EGU23-11558, updated on 10 Jan 2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-11558
EGU General Assembly 2023
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of the lower Aalenian Opalinuston Formation from southern Germany

Jochen Erbacher, Thomas Mann, and André Bornemann
Jochen Erbacher et al.
  • BGR, Stratigraphy and Collections, Hannover, Germany (erbacher@bgr.de)

Aalenian sedimentary deposits in southern Germany have accumulated in a shallow-marine, epicontinental shelf environment. These accumulations are dominated by thick claystones and argillaceous siltstones, with increasing percentages of sandstones towards the top. Aalenian sediments are likely to represent a relatively complete stratigraphic record, however, the sedimentary evolution and paleoclimatic significance of these typically poorly exposed deposits remain largely unexplored. Here we present a suite of high-resolution x-ray fluorescence (XRF) core scanning data from southern Germany to identify Transgressive-Regressive cycles during the Aalenian stage. Results are based on three scientific drill cores of 200 – 250 m length that have been analyzed with an Avaatech XRF Core Scanner at a 10 mm sampling interval (10 keV, 500 µA). Resulting trends in elemental Si/Al ratios, which are indicative for subtle grain-size variations, combined with sedimentological observations on ichnofacies and bedform development were used to reconstruct shoreline trajectories and establish a sequence stratigraphic framework for the thick and largely homogenous lower Aalenian Opalinuston Formation.

How to cite: Erbacher, J., Mann, T., and Bornemann, A.: Sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of the lower Aalenian Opalinuston Formation from southern Germany, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-11558, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-11558, 2023.