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Meded. Werkgr. Tert. Kwart. Geol. 25(2-3) 127-161 1 fig., 1 tab., 9 pis. Leiden, oktober 1988 Echinoids from the Early Palaeocene (Danian) of the Maastricht area (NE Belgium, SE Netherlands): preliminary results by der R.W.J.M. van Ham Delft, The Netherlands Ham, R.W.J.M. van der. Echinoids from the Early Palaeocene (Danian) of the Maastricht area (NE Belgium, SE Netherlands): preliminary results. —Meded. Werkgr. Tert. Kwart. Geol., 25 (2-3): 127-161, 1 fig., 1 tab., 9 pis. Leiden, October 1988. The echinoid fauna of the GeulhemChalk Member (Houthem Forma- tion, Early Palaeocene) is described and illustrated. It comprises twenty-eight species, twenty-one of which are regular. The material described was collected from two important sections in the Belgian and Dutch provinces ofLimburg. The fauna is compared with that oftime equivalent strata in the Mons Basin (S Belgium), and in Denmark and southern Sweden. of As data presented are a preliminary nature, no attempt is made to discuss the biostratigraphic value (spines of the genus Tylocidaris Pomel, 1883 in particular) of some species in this fauna. R.W.J.M. van der Ham, Piet Heinstraat 6, 2628 RK Delft, The Netherlands. 127 Contents Samenvatting, p. Introduction, p. 128 129 Acknowledgements, p. Localities and stratigraphy, p. 129 130 History and previous literature, p. 131 Systematic descriptions, p. and 156 Biostratigraphical biogeographical notes, p. Conclusion and suggestions for further study, p. 159 References, p. 159. Samenvatting Echinoiden uit het Paleoceen in de Vroeg (Danien) omgeving van Maastricht (NO België, ZO Nederland): voorlopige resultaten. 128 In de Maastricht in omgeving van zijn momenteel twee ontsluitingen aanwezig de Kalksteen van Geulhem Formatie de Curfs (Vroeg Paleoceen, Danien, van Houthem): voormalige groeve het Albertkanaal In de is alleen het onderste deel de (Nederland) en (België). eerstgenoemde van in de Kalksteen van Geulhem aanwezig, laatstgenoemde ook het bovenste deel. Dit artikel geeft een alle beschrijving van 28 zeegelsoorten (waaronder 21 regulaire) die in deze ontsluitingen in de Kalk- steen van Geulhem zijn aangetroffen. Speciale aandachtwordt besteed aan de zeeëgelfauna van het allerbovenste deelvan de Kalksteen dat 1985 1988 ontsloten van Geulhem, van tot was aan het Albertkanaal bij Kesselt. Dit deel leverde vele nieuwe het enkele hiervan soorten op voor gebied; zijn mogelijk nog niet beschreven. In de vorm van een historisch overzicht wordt een de literatuur samenvatting gegeven van met betrekking tot de zeeëgels van de Kalksteen van Geulhem. Veel van de in het Maastrichtse Danien voorkomende soorten zijn ook aangetroffen in het Danien en Montien van het Mons Bekken, in het zuiden in mindere in het Danien Denemarken Zuid-Zweden. van België, en, mate, van en Dit artikel beoogt een presentatie van voorlopige resultaten te zijn. Een aantal soorten kon nog niet worden gedetermineerd; enkele hiervan moeten mogelijk als nieuwe soorten beschreven worden. Voor is het niet het Voor de een vijftal soorten nog mogelijk gebleken om juiste genus te bepalen. vergelijking met de fauna’s uit het Mons Bekken en Denemarken/Zuid-Zweden is bijna uitsluitend uit die de correlaties dienen echter gebruik gemaakt van beschrijvingen van materiaal gebieden; aan Daarna eventueel het de hand van het materiaal zelf te worden gecontroleerd. is het mogelijk om Maastrichtse materiaal te gebruiken voor stratigrafische correlaties. Introduction During the excavations carried out with the aim of broadening the Albertkanaal SW of Maastricht, the opportunity existed to sample the complete section of the Geulhem Chalk (Early Palaeocene, in the Maastricht The Albertkanaal section contains also the of the Danian) area. upper part Geulhem Chalk; in the former Curfs quarry, the only other accessible exposure of Early Palaeocene in the environs of this is absent. In 1985 Mr deposits Maastricht, part probably M.J. van Birgelen Geulhem Albert- (Heerlen) discovered a probably yet unknown uppermost part of the Chalk in the kanaal section. The chalk the hard blocks in this Geulhem Chalk to soft, loamy among uppermost appeared con- tain a rich macrofauna. As the excavations progressed rapidly and the occurrence of the deposit be intensive carried the winterof proved to very local, sampling was out by sieving during 1985/1986. Afterwards, only occasionally was it possible to sample this fauna. In the beginning of 1988 the deposits were levelled. attention to the and rich echinoid fauna. In this the Special was paid well-preserved very way, number of species known from the Geulhem Chalk could be nearly tripled. Many of the new species from were previously recorded from the Montian of Eure (France), the Dano-Montianof the Mons region (S Belgium) and Zwartberg (NE Belgium), and from the Danian of Denmark/southern Sweden. Several earlier material from species described on very scanty (holotypes only) Caberg near and from collected in numbers. could be Maastricht, Zwartberg, were fairly large Some species not and thus be science. identified, may new to 129 with the echinoids from the Geulhem Chalk. This paper mainly deals uppermost They are final would demand of treated in a preliminary way, as a description a time-devouring study reference which is the the of the author. The also includes material, at moment beyond scope paper the echinoids from the lower of the parts Geulhem chalk, thus giving a state-of-affairs report of the echinoid fauna of the Palaeocene Early of the Maastricht area. Most of the studied and figured specimens belong to the collection of Mr M.J. van Birgelen (Heerlen). A small part is in the collection of the author. One specimen is from the collection of Mr from M. in W.M. Felder (Vijlen), and another one the Meijer collection the Natuurhistorisch Museum at Maastricht. