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A continent-wide framework for local and regional stratigraphies Gijssel, K. van Citation Gijssel, K. van. (2006, November 22). A continent-wide framework for local and regional stratigraphies. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/4985 Version: Not Applicable (or Unknown) Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral thesis in the License: Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/4985 Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable). Chapter 4 A SUPPLEMENTARY STRATIGRAPHICAL FRAMEWORK FOR NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL EU- ROPE ON THE BASIS OF GENETIC SEQUENCE AND EVENT STRATIGRAPHY Having reviewed the contemporary Middle Pleistocene stratigra- Basin which have acted as main Pleistocene depocentres, such phy of Northwest and Central Europe by discussing five broad as the Central Graben, the Sole Pit and three composed subba- categories of environments and their sedimentary products, they sins in the southern part of the North Sea Basin: the Anglo- are now placed into a framework of interregional extent and sig- Dutch (Broad Fourteens, Western Netherlands), the North Ger- nificance. Such a large-scale framework requires a material basis man and the Polish sub-basins. The eastern part of the North- from the type localities and type regions with uniformly defined west European Basin was only marginally influenced by tecton- units for interpretation. Since the existing (national) classification ics during the Pleistocene. systems are based on different criteria, a supplementary, non-in- - The continued activity of rift structures in the Central European terpretive stratigraphical framework is advocated in this chapter in uplands in between the North Sea Basin and the Alps (Ziegler which the existing litho-, bio-, soil- and other stratigraphical ele- 1994). Examples of these medium-scale areas in Northwest and ments have been integrated into local- and regional-scale units Central Europe, showing disruption into grabens and horsts, are recognised and defined on the basis of bounding unconformities given in table 4.1. Some of these tectonic movements are ac- and depositional environment. These are used as event markers for companied by volcanic activity which continued into to the palaeoclimatic reconstruction and interregional correlation. Pleistocene (e.g. in the Neuwied Basin and in the Eger Graben). The complex geotectonic structure of the western part of Europe is in contrast to the rather homogeneous subsurface geology of the 4.1 Main natural type regions of Northwest and Pre-Cambrian East European Platform, comprising among others Central Europe the Polish Platform and the Russian Plain. The latter extensive region has been relatively stable since and is covered by a rela- tively thin Pleistocene succession. 4.1.1 Geotectonic type regions Sedimentary sequences are best compared within natural type re- 4.1.2 Distribution of Pleistocene sediments gions that can be distinguished on the basis of morphology, geo- tectonic structure, regional substrate and drainage characteristics. Pleistocene sedimentation, climate and environment is superim- The present-day topographical mosaic of high- and low-relief ar- posed on the geotectonic framework of the European continent 1 eas in Northwest - and Central Europe, i.e. the broad distribution briefly presented above. Whereas the type regions in the highlands of mountain areas, basins and valleys (Fig. 4.1), is largely control- and uplands are generally related to areas of uplift and erosion, led by long-term tectonic processes which were active during dif- thickest Pleistocene accumulations are found in the large- and me- ferent geological epochs. The basement of the geotectonic frame- dium-scale sedimentary basins of the European lowlands. The work is formed by the tectonic and morphological highs of the Pleistocene sediments normally rest on Tertiary sequences and de- Pre-Cambrian Baltic Shield / Fennoscandian High and the Palaeo- pict the continuation of the Cenozoic geological development. zoic Caledonian and Variscan Massifs (legend unit 1 in Fig. 4.1). Between these tectonic blocks in the European upland areas are The formation and distribution of Pleistocene sediment types (former) sedimentary basins and graben systems situated filled within the different type regions is related to depositional environ- with younger Mesozoic and Cenozoic deposits. ment and source area. Wide-spread events, of 4th order cyclicity, related to climatic change, such as glaciations, marine transgres- Regional tectonic histories will not be discussed here in detail. sions