1. Nature reserves “Heiliges Meer” and “Recker Moor” – Wetlands, boglands and sinkhole lakes developed in the past 5,000 years

One-day trip, Fr 25/09, 08h00-17h00, lunch included

Leaders: Manja Hethke, Christoph Lünterbusch, Simon Chen
Participants: min 6, max 15
Transportation: minibuses

Price: 40€

Experience the unique flora and fauna of a landscape in the northern Münsterland Region, where sudden geological processes shaped wetlands, boglands and sinkhole lakes.

The distinctive feature of the “Heiliges Meer” Nature Reserve is its numerous bodies of water, most of which have formed naturally as a result of geological activities. Over hundreds of years, several small and large lakes have formed following the sudden appearances of sinkholes, e.g. the Großes Heiliges Meer (11 ha), which is about 1100 to 1400 years old and represents the largest natural lake of North Rhine-Westphalia, or the Erdfallsee (7 ha), which formed on 14 April 1913. Other significant habitats in the “Heiliges Meer” Nature Reserve include heathlands, which bear witness to a historic cultural landscape, and forest communities in both dry and wet habitats, such as the alder swamp forest around the Großes Heiliges Meer. Species-rich grasslands on lowland bog sites are found primarily in the adjacent Heupen Nature Reserve.

The Recker Moor is a 3.5 km² nature reserve in the Tecklenburger Land region. It is one of the best-preserved bogland areas in North Rhine-Westphalia. The “Recker Moor” began to develop into a raised bog around 5,000 years ago. The area provides a habitat for a wide variety of plant and bird species, including many endangered species such as teal, snipe, black-tailed godwit, curlew, yellow wagtail, and whinchat. The nine native sphagnum moss species include the extremely rare Sphagnum molle.

Schedule: Transportation to Education and Research Centre “Heiliges Meer”, a branch of the LWL Museum of Natural History in Münster, guided tour through the Nature Reserve “Heiliges Meer”, lunch at the Research Centre, transportation to Nature Reserve “Recker Moor”, guided walk through the nature reserve towards bird observation tower “Schnepfenturm”; return to Münster c. 17h00.

2. Neogene floras of the “Hambach” lignite surface mine

One-day trip, Fr 25/09, 08h00-19h00, packed lunches included

Leaders: Georg Heumann, Christian Pott
Participants: min 15, max 35
Transportation: bus
Requirements: solid shoes, equipment for fossil collecting, binoculars useful

Price: 75€

Experience palms, ginkgos and lush humid–temperate vegetation, or the world’s largest machinery, in one of Germany’s largest surface mines, the Tagebau Hambach, where massive lignite seams are mined. The formation of the continental ice sheets caused the primordial North Sea to retract during the early Miocene and led to extensive silting-up of the Lower Rhine Embayment (LRB). In this enclosed peatland area, extensive riparian forest and bog vegetation led to the deposition of substantial peat layers up to 270 meters thick in northwestern and central Germany. After being covered by sediment, these were compacted into thick lignite deposits up to 90 m thick over a period of about 10 million years.

Although the relatively mild and dry Miocene was predominantly characterized by grasslands, large parts of the North Rhine-Westphalian landscape in the late Miocene were covered by lush vegetation in dense, humid–temperate forests. Excellent fossils from the Inden Formation (c. 10 mya) in the Rhenish lignite mining area provide evidence of a deciduous forest encompassing a high biodiversity. In addition to various species of maple, hackberry, beech, sweetgum, oak, and elm, there were alders, hornbeams, chestnuts, katsura, hazels, linden-like trees (Craigia), ebony trees, magnolias, tupelos, plane trees, poplars, wingnuts, willows, sassafras, sandalwoods, and zelkovas. Conifers such as swamp cypresses and redwoods can still be found sporadically, having managed to survive in river floodplains or along shallow lakes. About 6 million years ago, ginkgos and palm trees also thrived here.

The lignite is mined using bucket-wheel excavators, which, at 225 meters in length, are the largest and, weighing up to 14,000 tons, the heaviest land vehicles on Earth. Their daily output is 240,000 tons of coal, which fills approximately 2,400 freight cars.