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Mr The author wishes to acknowledge the kind cooperation of Mr M.J. van Birgelen (Heerlen), W.M. Felder (Vijlen), and Mr H. Peeters (Natuurhistorisch Museum, Maastricht), who made the echinoid material described in this available for He is much indebted Mr paper study. to J.W.M. who useful Jagt (Venlo), provided many suggestions. LOCALITIES AND STRATIGRAPHY The studied from localities the former Curfs few hundred specimens originate two (Fig. 1): quarry, a metres NW of the village of Berg (The Netherlands), and the Albertkanaal between Veldwezelt and Vroenhoven (Belgium), to the West of Maastricht. They all stem from the Geulhem Chalk (Early Palaeocene, Danian), which is the stratigraphically oldest unit of the Tertiary in the Maastricht area. 6 in The Curfs section, representing the lower part of the Geulhem Chalk, measures about m with height. Most of the echinoids were collected from the lowermost metre, mainly by sieving a net in Worn of fauna elements the (1 mm mesh) water. fragments from underlying, transgressively eroded Maastrichtian encountered were only very rarely. The Albertkanaal section, representing the complete Geulhem Chalk, measured about 12 m in Echinoids from the lower and could be collected E and SE of the of height. upper part NE, village Chalk Kesselt (Belgium), along both sides of the canal. The uppermost Geulhem was only present of the the NE of Kesselt. It was exposed on the West bank of the canal, opposite stretch between and 87 the East the watermark. The rich Dutch boundary-marks nr 86 nr on bank, just above echinoid fauna from 1 thick of chalk with embedded stems an up to m layer soft, loamy large, rounded The The hard contained blocks. echinoids came from the soft material. blocks many casts of Bivalviaand Gastropoda, and sometimes of Cephalopoda (Nautiloidea), but echinoid material was with in seen only very rarely in them. Sampling mostly took place by sieving a net (1 mm mesh) The 'echinoid overlain 1.5 fossiliferous water. layer' was by an up to m thick, chalky, poorly layer. This Geulhem Chalk covered of uppermost was by a sandy deposit probably Tongrian age. 130 Fig. 1. Localities of former and present-day exposures of the Geulhem Chalk (Early Palaeocene, Danian) in the Maastricht based of WEST of the area, on parts sheets 61 and 62 topographical map 1: 80.000 (Topografische Dienst, 1981). HISTORY AND PREVIOUS LITERATURE the echinoid Danian in the Hyposalenia heliophora (Desor, 1846) was first to be described from deposits Maastricht area. In the 'Paleontologie frangaise', d'Orbigny (1855, 1856) and Cotteau (1866) des- cribed ? Linthia breviuscula, Procassidulus elongatus, and Goniopygus heberti for the environs of Maastricht. In 1863 Cotteau mentioned the occurrence of Tylocidaris hardouini from this region. All these early data demonstrate that already in the nineteenthcentury Danian deposits in the Maastricht area were accessible for palaeontological study. in the late nineteen localities Nearly a century later, fifties, Meijer discovered the presumed type of the mentioned above. Besides the former Curfs and the he knew species quarry Albertkanaal, two otherlocalities where Danian the SW of strata had been found: Louwberg, Maastricht, and a small the side of the Sint S of Maastricht quarry at western Pietersberg, (Meijer, 1959). These localities unknown of the (Fig. 1) are to the author present paper. Probably, only the lowermost part of the there. Geulhem Chalk was represented of S of In a listing exposures Maastricht, Felder (1963) treated the Danian stratigraphy of the Albertkanaal section, figuring several Tylocidaris spines. 131 Meijer (1965) listed 11 echinoid species for the 'Dano-Montian' in the neighbourhood of Maastricht Procassidulus P. chalmasi and P. aff. chalmasi P. while his Salenia (his sp., are elongatus, sp. be and Procassidulus proved to a juvenile Hyposalenia heliophora). Hyposalenia heliophora elongatus were considered by him as typical of his upper echinoid sequence of the Maastricht chalk. Rasmussen (1965) figured several cidaroid fragments, Procassidulus elongatus, and many other fossils from the 'Post-Maastrichtian' of the Albertkanaal and the former Curfs quarry. In 1972, Engel described ‘Phymosoma’ maastrichtensis for the Danian of the Belvedere quarry at NW of Maastricht.