Fossil snails

Here at the Youth Chapel you can sometimes see pieces of fossil oyster shells or snails from the sands of Grimmertingen with a bit of luck. They were forced out of their corridors by animals.

Our soil is made up of different layers. The sands of Grimmertingen is such a layer. This layer of sand was deposited in several places around here at the end of the Eocene, 34 million years ago, just before the climate cooling of the beginning of the Oligocene. Because of the exclusion of the hollow road in these layers, you can easily find fossils.
About 300 species of fossil molluscs have been found at this site. You won't find those old fossils in the Demer Valley itself. The soil is often peaty and therefore young. The Demer also did not deposit sediments from older layers. Remains of freshwater snails can be found that no longer occur in the area, because the area has been partially drained through all kinds of ditches.

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