The Karsdorf Fault is a striking tectonic fracture line, which is part of the Central Saxon Fault, and is located in the eastern Ore Mountains

Ore Mountains

The Ore Mountains in Central Europe have formed a natural border between Saxony and Bohemia for many centuries. Today, the border between Germany and the Czech Republic runs just north of the main crest of the mountain range...

 and the Elbe Valley Slate Mountains. It forms the northern geological boundary of the Eastern Ore Mountains

Eastern Ore Mountains

The Eastern Ore Mountains form a natural region that covers the eastern part of the Saxon Ore Mountains. It is part of the major landscape unit, the Saxon Highlands and Uplands...

 in the district of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge with the Elbe zone, where it is adjoined by the Döhlen Basin

Döhlen Basin

The Döhlen Basin is a landscape unit in the German federal state of Saxony, southwest of Dresden. The Döhlen Basin has a length of 22 km and a width of 6 km and lies within the district of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge.- Description :...

 and the Kreischa Basin

Kreischa

Kreischa is a municipality in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, Saxony, Germany. It directly borders the Saxon capital Dresden and consists of 14 districts.Kreischa was first mentioned in 1282...

.

It derives its name from the town of Karsdorf  near Rabenau, formerly also known as Wendisch-Carsdorf. As a result the fault line is also called the Wendisch-Carsdorf Fault Line (Wendisch-Carsdorfer Verwerfungslinie) in historical literature.

Near Karsdorf the fault line runs in a southeasterly direction where it is geomorphologically outlined by the following clearly visible features:

• Windberg
  Windberg (Freital)
  The Windberg is a hill in the borough of Freital near Dresden in the German federal state of Saxony. It is the town's Hausberg or local mountain.- Geomorphology and natural features :...
  
   near Freital, 352 m above NN.
• Lerchenberg near Possendorf, 425 m
• Quohrener Kipse, 452 m
• Hermsdorfer Berg, 447 m
• Wilisch, 476 m
• Finckenfang near Maxen, 394 m
• Lerchenhügel near Hausdorf, 413 m
• Lederberg near Schlottwitz, 446 m

South of the fracture line is an almost level wooded area with remnants of sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

 - the Dippoldiswald and Hirschbach Heaths - which are drained by the Oelsabach

Oelsabach

Oelsabach is a river of Saxony, Germany....

, Hirschbach and Lockwitzbach

Lockwitzbach

Lockwitzbach is a river of Saxony, Germany....

. These woodland areas are part of the Cretaceous

Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

 Elbe Sandstone

Elbe Sandstone

Elbe Sandstone describes sandstones that naturally occur in North Bohemia and those parts of Saxony within the area around Dresden. It is named after the River Elbe, which cuts through the sandstone region in a transverse valley, the Elbe Valley Zone...

and are regionally important for their water supply. The oldest sections of these relicts belong to the earliest Cretaceous deposits (Niederschöna Formation) in the Dresden region. They are separated from the main Elbe Valley chalk region by the Karsdorf Fault.

Sources

• Kurt Pietzsch: Abriß der Geologie von Sachsen, 2. Auflage, VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften Berlin 1956
• P. Kossmat, K. Pietzsch: Geologische Spezialkarte des Königreiches Sachsen. Nr.82 Blatt Kreischa 2. Auflage, herausgegeben vom Königlichen Finanzministerium 1912