Natur- und Geopark Steirische Eisenwurzen


The Natur- und Geopark Steirische Eisenwurzen (Styrian Eisenwurzen Nature and Geopark) is, as its name suggests, both a nature park and a geopark. The Eisenwurzen are part of the Limestone Pre-Alps in the border triangle of Lower Austria (Mostviertel), Upper Austria (Traunviertel) and Styria. This is an area with iron ore deposits, primarily in the town of Eisenerz, of course, but also in other places. In addition, the area is traditionally known for iron processing, not only smelting, but also casting and forging into everyday objects. This gave rise to the Eisenstraße (Iron Road), a tourist route through the region that showcases historical mining, the iron industry and the forestry and timber industry necessary for smelting furnaces and smelting. The Iron Road has over 100 stops. The geopark overlaps geographically and thematically with these other institutions, but is limited to the Styrian part.

The geological themes of the geopark are all from the Northern Limestone Alps, and the rocks are sediments that were deposited in the Mesozoic era, starting 253 million years ago. Limestone and dolomite were formed in the Triassic period when the sea floor sank continuously 45 million years long, which was compensated for by the deposition of limestone remains from algae and marine animals. The Reiflinger limestone (240 million years ago) also contains a proportion of siliceous skeletons of radiolarians and sea sponges, which were dissolved and redeposited, forming chert. During the Jurassic period, the break-up of Pangaea began and there were deep and shallow sea sections with different sedimentary rocks. The second major topic is the orogenesis of the Alps. Large sections of limestone moved northwards and over each other, referred to as Decken (nappes). The third major topic is the Ice Age, or rather the Ice Age period. Of particular note are the last 800,000 years, with the formation and melting of glaciers, whose meltwater eroded the rock and carved out gorges.

History

1996 Park founded.
2002 Designated a European Geopark.
2004 Member of the Global Geoparks Network.
2015 Recognised as a UNESCO Global Geopark.