Basaltorgans of Badacsony 🌍 EarthCache

Basaltorgans of Badacsony

Badacsony is the name of a region on the north shore of lake Balaton in western Hungary and as well of a village there. The entire area is recognized for its wine, with vineyards dating back to roman times.

The nearby basalt mountains are unique geological relics, and the habitat of many rare plants and animals. These monadnocks are peculiarly shaped results of volcanic activity, formed during the end Pannonia. Here as well growth the wine, which is famous known all over the world.

The volcanic table mountain of Badacsony is about 438 meters high and has got a diameter of nearly 11 kilometer. Their exist a lot of basalt columns, which had been created by the former volcanic activities. Because of their amount and shape of this “frozen lavacolumns”, they are so called “basalt organs”.

As well to the landscape natural reserve of Badacsony consist the volcanic mountains “Gulacs” (339 m), “Csobanc” (376 m) and “Szent György” (415 m). They are called “mountains of witness”, as they testify the former water level of the Paannonian sea. In the village of Badacsony you will as well find the “St. Emmerich” church, which had been the first church, built from basalt stone, in Central Europe.

Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey. The most common uses for this rock are as aggregate in highway construction, railroad ballast, and tile. Basalt is also a major component of asphalt.

On Earth, most basalt magmas have formed by decompression melting of the mantle. Basalt has also formed on Earth's Moon, Mars, Venus, and even on the asteroid Vesta. The crustal portions of oceanic tectonic plates are composed predominantly of basalt, produced from upwelling mantle below ocean ridges.

The term "basalt" is at times applied to shallow intrusive rocks with a composition typical of basalt, but rocks of this composition with a phaneritic (coarse) groundmass are generally referred to as dolerite (also called diabase) or gabbro.

At the Badacsony basalt mountains exists a geological nature path as a circle of a length of about four kilometers, called “Geopark Bakony-Balaton” It can be reached from the “Kisfaludy-house”. Along the path you will find information boards about this nature reserve.

As it is quite difficult to get the car parked somewhere along the road called “Rodosta Ut.”, which reaches up the mountain, so that you may have to walk some way, I don´t want you to do all the four kilometers. It will be laborious enough anyway, to visit the first information board and to get up to the necessary foto point. You should not park your car at private property please, but you may find some space somewhere (hopefully).

The starting waypoints coordinates, where you can reach the path, leading into the wood and up to the mountians top, are: N46 47.841 / E017 29.197

Follow this path to the left and you will soon find the information board at N46 47.868 / E017 29.195.  Here I would like you to find the answers to the following questions:

1. Which process caused thinner column diameters at place ?
2. Which shapes are the columns usually formed at place?

Follow on the path until you get to the stairs, which you as well follow up the top to the foto point at  N46 48.020 / E017 29.178. Get yourself in front of the two basalt columns  to your left with the GPS in your hand and get a foto taken of this situation.

There is no need to climb the mountain further up, but I would like to mention the as well here located traditional cache “Dutch Mountain” (GCJWFJ), which you will find just a bit further up. As well it is worth to reach the top as for the view at the Balaton area.

To log this earthcache I would like to ask you to do the following:
1. Virtually log the cache at geocaching.com and load up a taken photo of yourself / the GPS, which prooves your visit at place - Not just any foto, where just nature ist to see!
2. Send me the answers to the two questions via my profile at geocaching.com, headed by the cache name

If you don´t get an answer of me, I am either not in reach of an internet point or everything was correct anyway.

I hope you will enjoy this cache and as well learn something about the area and the basalt rock.

Best regards from Germany

awema