The structure of the massif is complex, with many faults. The major drainage routes at the level of the present-day erosional base run parallel to the surrounding valleys; the major part of groundwater emerges in the Schwarzbachfall resurgence at the altitude of 560 m. The discharge at high water season is 0.5 m3/s.
The area is very interesting because of its geological and tectonic setting. The position near the northern edge of the Salzburger Alps plate and the transmission of uplift-related stress created an interesting tectonic system. This narrow ridge, arranged perpendicular to the master valley is cut by a thrust plane at an acute angle.
This provides for the great differences in the effects of karstic phenomena between the southern and the northern part of the area. The progress of relief-forming processes and lowering of the erosional base result in shifting with time of the resurgence zones from the south around the massif - to the east and north. Tracing and correlation of the effects of evolution of karst phenomena in an area where rock masses with markedly differing dips of strata are juxtaposed provides an exceptional opportunity for observations that document the course of the relief-forming karst processes.

The Göll massif seen from the South, ph. Paweł Krzyszkowski