9 am (by public transport from Berlin-Alexanderplatz) to 3 pm (arrival at Berlin-Alexanderplatz)

Meeting Point & Time: 9:00 am at World Time Clock on Berlin's Alexanderplatz

Please buy yourself a public transport ticket "ABC" before you go to the meeting point!

Health & Safety involves a mandatory helmet (available on site), a high-visibility vest (available on-site), and sturdy boots (safety boots are not required). A small café and a snack bar are available on site.

The Museumspark Ruedersdorf offers a large exhibition on the Berlin region's geology and industrial use of the Muschelkalk limestone, including the opportunity of going inside old lime kilns. Current research by the GFZ Potsdam involves using the Muschelkalk Formation for geological subsurface energy storage (ATES IQ). Furthermore, this formation hosts considerable hydrothermal geo energy potential in the North German Basin. This field trip is a journey into a 245-Mio-year-old ocean floor led by experienced exploration geologists in cooperation with the Museumspark Ruedersdorf. During the Mid-Triassic Anisium stage, shallow-marine carbonates were deposited in the shallow-marine Germanic Basin. With the Land Rover Defender off-road vehicle, you will travel from the edge of the active limestone quarry 50 meters below sea level to the deepest part of the active open pit mine.

Ruedersdorf (E of Berlin) is located in the North German Basin, part of the Central European Basin System. The basin consists of several km-thick sedimentary Quaternary to Phanerozoic strata. Thick salt deposits were formed during the Permian Zechstein stage. With the lower rock salt density compared to the overlying strata, the salt became mobile and formed salt diapirs in the subsurface. One regional example is the Ruedersdorf structure, where the Triassic Muschelkalk Formation has been exposed at the surface and constantly mined for building stones and cement. The halokinesis (salt tectonics) lead to the formation of a trap structure for subsurface strategical natural gas storage.

During the field trip, a wide range of sedimentological structures, shallow-marine Triassic fossils, and various minerals, including the strontium mineral celestine, can be observed and collected.

number of participants: max. 30, min. 10 (deadline October 10, 2022)

costs: 20 € p.p. plus ÖPNV ticket Berlin ABC