Dobratsch - Geology Path

Along a simple asphalt road (closed to public traffic), there are 7 easily accessible stations which tell of geological structures, the change in the climate, the Dobratsch as Villach's drinking water reservoir and the alpine landscape as man-made cultivated land.

Brief geological information:

The south side of the Dobratsch was exposed over millions of years by landslides. The deepest unit, the Gail Valley crystalline made of phyllites, is found on the valley floor. The whole area is almost entirely covered by landslide material and glacial moraines. Above that you can find the sandstones of the Val Gardena strata and the red sandstones of the Werfen strata up to the Alpine clam calk. Embedded in it again and again are volcanic parts with tuffites. The thickest and uppermost layer is weather stone and limestone. Calcareous shell remains of marine organisms from the Permian and Triassic periods have been deposited here, and some fossils such as the sea worm snail have been preserved in the limestone.

Other exhibits on the geological trail are rock debris in liquid lava, tuff as part of a volcanic bomb, the carbon from Nötsch with inclusions of fossil armpods, as well as calcite (crystallized limestone) and stalactites.