifel is part of the Rhenish Massif; within its northern portions lies the Eifel National Park.

Geography

Location

Location of the Eifel in Germany

The Eifel is bordered by the river Moselle in the south and the Rhine in the east. In the north it is limited by the Jülich-Zülpicher Börde, in the west by the Ardennes of Belgium and Luxembourg.

Divisions

There are several distinct chains within the Eifel.

  • The northernmost parts are called North Eifel ("Nordeifel") including Rur Eifel the origin of the river Rur, High Fens ("Hohes Venn") and the Limestone Eifel ("Kalkeifel").
  • The northeastern part is called Ahr Hills[1] (German: Ahrgebirge) and rise north of the Ahr river in the district of Ahrweiler.
  • South of the Ahr is the High Eifel[1] (Hohe Eifel), with the Hohe Acht (747 m) being the highest mountain of the Eifel.
  • In the west, on the Belgian border, the hills are known as Schneifel (part of the Schnee-Eifel or "Snowy Eifel"), rising up to 698 m. Also in the west, by the Belgian and Luxembourg border, the region is known as Islek (Aquilania).
  • The southern half of the Eifel is lower. It is cut by several rivers running north-south towards the Moselle. The largest of these is the Kyll, and the hills on either side of this river are called the Kyllwald.
  • In the south the Eifel is concluded by the Voreifel above the Moselle.

Since 2004 about 110 km² of the Eifel within the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia have been protected as the Eifel National Park nature reserve.

Waterbodies

The Prüm
Upper basin of the Rur Reservoir between Einruhr and Rurberg

Due to its moist and mild Atlantic climate, the Eifel bisected by numerous streams and small rivers. Impoundment of these streams, especially in the North Eifel has led to the creation of very large reservoir, such as the Rursee, which is the second largest in Germany by volume, and the Urftsee.

A feature of the Eifel are its natural lakes of volcanic origin. The largest, the Laacher See, is a collapsed, water-filled caldera, whilst the many maars are water-filled volcanic eruption bowls. The largest maar lake is the Pulvermaar. The Meerfelder Maar has an even bigger basin, but three-quarters of it has silted up.

Rivers and streams

The many rivers and streams of the Eifel drain into the North Sea via the great rivers outside of the Eifel: the Rhine (and its tributary, the Moselle) and the Meuse (with its tributaries, the Rur and Ourthe). The rivers and streams within the mountain range, together with their larger tributaries, are as follows:

Rhine tributaries:

Meuse tributaries:

Lakes and reservoirs

Reservoirs

Volcanic lakes

Reservoirs of the Eifel that drain into the Rur

Geology

Dark argillaceous slate of the Siegen stage (deep Lower Devonian, between 410 and 405 million years old), near Monschau in the northern Eifel
The Richelsley, an erosion remnant of conglomerates of the Gedinne stage (deepest Lower Devonian, ca. 415 million years old), west of Monschau in the Belgian Eifel

The Eifel and its western continuation into Belgium, the Ardennes, are a part of the Variscan mountain belt and belong to the Rhenish Massif (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge).

The Eifel consists mainly of Devonian slates, sandstones and limestones, laid down in an ocean south of the Old Red Continent[2] and folded and overthrust in the Variscan orogeny. The Eifel geological structures like main folds and overthrusts can be traced in a SW-NE direction far beyond the Rhine valley.

Eifel volcanic area

In the Tertiary and Quaternary geological eras, the Eifel was a site of extensive volcanic activity. Some of the hills are volcanic vents. The peculiar circle-shaped lakes (maars) of the volcanic regions formed in volcanic craters. The last volcanic eruptions in the Laacher See volcanic site took place around 10,000 years ago and generated a huge volume of volcanic ash, now found in thin ash layers in contemporaneous sediments throughout Europe. The volcanism of the Eifel is thought to be partly caused by the Eifel hotspot, a place where hot material from deep in the mantle rises to the surface, and partly by melt-ascent at deep fractures in the Earth's crust.[3] Research has shown that the volcanism is still active; the Eifel region is rising by 1–2 mm per year.

Historically, the Eifel volcanoes had inactive phases of 10,000 to 20,000 years between active phases, suggesting there is a possibility of future eruptions.[citation needed]

Castles

Lissingen Castle
Eltz Castle
Manderscheid castles

Well preserved

19th- and 20th-century rebuilds

Ruins

Mountains and hills

In winter the Eifel is often covered with snow

The mountains and hills of the Eifel include the following (in order of height in metres above sea level):

For a list of these and other Eifel mountains and hills see the List of mountains and hills in the Eifel.

Points of interest

  • The Nürburgring, one of the world's most famous motor-racing courses. The northern loop (Nordschleife) of the course is known as the Green Hell (Grüne Hölle), because of its long, difficult and dangerous path through the local forest.
  • The Eifel Aqueduct, an interesting archeological feature. One of the longest aqueducts of the Roman empire, it provided water to the Roman settlement of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (modern-day Cologne).

See also

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References

  1. ^ a b Elkins, T.H. (1972). Germany (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. ASIN B0011Z9KJA.
  2. ^ Meyer,W. 1986. Geologie der Eifel, p.4. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart. ISBN 3-510-65127-8
  3. ^ Meyer 1986, p. 275
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