Saturday, August 12, 2006

Limited to 20 participants

Approximate costs 100 Swiss Francs (65 Euro), not including lunch!

This excursion will be lead by Dr. Beda Hofmann, Natural History Museum, Bern. We will visit a little known outcrop of distal Ries impact ejecta near the town of St. Gallen. The outcrop is located  in the valley of the Sitter river, about 8 km N of St. Gallen, approximately 180 km from the Ries crater. Miocene Molasse sediments contain a horizon with angular Upper Jurassic limestone fragments up to 20 cm in size, sometimes with well-developped shatter cones, Keuper marl fragments and shocked quartz grains. The horizon is well exposed over a length of approximately 150m along the river. The outcrop is reached after an easy hike of 20 minutes and a river crossing thatrequires a certain level of adventurous spirit!

Prior to the outcrop, we will visit the baroque cathedral and abbey district in St. Gallen. This unique assemblage dates back to the 8th Century and contains the most impressive abbey library in Switzerland. It was declared a Unesco World Cultural Heritage in 1983. Lunch in St. Gallen will be on an individual basis. The trip will end in Zürich on Saturday evening. Participants are asked to make their own hotel reservation for Saturday night, if needed.

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