Weinheim Trift Earthcache

About 30 million years ago, in the so called oligocene, the valley of Weinheim was a bay on the east coast of a peninsula. In those times the sea had flooded most of the land southwest of Mayence (Mainz) and the climate was much warmer. At the "Trift" you can see what the ground of the sea looked like. The sand has been washed away from the 280 million years old rocks of the nearby shores.
The most common fossils are mussels and snails, which you can see as white objects in the sand wall. There are also remains of fish, especially shark's teeth, bones of manatees, and remains of small animals and plants. In the middle part of the wall there are knot-like structures which are holes, digged by animals like crayfish and worms, and filled up with different material afterwards. In the close-grained sediment you can see clearly U-shaped concentrations of coarse sand and fine gravel, which were made by rays searching for food.

After the sand had settled, lime precipitation came about in certain circumstances and grouted the layers, so they are more likely to weather out.

The "Trift" has attracted geologists and paleontologists for more than 150 years. Many natural history museums have fossils from here. The caves in the lower part of the wall were made in WWII and used as air raid shelter.

To find your way to the "Trift" after your arrival in Weinheim follow the green signs "Naturdenkmal Trift".

Additional note: Please respect the fences that protect the sand walls of the Trift and also the private property (signs saying "Privatgrundstück, betreten verboten!") next to the site. Thank you!

To log this cache as a find, upload a photo of you and your GPSr in front of the sand wall. Logs without appropriate photos will be deleted.