Ries Crater (impactite) – 630g slice

The crater of Ries is located in the district of Donau-Ries north of the Danube, in the western part of Bavaria. The toponym “Ries” derives from the name of the Roman province “Raetia”. The Nördlinger Ries crater looks like an almost perfectly circular depression and its flat appearance stands out strongly on the rugged landscape of Franconia and Swabia. Initially this geological structure, based on the rocks, in particular the suevites, found inside, was considered an ancient volcano, only in 1960 it was proved that its origin derives from a meteoric impact occurred in the Miocene, about 15 million of years ago, which also gave rise to another meteor crater, the Steinheim crater. The impact created by the Nördlinger Ries also gave rise to the Moldavites.