Northern Harz Boundary Fault

[4] The northern edge of the Harz is oriented in a Hercynian (WNW-ESE) direction and runs from Neuekrug-Hahausen via Langelsheim, Goslar, Bad Harzburg, Ilsenburg, Wernigerode, Blankenburg, Thale and Gernrode to the area of Ballenstedt.

In the Cretaceous the basin was squeezed by Alpine orogeny which also uplifted the Harz Block.

The most intensive phase of uplift occurred in a period of about 2 million years from the middle of the Santonian age to the lower Campanian.

A good example is at the Langenberg Quarry, but there are also many other outcrops that show the steeply sloping strata.

Near Blankenburg and Ballenstedt there are rocks lying at steep angles from the Cretaceous, which form the so-called Devil's Wall or Teufelsmauer.

Steeply inclined strata, overturned towards the south, of the Jurassic in the Langenberg quarry near Göttingerode