Schedule: Transportation by bus to the Hambach Mine; scenic tour along the terra:nova viewpoints, packed lunches served at last viewpoint, second stop at RWE Power Niederzier, guided tour with special off-road bus into the Hambach Mine; return to Münster.

3. Upper Carboniferous floras of the Piesberg Quarry

One-day trip, Fr 25/09, 08h00-17h00, packed lunches included

Leaders: Benjamin Bomfleur, Robert Bäumer
Participants: min 20, max 25
Transportation: bus
Requirements: solid shoes, equipment for fossil collecting, binoculars useful

Price: 70€

The Piesberg is one of three small, isolated exposures of Carboniferous rocks in the hillsides around Osnabrück. Anthracitic coal has been mined in the Piesberg area since prehistoric times, and underground mining for coal lasted for centuries until repeated flooding brought it to a halt in 1898. Quartzite quarrying, however, continues until today, making the Piesberg one of the largest opencast quarry complexes in Europe. The vast outcrop exposes a more than 100-m-thick sedimentary section of fluviolacustrine sandstone, shale, and coal. Roof shales from several seams have yielded a wealth of well-preserved compression floras and also abundant and diverse animal remains that render the Piesberg one of Germany’s most important Carboniferous fossil sites. Of special interest is a recently discovered lake deposit that continues to yield unusual plant and animal taxa that are entirely new or at least rare elsewhere, including thallose liverworts and various groups of previously undocumented “seed ferns”.

Our trip will take us straight to the Piesberg, where we will hike around the active quarry site, learn about the mining history, enjoy the fabulous scenery, and get a chance to search for fossils in a spoil heap (we’ll provide hammers and safety goggles). We will then move on to the nearby Natural-History Museum “Museum am Schölerberg”, which features an exhibition of crème-de-la-crème finds from the Piesberg (including one of the few largely intact stigmarian rooting systems on display) and an augmented-reality, walk-through diorama of a Carboniferous forest.

Schedule: Transportation by bus to the Piesberg; hike around the quarry-side with several lookout points; transport to second stop at Museum am Schölerberg; return to Münster.

4. Upper Cretaceous flora and fauna of the Baumberge Hills

One-day trip, Fr 25/09, 09h00-17h00, cafe lunch at own expense

Leaders: TBA
Participants: min 15, max 25
Transportation: bicycles

Price: 30€

Explore the Upper Cretaceous heritage of the Baumberge Hills on a scenic bicycle tour from Münster, with stops at two exceptional geosites, a panoramic hilltop café, and a detour past Burg Hülshoff, the ancestral home of Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, one of Germany's greatest Romantic poets and, perhaps less widely known, an enthusiastic amateur naturalist with a keen interest in geology and palaeontology.

Our first stop is the Mergelberg in Gievenbeck, on the western outskirts of Münster, where Cretaceous vein mineralizations containing strontianite bear witness to the basin tectonics of the Münsterland Cretaceous Sea, a brief but vivid introduction to the geological setting that shaped the entire region.

The centrepiece of the tour is a designated geotope in the heart of the Baumberge. The active quarry has yielded a rich diversity of marine fossils, including Sphenocephalus fish fossils. More importantly, the sandstone here has served as a construction material in the region since the Middle Ages and has been exported across Europe.

After lunch at Café 18|97 at the foot of the Longinusturm, there is an optional climb to the tower summit for a sweeping view across the Westphalian lowlands. The return journey to Münster passes the Baumberger Sandstein Museum, which showcases the geological and cultural heritage of this remarkable stone, used for centuries in the construction of churches and civic buildings across the region.

Schedule: Depending on participant numbers: departure by bicycle from GEO 1 building or Radstation Münster Hbf; stop 1 at Mergelberg, Gievenbeck (strontianite vein mineralizations, introduction to Münsterland basin tectonics); cycling on past Burg Hülshoff; stop 2 at geotope (guided tour); lunch at Café 18|97, Longinusturm (optional tower ascent); stop at Sandsteinmuseum; return to Münster. Bikes will be rented for participants (E-bikes are available).