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Tephra layers in a quarry near Weibern in the Brohl Valley.

The Volcanic Eifel or Vulkan Eifel (German: Vulkaneifel), also known as the East Eifel Volcanic Field (EEVF),^[1] is a region in the Eifel Mountains in Germany that is defined to a large extent by its volcanic geological history. Characteristic of this volcanic field are its typical explosion crater lakes or maars, and numerous other signs of volcanic activity such as volcanic tuffs, lava streams and volcanic craters like the Laacher See. The Volcanic Eifel is still volcanically active today. One sign of this activity is the escaping gases in the Laacher See.

Geographical location

The Volcanic Eifel stretches from the Rhine to the Wittlich Depression. It is bordered in the south and southwest by the South Eifel, in the west by Luxembourg and Belgian Ardennes and in the north by the North Eifel including the Hohes Venn. To the east the Rhine forms its geographical boundary, with no volcanicity immediately beyond it.

The Volcanic Eifel is divided into three natural regions:

Volcanic West Eifel (Manderscheid, Daun, Gerolstein, Obere Kyll, Hillesheim (within the parish of Nohn),
Volcanic High Eifel (Adenau, Kelberg, Ulmen and Nohn),
Volcanic East Eifel (Brohltal, Vordereifel, Mendig, Pellenz)

The centre of the Volcanic Eifel is the region around Daun and Manderscheid and the areas within the Mayen-Koblenz district.

The landscape of the Volcanic Eifel is dominated by recent volcanism. Volcanic craters, thick pumice and basalt layers and maars create a diverse landscape that clearly witnesses to very recent events in geological terms.

The entire Volcanic Eifel covers an area of about 2,000 km² (770 sq mi) and as of 2007^[update] has a population of about 200,000.

Volcanoes

The following volcanoes belong to the Eifel, sorted by height in metres (m) above sea level (Normalhöhennull, NHN)^[2]:

Ernstberg (also: Erresberg), 699.9 m (2,300 ft), county of Vulkaneifel – west
Scharteberg, 691.4 m (2,270 ft), county of Vulkaneifel; with the Eifel Transmitter (SWR) – west
Prümscheid, 681 m (2,230 ft), county of Vulkaneifel – not volcanic (eponymous quartzite ridge; other summits being the Scharteberg and Dietzenley)
Hochkelberg, 674.9 m (2,210 ft), county of Vulkaneifel; with a transmission mast on its south summit – Tertiary
Nerother Kopf, 651.7 m (2,140 ft), county of Vulkaneifel; with the castle ruins of the Freudenkoppe – west
Dietzenley, 617.6 m (2,030 ft), county of Vulkaneifel; with a wooden observation tower – west
Arensberg, approximately 590 m (1,940 ft), county of Vulkaneifel – Tertiary
Hochsimmer, 587.9 m (1,930 ft), county of Mayen-Koblenz – east
Gänsehals, 573.3 m (1,880 ft), county of Mayen-Koblenz – east
Engelner Kopf, 575.1 m (1,890 ft), county of Ahrweiler (near Kempenich-Engeln) – east
Hochstein, 563 m (1,850 ft), county of Mayen-Koblenz – east
Steineberger Ley, 557.8 m (1,830 ft), county of Vulkaneifel; with a Volcano Information Platform (observation tower) – Tertiary
Rockeskyller Kopf, 554.6 m (1,820 ft), county of Vulkaneifel – west
Hoher List, 549.1 m (1,800 ft), county of Vulkaneifel; with the Hoher List Observatory – west
Wartgesberg, approximately 475 m (1,560 ft), county of Vulkaneifel (near Strohn) – west
Veitskopf, 428.1 m (1,400 ft), county of Ahrweiler; near Laacher See; with an observation tower, the Lydia Tower – east
Ettringer Bellberg, 427.5 m (1,400 ft), county of Mayen-Koblenz (south of Ettringen) – east
Karmelenberg, 372.5 m (1,220 ft), county of Mayen-Koblenz – east
Mayener Bellberg, 363.2 m (1,190 ft), county of Mayen-Koblenz (north of Mayen) – east
Korretsberg, 295 m (970 ft), county of Mayen-Koblenz (near Kruft) – east

Laacher See

Of particular note is the volcanic caldera known as Laacher See, the site of an eruption around 12,900 years ago that had an estimated VEI of 6.

Geopark and museums

Geology

The tephras deposited by past eruptions of the Volcanic Eifel are lithological deposits that are radiometrically dateable via argon-argon dating of K-feldspar grains. These have in turn been utilised to ascertain the ages of climatic changes such as transitions from glacial to interglacial states during the Pleistocene.^[1]

Future activity

There is thought that future eruptions may occur in the Eifel, as:^[3]^[4]

Each year the Eifel rises by about a millimetre.
Geophysicists found that crust under the Eifel is thinner than most continental crust, suggesting that under the Eifel is a hot zone where magma is rising.
Persistent small earthquakes and underground heating.
Map of flood lake that may happen if the Rhine is blocked by a voluminous eruption in the Eifel

In 2020, Professor Kreemer noted that Eifel was the only region within an area of Europe studied where ground motion happened at significantly higher levels than expected.^[5] It is possible that such movements originate from a rising magma plume.^[5] This activity does not imply an immediate eruptive danger, but might suggest an increase in volcanic and seismic activity in the region.^[5]