Verrucano on the Spitzmeilen

Depending on how they are lit, the Verrucano shale glows wine-red to purple. The colour comes from the mineral haematite, which is finely distributed in the shale and has already oxidized ("rusted") during the deposition in the Permian period. Hematite means "bloody" in Greek. The clearly visible vertical cracks, which regularly cut through the rock, probably developed during a later phase of the formation of the Alps.