Lusatian Fault
Encyclopedia
The Lusatian Fault formerly Lusatian Overthrust (Lausitzer Überschiebung), is the most important geological disturbance zone between the Elbe valley
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...

 and the Giant Mountains. It is a fault that separates the granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 of Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...

 from the Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

 sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

s of North Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

 to the south. It is assumed that there was a fault throw of several hundred metres whereby the northern block was uplifted or upthrust relative to the southern block.

Course

The start of the fault in the west is assessed as being near Oschatz
Oschatz
Oschatz is a town in the district Nordsachsen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is located 60 km east of Leipzig and 60 km west of Dresden.- Site and Climate :...

, but it first becomes topographically significant as a steep ledge near Weinböhla
Weinböhla
Weinböhla is a municipality in the district of Meißen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated 7 km east of Meißen, and 17 km northwest of Dresden.The municipality can be reached from Dresden by Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe tram route 4....

. From there it runs eastwards along the northern perimeter of the Dresden Basin
Dresden Basin
The Dresden Basin is a roughly 45 km long and 10 km wide area of the Elbe Valley between the towns of Pirna and Meißen. The city of Dresden lies in the Dresden Basin.- Geography :...

 and forms the Elbe valley slopes from Radebeul
Radebeul
Radebeul is a town in the Elbe valley in the district of Meißen in Saxony, Germany, a suburb of Dresden. It is well-known for its viticulture, a museum dedicated to writer Karl May and a narrow gauge railway connecting Radebeul with the castle of Moritzburg and the town of Radeburg...

 via Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

 to Pirna
Pirna
Pirna is a town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 40,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as a Große Kreisstadt...

. From there it continues rather less noticeably along the northern edge of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains
Elbe Sandstone Mountains
The Elbe Sandstone Mountains, also called the Elbe sandstone highlands is a mountain range straddling the border between the state of Saxony in southeastern Germany and the North Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, with about three-quarters of the area lying on the German side...

 via Hohnstein and Hinterhermsdorf. In Hohnstein by the so-called Wartenberg Road (Wartenbergstraße) is the only geological outcrop where the granite of Lusatia lies immediately above the sandstone.

Further east the fault follows the northern boundary of the Lusatian
Lusatian Mountains
The Lusatian Mountains are a mountain range of the Western Sudetes, located on the southeastern border of Germany with the Czech Republic east of the Elbe river, a continuation of the Ore Mountains range west of the Elbe valley...

 / Zittau Mountains via Jiřetín pod Jedlovou
Jiřetín pod Jedlovou
Jiřetín pod Jedlovou is a village and municipality in Děčín District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 580....

 (St. Georgenthal), Waltersdorf and Olbersdorf
Olbersdorf
Olbersdorf is a municipality in the district Görlitz, in Saxony, Germany....

, where it is most prominent east of the Zittau Mountains.

Now back on Czech territory, the fault more or less follows the crest line of the Jeschken Mountains. At the Ještěd
Ješted
Ještěd is the highest mountain peak of the Ještěd-Kozákov Ridge near Liberec in the north of the Czech Republic. From the summit there are views into Germany and Poland...

 (Jeschken) is the highest point on the fault line, a topographical dominant that is visible from a long way off. The fault then runs eastwards, almost in a straight line, along the Ještěd-Kozákov Ridge
Ješted-Kozákov Ridge
Ještěd-Kozákov Ridge is part of the Western Sudetes mountain range in the Czech Republic.The ridge is almost 60 km long, the width does not exceed 15 km. In the north-west it starts in a saddle between hills Pískový vrch in the Lusatian Mountains and Ostrý vrch already in the...

 - interrupted by the valleys of the Mohelka and the Jizera
Jizera
The term Jizera can refer to:*Jizera in the Czech Republic*Jizera Mountains in the Czech Republic*Jizera in the Czech Republic...

 - to Kozákov in the Bohemian Paradise
Bohemian Paradise
Bohemian Paradise is a protected landscape area located in the North of the Czech Republic. There are numerous hiking and biking trails and several campsites...

. In Malá Skála
Malá Skála
Malá Skála is a village and municipality in Jablonec nad Nisou District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. -Notes:...

 is the most notable geological outcrop along the fault, the Suché skály. Here the once horizontal sandstone beds were tilted vertically by the pressure of the fault and, today, form an impressive rock formation.

Sources

  • Otto Herrmann: Steinbruchindustrie und Steinbruchgeologie. Verlag von Gebrüder Borntraeger, Berlin 1899
  • Kurt Pietzsch: Abriss der Geologie von Sachsen. Volk und Wissen, Berlin 1951
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