Helmstedt / Schöningen lignite opencast mine

In the ascent to the Muschelkalk mountain landscape of the Elm lie brown coal-bearing layers. They belong to the western edge of the Büddenstedt-Offleben-Sattel. The entire coal-bearing layer sequence was formed in the Lower Eocene, the oldest layers perhaps even in the Paleocene.

The lignite layers are followed by meltwater sand and the glacial merge of the Elster Ice Age, which are covered by layers from the more recent quaternary era. In the most recent deposits, Neolithic and prehistoric-glacial settlement remains were uncovered in the course of mining activity, which were scientifically processed by archaeologists.