The information on this page is a summary description.
The full formal description is available here: Houthem Formation
| Abbreviation | Ho |
| Parent unit | Chalk group |
| Child unit | |
| Lithological description | This marine entity consists of soft, pale grey to pale yellow, mostly coarse and porous limestone with firm shell layers and limestone knolls. The basal part looks more greenish and contains glauconite grains. At the contact with the underlying Maastricht Fm, a hard layer with bioturbations (“hardground”) is found. |
| Age | Early and Middle Danian. |
| Thickness | Probably maximum 63 m (Turnhout). |
| Area of occurrence | The formation is found in the subsoil of Central and North Limburg and in the northern part of the province of Antwerp. It is locally found in outcrops southwest of Maastricht (Vroenhoven). |
| Type locality | Stratotype: The section between -240 m and -274 m in the borehole Opoeteren (KS 22 or 63E222) can be considered as a hypostratotype. Sheet 26/2 (Opoeteren). Co-ordinates: x = 238.831, y = 191.238, z = +88 m. |
| Alternative names | |
| Authors | Laga, P., Louwye S. & Geets, S. |
| Date | 01/01/2001 |
| Cite as | Laga, P., Louwye S. & Geets, S., 2001. The Houthem Formation, 01/01/2001. National Commission for Stratigraphy Belgium. http://ncs.naturalsciences.be/lithostratigraphy/Houthem-Formation |
