Editing Odenwald (section)

== Geology ==
[[File:Winter Felsenmeer Odenwald 2006.jpg|thumb|left|[[Felsenmeer]] near Reichenbach (Lautertal) in winter]]
[[File:Eberbach-sandstein-v2.jpg|thumb|left|Characteristic [[sandstone]] formation near [[Eberbach (Baden)|Eberbach]]]]
The Odenwald, along with other parts of the Central German Uplands, belongs to the [[Variscan orogeny|Variscan]], which more than 300 million years ago in the [[Carboniferous]] period ran through great parts of [[Europe]]. The cause of this [[orogeny]] was the collision of [[Africa]]’s and Europe's forerunner continents.

In the [[Triassic]], about 200 million years ago, the land sank again, forming the [[Germanic Basin]] in which the metre-thick layers of red sandstone could [[Sedimentation|build up]]. These were later covered over with layers of [[muschelkalk]] from a broad inland sea, then followed by sediments from the [[Late Triassic]] (or Keuper). The South German [[Cuesta]] Land thus formed.

When the land in the Odenwald was [[Tectonic uplift|uplifted]] again about 180 million years ago, more than 100&nbsp;m of the sedimentary layering, in parts, was [[Erosion|eroded]] away down to the [[bedrock]], as can still be seen in the western Odenwald. The bedrock here is composed of a number of different rocks, among them [[gneiss]], [[granite]], [[diorite]], [[gabbro]] in the Frankenstein [[pluton]], and so on. In the eastern Odenwald, the red sandstone is all that is left of the sedimentary mixture. Farther east in the Bauland, the muschelkalk deposits still overlie the [[Early Triassic]] layers. Furthermore, in the south near [[Heidelberg]], there is still [[Zechstein]] under the Early Triassic deposits.

Roughly 50 to 60 million years ago, [[volcano]]es formed along the great geological [[fault (geology)|faults]]. Still bearing witness to this time are the [[Otzberg]], the Daumberg and the Katzenbuckel, all extinct volcanoes in the Odenwald. Furthermore, volcanism with [[acid]]ic rocks has left a legacy of [[rhyolite]]s near [[Dossenheim]].

At roughly the same time, the Central European plate began to tear apart so that the [[Upper Rhine Plain|Upper Rhine Rift]] developed. Even as the Upper Rhine Rift valley still sinks today by just under a millimetre each year, the Odenwald, relatively to that, was uplifted to the height it has today. Along the faults, the small rivers Gersprenz and Weschnitz have, in part, carved their courses.

The Upper Rhine Rift is part of a fracture zone reaching from the [[Mediterranean Sea]] to [[Norway]]. Right on the edge of the Odenwald, it is roughly 2&nbsp;500&nbsp;m deep, but has been filled in to its current height by river and sea sediment, for until about 20 million years ago, the [[North Sea]] reached far inland, across the [[Wetterau]] Depression into the Rhine Valley.

=== Geological maps ===
<gallery class="center" widths="250px">
File:Geologie_Odenwald_(Altherr).jpg|Granite-Gneiss-Odenwald (Altherr, 1999)<ref name="uni-giessen.de">{{cite web |url=http://www.uni-giessen.de/geographie/phy/akn/Exkursionen/Odenwald05/odenwald.htm |title=Institut für Geographie: AKN - Mitarbeiter Jens-Philipp Keil |access-date=2012-05-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121211093447/http://www.uni-giessen.de/geographie/phy/akn/Exkursionen/Odenwald05/odenwald.htm |archive-date=2012-12-11 }}</ref>
File:Geolog._Karte_(Stein)_Odw7.jpg|Granite-Gneiss-Odenwald (Stein, 2001)<ref name="uni-giessen.de"/>
File:GeolKarte_Geopark.jpg|Granite-Gneiss- and Redsandstone-Odenwald (Stein, 2001 + Weber, ''Geo-Naturpark'')<ref name="geo-naturpark.net">{{cite web |url=http://www.geo-naturpark.net/daten/geologie/geologie-geopark.php?navid=328 |title=Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße Odenwald |access-date=2012-05-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120731042700/http://www.geo-naturpark.net/daten/geologie/geologie-geopark.php?navid=328 |archive-date=2012-07-31 }}</ref>
File:Profil_Geologie_Odenwald.jpg|Geological profile (from left): Rheinplane, Granite-Odenwald, Gneiss-Odenwald, Redsandstone-Odenwald (''Geo-Naturpark'')<ref name="geo-naturpark.net"/>
</gallery>