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Locations and exposures |
| Artificial and natural exposures of triassic sediments in southwestern Germany are mainly found in quarries and along river banks.
Economically useful rocks, e. g. the sandstones of the Bunter (Buntsandstein), the Upper Muschelkalk limestones and the Keuper sandstones (Hauptsandstein, Schilfsandstein, Stubensandstein, Rhätsandstein) can be found in many quarries, but their number has been dramatically reduced within the last decades. The Upper Muschelkalk is still exposed in many quarries, particularly in the area north of Stuttgart, around Heilbronn and near Crailsheim. The quarries offer the only possibility to study the overlying Keuper sediments in an unweathered condition. Because of the very deep weathering on the Gäuflächen, building sites and other near-surface exposures are not suitable for the study of undisturbed layers, furthermore the fossils were often dissolved or damaged by ground water. Gypsum can be found in some larger quarries along the A6 east of Heilbronn. The former Stubensandstein quarries in the Löwensteiner Berge or in the Schwäbischer Wald are now nearly totally closed. Mining activities in the remaining quarries is only sporadical. Natural exposures in the whole Muschelkalk can be found in the deeply incised valleys of Neckar, Kocher, Jagst and their supplying rivers. Keuper series, especially of the Middle Keuper, can be found in ravines in the Stuttgart area, the Löwensteiner Berge, the Schwäbischer Wald and near Tübingen. |