Franconian Keuper-Lias Land

The Franconian Keuper-Lias Plains or Franconian Keuper-Lias Lands (German: Fränkische Keuper-Lias-Land) are a major natural region in the South German Scarplands in Upper Franconia and to a lesser extent in the north, in the Thuringian district of Hildburghausen. As the name betrays, the term embraces both the Keuper landscapes (including the well-known parts of the Keuper Upland Haßberge, Steigerwald and Franconian Heights) and lias landscapes (Black Jurassic) in Franconia. In addition, the foreland of the Franconian Jura (Vorland der Fränkischen Alb), in which part of the Brown Jurassic 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 (689 m) immediately north of the crater of the Nördlinger Ries which separates the Swabian from the Franconian Jura.

The Franconian Keuper-Lias Plains are bounded to the north and west by the muschelkalk Gäu landscapes of the Main-Franconian Plateaux, to the southwest of which are the Gäu Plateaus. In the southwest are the geologically and topographically similar Swabian Keuper-Lias Plains.