| During the Triassic, sediments were deposited everywhere throughout South West Germany and were later covered by marine sediments in the Jurassic. With the beginning of the alpidic orogeny in the early Tertiary, the mesozoic series of South West Germany became tilted in SE direction. At the same time, the Oberrhein Graben broke in. Subsequently, the formerly danubian fluvial systems turned their direction and now belonged to the rhenian river system. This finally led to the formation of a stair-like landscape of cuestas, the "Schichstufenland" of South West Germany. Isolated triassic fault blocks sunk down into the Oberrhein Graben and were therefore preserved from erosion along the grabens' margins.
The layers crop out in SW-NE direction. Due to an increasing stratal dip angle towards the south west, the width of the outcrops reduces from NE to SW.
Among the triassic sediments, especially the hard sandstones of the Bunter (Buntsandstein), the limestones of the Upper Muschelkalk and the Schilfsandstein as well as the Stubensandstein were responsible for the formation of large escarpments. The crests are followed by (more or less) wide, plain back slopes, the so called "Gäu areas" with relictic deposits of softer sediments. Especially the back slopes of the Upper Muschelkalk escarpment are of high agricultural importance, while back slopes on sandstones are used for forestry.
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