At the Hochkelberg is one of the ten highest mountains in the

Vulkan Eifel The Volcanic Eifel or Vulkan Eifel () consists of three areas of volcanic activity, known as the West Eifel, High Eifel, and East Eifel volcanic fields. Volcanic Eifel is a region in the Eifel Mountains in Germany that is defined to a large e ...

in Germany. It is a former

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

, at the southern foot of which lies the Mosbrucher Weiher, an explosion crater lake or

maar A maar is a broad, low-relief volcanic crater caused by a phreatomagmatic eruption (an explosion which occurs when groundwater comes into contact with hot lava or magma). A maar characteristically fills with water to form a relatively shallow ...

. Below the summit of the Hochkelberg is a

transmission tower A transmission tower (also electricity pylon, hydro tower, or pylon) is a tall structure, usually a lattice tower made of steel that is used to support an overhead power line. In electrical grids, transmission towers carry high-voltage transmis ...

. Originally the mountain which is visible today lay 200 metres below the surface. When the region was uplifted the outer layers were carried away leaving the hard

basaltic Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron ( mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% ...

core. The slopes of the Hochkelberg are covered today with dense beech woods with a variety of species. The ruins of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

buildings may also be seen here.

References

{{Reflist Vulkaneifel Mountains and hills of Rhineland-Palatinate Mountains and hills of the Eifel Mountains under 1000 metres