Landscapes and landforms of the Luxembourg sandstone, grand-duchy of Luxembourg

Abstract

The Liassic Luxembourg Sandstone outcrops on ~350 km2, edged by a cuesta escarpment, in Gutland, the southern part of Luxembourg. It is a homogeneous up to 100-metres-thick unit in which rivers of all sizes have incised steep cliffs separating extended plateaus. The Luxembourg Sandstone landscapes display typical geomorphological features at various scales, mainly shaped by gravitational and fluvial processes that varied in intensity with climatic and hydrological conditions. The cliffs have developed by landsliding in the marly lower part of the slopes and rockfall in the overlying sandstone. Old and recent landslides have affected many slopes. Structures induced or enhanced by weathering are observed everywhere on the sandstone free faces. This chapter describes the landscapes of the so-called Luxembourg’s Little Switzerland, with its impressive rock formations of, e.g. the Wolfsschlucht, and sandstone landforms reshaped by fortification works along the Alzette and Petruss valleys in Luxembourg City.