The information on this page is a summary description.
The full formal description is available here: Buntsandstein Formation
| Abbreviation | |
| Parent unit | Altena Group |
| Child units | Gruitrode Member, Bullen Member, Bree Member |
| Lithological description | The Buntsandstein Formation encompasses all predominantly red-coloured and sandy siliciclastic sediments, assigned to the Lower Triassic. The overall regressive trend, introduced by the underlying Helchteren Formation, and characterised by a coarsening upward trend, is continuing . The Buntsandstein Formation is deposited in a floodplain with gradual change from fining upwards channel fills to coarse flood sheets with intercalated clay-playas. Remarkable is the systematic succession of fining upward cycles with stable thickness, varying between 8-15 m, regardless of differences in sand-clay content. This may be indicative for the interaction between a constant subsidence regime and allocyclic sedimentation. Base: concordant from Helchteren Formation; top: disconformity with Rot Formation (contact not observed). |
| Age | Lower Triassic, Scythian (no chronostratigraphic or biostratigraphic dating available). |
| Thickness | Max. preserved thickness 490 m in drilled part of Campine Basin. In the Roer Valley Graben (well KB64) total thickness may be only 430 m. |
| Area of occurrence | Northeastern Campine basin and Roer Valley Graben; erosion due to the Cimmerian Uplift of the Brabant Massif has removed these deposits from the adjoining areas in the Campine Basin and eastern part of the Brabant Massif . All Triassic deposits are characteristic for the Germanic Facies Province, extending over the former Southern Permian Basin (Ziegler, 1990). |
| Type locality | Defined for the members of the Buntsandstein Formation. |
| Alternative names | |
| Authors | Dusar, M., Langenaeker, V. & Wouters, L. |
| Date | 01/01/2001 |
| Cite as | Dusar, M., Langenaeker, V. & Wouters, L., 2001. The Buntsandstein Formation, 01/01/2001. National Commission for Stratigraphy Belgium. http://ncs.naturalsciences.be/lithostratigraphy/Buntsandstein-Formation |
