The information on this page is a summary description.
The full formal description is available here: St. Paulus Member
| Abbreviation | |
| Parent unit | Arenberg Formation |
| Child units | |
| Lithological description | Yellow, brown and grey clayey, silty or sandy deposits. The lower parts of the member are generally more clayey, but may be sandy if the underlying deposit is sand. The deposits are predominantly massively bedded; sedimentary structures and intercalations are generally absent. Gley features are common as well as Fe/Mn concentrations or stains, especially in the upper part. Calcium carbonate concretions and vivianite are absent. Typically, the St. Paulus Member forms the uppermost layer of the Holocene floodplain deposits. In parts of the valleys the St. Paulus Member may overlie fluvial but also non-fluvial sediments of pre-Holocene age (Fig. 1). The lower boundary of the member can be distinct or more gradual as is the case where it overlies the Gemelingen Member. The present day floodplain topography is very often the result of the deposition of this unit. The grain size characteristics of the member are strongly related to the present-day river and its position within the floodplain. The deposits are more sandy near the river and on the natural levee if present, and more clayey in the floodplain depressions. This is the result of overbank flooding processes, with overtopping of the riverbanks and differential sediment sorting. The St. Paulus Member is well developed in the loess belt of Central Belgium but less so in the northerly sandy regions of Belgium. |
| Age | Late Holocene. |
| Thickness | 0.5 to 4 meter |
| Area of occurrence | Schelde basin. |
| Type locality | Alluvial plain of the Mark river, Galmaarden, Lambert coordinates: x=119056 to 119954; y=159530 to 160388 (Huybrechts, W., 1985). |
| Alternative names | |
| Authors | Bogemans, F., Kiden, P., Huybrechts, W., Notebaert, B., Beerten, K., Lanckacker, T., Rixhon, G. & Heyvaert, V. |
| Date | 01/01/2017 |
| Cite as | Bogemans, F., Kiden, P., Huybrechts, W., Notebaert, B., Beerten, K., Lanckacker, T., Rixhon, G. & Heyvaert, V., 2017. The St. Paulus Member, 01/01/2017. National Commission for Stratigraphy Belgium. http://ncs.naturalsciences.be/lithostratigraphy/St.-Paulus-Member |
