GeoPark Bayern-Böhmen

The cross-border Geopark is located partly in Bavaria and partly in Bohemia in the Czech Republic, and is one of the largest in Central Europe. The geological theme is the Variscan Orogeny, the park extends over the internal zone of the Variscan Mountains. This mountain formation took place between 370 Ma and 320 Ma before today. Whether it ever produced a high mountain range like the Alps is unknown, but the tectonic movements, the formation of deposits and metamorphic and crystalline rocks is considerable. At a later time, the Egerrift, a rift valley, was formed, which only occurred in the modern era.

The main geotopes of this geopark are, of course, the many show mines. Gold, silver, tin, iron and lead have been mined since the Middle Ages. There are also mineral and fossil outcrops. And the centre of the park is the Kontinentale Tiefbohrung Oberpfalz (KTB), a 9101 m deep borehole drilled between 1989 and 1994. The core drilling provided information about the geological situation down to a depth never reached before.