Steinbruch bei Rott – Spuren des frühen Pflanzenlebens
Stolberg
At the old quarry near Rott, at the base bed, the route leads into a time of upheaval: the Lower Devonian – around 410 million years ago, when the Earth underwent fundamental changes. It was the oldest phase of the Devonian period, during which life began to conquer the land.
At that time, the first plants developed that could also survive on drier soil. They were small, inconspicuous, and did not yet have leaves or roots. However, they were already conducting photosynthesis and began to change the atmosphere. With them, a transformation began: the Earth transformed – from the blue planet to the green one.
In the rock of the quarry, their traces are preserved to this day. Carbon-like imprints in the slate layers show where these early land plants established themselves. Those who look closely can recognize in the dark layers the delicate pattern of the first plants – a glimpse into the origin of life on land and the beginning of the forests as we know them today.