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| a hilly region in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate states in W Germany. |
Ei·fel  (ī'fəl) A hilly region of western Germany west of the Rhine River. The barren area has limestone moors and crater lakes. |
Eifel
plateau region of western Germany, lying between the Rhine, the Mosel (French: Moselle), and the Luxembourg and Belgian frontiers. Continuous with the Ardennes and the Hohes Venn (French: Haute Fagnes) of Belgium, the German plateau falls into three sections: Schneifel or Schnee-Eifel, Hocheifel, and Voreifel. In the Schneifel (German: "Snow Eifel"), near the Belgian frontier, scrub and forest are common, with cultivation only on the richer soils. The Hocheifel ("High Eifel"), which includes the highest point in the plateau, Hohe Acht (2,451 feet [747 m]), is a dissected highland drained to the east by the Ahr River, which flows through a vine-growing region. The Voreifel ("Fore-Eifel") slopes south to the Mosel, the tributaries of which dissect its smooth surface. Evidence of volcanic action can be seen in the explosion craters and small cones. Igneous rocks such as basalt, tuffs, and pumice are quarried in the area. The Eifel National Park is located in the northern part of the region
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