Processes that can fold rocks: The impressive rock folding at Hövels shows in miniature how a gigantic geological collision has shaped the landscape of an entire region.
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On the steep banks of the Sieg, rock layers (greywacke banks) can often be seen, which were formed from a seabed 420 - 360 million years ago in the Devonian age. Some of these have survived to the present day and are visible in various places in the municipality of Wissen. The rock folds can be seen particularly well at the sports field near Hövels, as well as in several places in the nearby Nister Valley. The rock fold near Hövels was awarded Geotope of the Year in 2019 by the Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus Geopark. After a long period of subsidence, elongated troughs formed into which the Devonian sea penetrated. In these troughs, layers of mud and sand (sediments) were deposited as a wash-off from the continents. In the process, the seabed sank at the same rate as it filled up. When this deepening and widening of the sediment-filled sea trough came to a halt, the reverse process began in the Carboniferous (coal age 360 - 300 million years ago). The edges of the sea trough began to move towards each other and pushed the now kilometre-thick, consolidated layer packages into folds like a tablecloth. Our Rhenish Slate Mountains emerged from this folded mountain range. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version).
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