Field trip guide
E13: Carboniferous and Coal in the Ruhr Valley
Wrede, Volker
Schriftenreihe der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geowissenschaften Heft 66 (2010), p. 226 - 236
40 references
published: May 28, 2010
ArtNo. ESP171906600091, Price: 8.00 €
Abstract
Strata of the „Upper Carboniferous“ (Pennsylvanian) and their content of coal seams have been of outraging importance for the economic development of the Ruhr Area. Carboniferous strata are overlain by younger sediments in most of the Ruhr Area, but crop out directly to the surface in the Ruhr Valley and its vicinity. Therefore, the cradle of the coal mining activities was in the Ruhr Valley, being documented at least since the 14th century, but most likely, having started much earlier. Due to the economic development, after a last boom in the 1950s all mines in the Ruhr Valley closed down until the beginning of the 1970s. Today, besides some industrial heritage sites, not much is left of the former mining landscape.
Keywords
Ruhr Area • Pennsylvanian • Germany