Schwäbische Alb

Schwabian Jura


The karst plain near Steinheim am Albuch is modified by a meteor impact.

The Swabian Jura is a German highland or Mittelgebirge.

The northern rim of the Swabian Jura is called Albtrauf. It is the highest and most impressive cliff or escarpment of the RegionSouth German Scarplands. The layers of the plateau are sloping with a dip of about 3° to the South. The southern border of the Swabian Jura is marked by the river KarstDanube, which flows where the jurassic layers become covered by much younger molasse sediments. The width of the Swabian Jura from north to south is about 30 km, the length from the Nördlinger Ries, an meteorite crater with a diameter of 25 km) to the Swiss border in the southwest is about 180 km.

The rocks of the Swabian Jura are Jurassic carbonate sediments. They are the divided into three parts:

The plateau of the Swabian Jura is formed by Malm limestones. Nearly all caves of the area are in these layers, all the show caves in the list below are located in Malm rocks. The Geography is not only essential for the formation of caves, but also for their accessibility. Weathering cuts through caves and makes them accessible for animals and man.