Time Spirals with Formations

digital painting, 2020, 2022

for UNESCO Global GeoPark Inselsberg - Drei Gleichen

For public outreach of the Geopark in central Thuringia, the geological history of the Thuringian Forest and Basin had to be illustrated. During the application, the formerly produced time spiral of the evolution of soil crusts provided the decisive idea. The result is a set of five spirals, each dealing with a certain time slice focussed in the foreground. The inclusion of geological formations in the underground requires some compromise regarding the topology, so there are conflicting vertical axes in order to enable surface landscapes corresponding with stratigraphical sections. From step to step, the spiral spins on, adding the preceding stage to the past.

The area in question – right in the centre of Germany – draws on the history of Pangaea. Subsequent to the formation of a crystalline basement, the Vasiscan orogenesis and volacanism took place. Permian biomes were characterised by swamps and lakes, increasingly interrupted by arid environments. A special attention is paid to the Triassic, with the terrestrial Buntsandstein, marine Muschelkalk, and the terrestrial Keuper as the introduction of dinosaur faunas. Characteristic fossil biota – admittedly tetrapod-obsessed – are provided as miniatures.