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. https://ncs.naturalsciences.be/lithostratigraphy/Buntsandstein-Formation |
| Additional information | Although the name is derived from the lower unit in the tripartite subdivision of the Germanic Trias, the stratigraphic boundaries may diverge. The Buntsandstein Formation in the Campine basin largely corresponds to the Lower Germanic Trias Group of the Dutch Stratigraphic Nomenclature. The Gruitrode and Bullen Members correspond to the Nederweert Sandstone member of the Lower Buntsandstein Formation; the Bree Member corresponds to the Rogenstein Member of the Lower Buntsandstein Formation and to the Volpriehausen, Detfurth and Hardegsen Formations. A further subdivision of the Bree Member may be feasible but has not been attempted because of lack of data. The Gruitrode, Bullen and Bree Members were originally described in open nomenclature as Lower, Middle and Upper Buntsandstein respectively (cf. Dusar et al., 1987). |
