ABSTRACT

The Ries Basin and the much smaller Steinheim Basin some 30 km further to the west-southwest, are geological structures that stand out on any geological map of southern Germany. Both structures are nearly circular. These two basins originated some 15 million years ago in one of the most dramatic events geology has to offer: the impact of a small asteroid and its tiny moonlet, destroying a lushly vegetated, subtropical countryside and destroying all life for many thousand square kilometres. The Steinheim Basin formed at the same time as the Ries Basin and is the location at which the 'moonlet' of the Ries asteroid touched down. The two craters are situated at the eastern end of one of the most beautiful landscapes in Germany, formed by the escarpment of the Swabian Alb and the erosional remnants of the so-called 'Swabian Volcano'.