The information on this page is a summary description.
The full formal description is available here: Merksplas Formation
Abbreviation
Me
Parent unit
Child units
Lithological description
Medium to very coarse sand that is grey coloured, quartz-rich. Typical is the presence of peaty material, vegetation remains and wood fragments. Can contain clay laminae or lenses and some glauconite. It can contain some gravel and in the lower part (reworked) shell fragments or grit. The dominant stratification is massive, horizontal and planar. The silt/clay lenses are often deposited as flasers.
Age
Probably late Pliocene and early Quaternary (Pretiglian; Bogemans (2005) and references therein).
Thickness
On average about 15 m (Deckers et al., 2019).
Area of occurrence
In the subsurface of the northern Campine area. In the area around Turnhout, there is a lateral transition in eastern direction into the Mol Formation.
Type locality
The type locality is the subsurface of the village of Merksplas in the Campine area in northernmost Belgium. The type geophysical borehole log is borehole Essen (GSB 001e0044; DOV B/1-0358) between 46 m and 64 m depth (Figure 63 1). Concerning the archives of the Geological Survey of Belgium: in the areas where a distinction between the Merksplas Formation and the Brasschaat Member (Malle Formation) could not be made the term Merksplas Sand is used (Louwye et al., 2020).
Alternative names
Authors
Deckers, J., Bogemans, F., Lanckacker, T., Louwye, S., Vandenberghe, N. & Walstra, J.
Date
01/09/2023
Cite as
Deckers, J., Bogemans, F., Lanckacker, T., Louwye, S., Vandenberghe, N. & Walstra, J., 2023. The Merksplas Formation, 01/09/2023. National Commission for Stratigraphy Belgium. http://ncs.naturalsciences.be/lithostratigraphy/Merksplas-Formation
