The information on this page is a summary description.
The full formal description is available here: Bihain Formation
| Abbreviation | BIH |
| Parent unit | Salm Group |
| Child units | |
| Lithological description | Black silty slate (called “quartzophyllade” in the older literature) and greenish sandstone. The Salm-Château Mbr (SCH, old: Sm3b): cleaved “quartzophyllade”, with thick bands of slates, often rich in pyrite, with many bioturbations. The Ruisseau d’ Oneu Mbr (ONE, old: Sm3a): greenish sandy slates with thin beds (5 cm) of sandstone with current bedding (convolute bedding and slumping). |
| Age | Mid and/or Late Ordovician based on acritarchs and chitinozoans (Vanguestaine, 1974, 1986) in the Salm-Château Mbr. |
| Thickness | Salm-Château Mbr: >150 m; Ruisseau d’ Oneu Mbr: 30 m; total thickness: >180 m. |
| Area of occurrence | In the southern part of the Stavelot Massif; in the metamorphic zone the slate contains small crystals of a particular chloritoid (ottrelite). |
| Type locality | Not yet defined; type area in the Bihain syncline; type area of the Salm-Château Mbr in the “cluse” of the Salm valley between Vielsalm and Salm-Château; type area of the Ruisseau d’ Oneu Mbr in the tributaries of the ruisseau de Groumont, south-east of Lierneux. |
| Alternative names | Sm3 |
| Authors | Verniers, J., Herbosch, A., Vanguestaine, M., Geukes, F., Delcambre, B., Pingot, J.-L., Belanger, I., Hennebert, M., Debacker, T., Sintubin, M. & De Vos, W. |
| Date | 01/01/2001 |
| Cite as | Verniers, J., Herbosch, A., Vanguestaine, M., Geukes, F., Delcambre, B., Pingot, J.-L., Belanger, I., Hennebert, M., Debacker, T., Sintubin, M. & De Vos, W., 2001. The Bihain Formation, 01/01/2001. National Commission for Stratigraphy Belgium. https://ncs.naturalsciences.be/lithostratigraphy/Bihain-Formation |
| Additional information |
