The Franconian Keuper-Lias Plains or Franconian Keuper-Lias Lands are a major natural region

Natural region

A Natural region is one which is distinguished by its natural features of geography and usually more important, geology. The natural ecology of the region is likely to be significant but one of these factors tends to influence the others....

 in the South German Scarplands

South German Scarplands

The South German Scarplands is a geological and geomorphological natural region or landscape in Switzerland and the south German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg...

 in Upper Franconia

Upper Franconia

Upper Franconia is a Regierungsbezirk of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia , all now part of the German Federal State of Bayern .With more than 200 independent breweries which brew...

 and to a lesser extent in the north, in the Thuringian district of Hildburghausen. As the name betrays, the term embraces both the keuper

Keuper

The Keuper is a lithostratigraphic unit in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Keuper consists of dolostone, shales or claystones and evaporites that were deposited during the Middle and Late Triassic epochs...

 landscapes (including the well-known parts of the Keuper Upland Haßberge

Haßberge

Haßberge is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Coburg, Bamberg, Schweinfurt and Rhön-Grabfeld, and by the state of Thuringia .-History:...

, Steigerwald and Frankenhöhe) and lias

Lias

Lias may refer to:*In geology:**The Lias Group, a group in the stratigraphy of Great Britain, formed during the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic epochs. It includes the Blue Lias and White Lias...

 landscapes (Schwarzer Jura) in Franconia

Franconia

Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...

. In addition, the foreland of the Franconian Jura (Vorland der Fränkischen Alb), in which part of the dogger (Brown Jura) occurs, as well as parts of the former volcanic region of Heldburger Gangschar belong to this region.

The highest elevation in the area is the unique Hesselberg

Hesselberg

Hesselberg is the highest point in Middle Franconia and the Franconian Jura and is situated 60 km south west of Nuremberg, Germany. The mountain stands isolated and far from the center of the Franconian Jura, in its southwestern border region, 4 km to the north west of Wassertrüdingen...

 (689 m) immediately north of the crater of the Nördlinger Ries

Nördlinger Ries

The Nördlinger Ries is a large circular depression in western Bavaria, Germany, located north of the Danube in the district of Donau-Ries. The city of Nördlingen is located about southwest of the centre of the depression....

 which separates the Swabian from the Franconian Jura

Franconian Jura

The Franconian Jura is an upland in Bavaria, Germany. Located between two rivers, the Danube in the south and the Main in the north, its peaks reach elevations of up to .Large portions of the Franconian Jura are part of the Altmühl Valley Nature Park...

.

Natural divisions

The Franconian Keuper-Lias Plains are part of the South German Scarplands

South German Scarplands

The South German Scarplands is a geological and geomorphological natural region or landscape in Switzerland and the south German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg...

 and are further divided into natural regions as follows:
(in brackets the predominant rock keuper

Keuper

The Keuper is a lithostratigraphic unit in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Keuper consists of dolostone, shales or claystones and evaporites that were deposited during the Middle and Late Triassic epochs...

 (K), lias

Lias

Lias may refer to:*In geology:**The Lias Group, a group in the stratigraphy of Great Britain, formed during the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic epochs. It includes the Blue Lias and White Lias...

 (L), and dogger (D))

• 11 (=D59) Franconian Keuper-Lias Plains (Fränkisches Keuper-Lias-Land)
  • 110 Foreland of the Southern Franconian Jura (Vorland der südlichen Frankenalb) (L, D) - up to 689 m (Hesselberg
    Hesselberg
    Hesselberg is the highest point in Middle Franconia and the Franconian Jura and is situated 60 km south west of Nuremberg, Germany. The mountain stands isolated and far from the center of the Franconian Jura, in its southwestern border region, 4 km to the north west of Wassertrüdingen...
    
    ), at Schlossberg 606.7 m, at Flüglinger Berg 641.3 m
  • 111 Foreland of the Middle Franconian Jura (Vorland der mittleren Frankenalb) (L, D) - up to 595 m (Dillberg
    Dillberg
    Dillberg is a mountain of Bavaria, Germany....
    
    ), at Buchberg
    Buchberg (Oberpfalz)
    Buchberg is a mountain of Bavaria, Germany....
    
     591 m
  • 112 Foreland of the Northern Franconian Jura (Vorland der nördlichen Frankenalb) (L, D)
  • 113 Middle Franconian Basin (Mittelfränkisches Becken) (K)
  • 114 Frankenhöhe (K) - up to 554 m
  • 115 Steigerwald (K) - up to 499 m
  • 116 Haßberge
    Haßberge
    Haßberge is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Coburg, Bamberg, Schweinfurt and Rhön-Grabfeld, and by the state of Thuringia .-History:...
    
     (K) - up to 512 m
  • 117 Itz-Baunach Upland (Itz-Baunach-Hügelland) (K, L) - up to 467 m

External links

• Landscape fact file of the BfN (five-digit numbers beginning with "11" indicate divisions of the Franconian Keuper-Lias Plains)