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West Eifel Volcanic Field

Volcanic field · Germany · 600m

The lake-filled Weinfelder maar is one of about 80 maars of the West Eifel Volcanic Field in Germany, west of the Rhine River. The roughly 500-m-wide crater was formed during the late Pleistocene by explosions through non-volcanic bedrock. About 230 eruptions during the past 730,000 years formed a 600 km2 area that includes maars, scoria cones, and small stratovolcanoes.
The lake-filled Weinfelder maar is one of about 80 maars of the West Eifel Volcanic Field in Germany, west of the Rhine River. The roughly 500-m-wide crater was formed during the late Pleistocene by explosions through non-volcanic bedrock. About 230 eruptions during the past 730,000 years formed a 600 km2 area that includes maars, scoria cones, and small stratovolcanoes. · Photo: Photo by Richard Waitt, 1990 (U.S. Geological Survey).
Type
Volcanic field
Country
Germany
Region
European Volcanic Regions / Central European Volcanic Province
Elevation
600m
Coordinates
50.170, 6.850
Last eruption
-8300
Tectonic setting
Rift zone / Continental crust (> 25 km)
Landform
Cluster
Major rock type
Foidite
Geological summary

The West Eifel Volcanic Field of western Germany, SW of the city of Bonn, is a dominantly Pleistocene group of 240 scoria cones, maars, and small stratovolcanoes covering an area of about 600 km2. The smaller, but better known, East Eifel Volcanic Field is about 40 km NE. Individual vents spread across a broad NW-SE-trending area extending about 50 km from the towns of Ormont on the NW to Bad Bertrich on the SE. Eruptions originated from a mantle plume through Devonian sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. Two-thirds of the volcanic centers in the field are scoria cones; lava flows have been produced from about half of them. About 30% of the centers are maars or tuff rings, many of which are occupied by lakes. About 230 eruptions have occurred during the past 730,000 years. The latest eruptions formed the Ulmener, Pulvermaar, and Strohn maars around the end of the Pleistocene and the beginning of the Holocene.

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
8740 BCE~8696 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?8344 BCE~8300 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?8740 BCE8652 BCE8520 BCE8432 BCE8344 BCE

Detailed timeline

  1. 8300 BCE (±300 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 8300 – Ongoing
    Strohn, Pulvermaar
  2. 8740 BCE (±150 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 8740 – Ongoing
    Ulmener Maar

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.