and loess deposition, have left significant sequences. The st nd Only the three most important tectonic events (of 1 and 2 order longest sequences, whether they be interrupted by hiatuses or con- 2 cyclicity), active during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras , are tinuous, are predominantly found in areas which have not suffered briefly discussed: the strongly erosional effect of sporadic glaciation, i.e. in the ext- - The Alpine orogeny, comprising the upthrusting of the Alps and raglacial areas. This allows further subdivision of the geotectonic the Carpathians in several phases. The highlands of the Alpine regions into glaciated areas and non-glaciated areas in which a foldbelt roughly form the European water divide. The northern zonal latitudinal aspect can be seen. A further distinction can be Alpine foreland (nAF) and the Carpathian foreland (CF) are made on the basis of the source areas of the sediments that filled large-scale basins, resulting from the upthrusted Alpine fronts the basins. Source areas comprise the centres of glaciation within in which thick Tertiary sediments were deposited. Some impor- the glaciated areas and the drainage basins of the large river sys- tant large-scale subsidence basins south of these mountain rang- tems. These subdivisions are important for the lithostratigraphical es are the Po Basin (PoB), the Vienna Basin (VB) and the Pan- subdivision, for example, with regard to the petrographical and nonian Basin (PnB). mineralogical characteristics of the deposits. - The opening of the North Atlantic and associated opening of the There are, however, differences between depositional environ- Northwest European Basin during the early Tertiary, resulting ments that have prevailed. Fluvial, glacial and marine sequences, in continued large-scale subsidence along a NW-SE axis con- which dominate the infill of most large- and medium-scale basins, centrated in the Central North Sea. Subsequent differential sub- are the product of dynamic and erosional environments, i.e. they sidence led to the origin of several sub-basins in the North Sea 39 40 Figure 4.1 Location map showing the main geotectonic type regions in Northwest and Central Europe featuring Mesozoic and Cenozoic large- and medium-scale sedimentary basins (from Geological Map of Europe, BGR/Unesco). 1. Precambrian, 2. Mesozoic, 3. Cenozoic basins and sub-basins, 4. Alpine orogenic fold belt, 5. Alpine nappes, 6. Quaternary volcanic rocks. Abbreviations are explained in table 4.1. comprise many unconformities. Their preservation potential is uous sedimentation and biological productivity. They have a high governed by rates of subsidence and sedimentation. preservation potential but often are time-restricted. Small-scale basins and depressions within each geotectonic type The combination of the nature of Pleistocene sedimentary se- region may occur as a result of (salt) tectonics, solution and karst quences on the one hand, and morphology, subsurface geology processes, volcanic activity3 and processes associated with glacial, and tectonic structures on the other, allows a distinction of the fol- cryogenic, fluvial and aeolian erosion4 (section 3.2.5). They are lowing type regions and subregions in Europe: generally important local sediment traps recording (semi-)contin- Non-glaciated type areas (from Glaciated type areas W to E) Large- and medium- Paris Basin (PB), Southern North Sea Basin: scale lowland basins: Lower Rhine Embayment (LRE), -Anglo-Dutch North Sea subbasin (AD-NS) Pannonian basin (PnB): -North German North Sea basin (NG-NS) -Polish North Sea basin (P-NS) or Polish Through Münsterland basin Danish Basin (ND) Oslo Graben Polish Platform (PP) incl. the Klestow graben Russian Plain (RP) Large- and medium- Neuwied Basin (NB) London Basin (LB) scale upland basins: Leine Graben Münsterland Basin, North Bohemian Basins (BB) Hessian Depression Eger Graben (EB) Subhercynian basin (SB) Upper Rhine Graben (URG) Thuringian basin (TB) easternmost part of northern Alpine foreland Carpatian foreland (CF): subdivided into a basin (e-AF) northern and eastern part Bresse Graben (BG) Northern Alpine foreland (n-AF), subdivided into a western part, central part and an eastern part. Upland (geotectonic) British Highs (Welsh-Anglia High, Pennine Vosges Mts. areas/highs High, Scottish Highlands) Armorican Massif Black Forest Mts. Massif Central Harz Mts. Ardennes and adjacent London Brabant Jura Mts. Massif (LBM) Rhenish Massif (Hunsrück, Westerwald, the Alps (Central, Western, Eastern) Taunus, Eifel) Thuringian Forest Carpatians Flechtinger High Holy Cross Mts. Osning zone Bohemian Massif Table 4.1: Geotectonic subdivision of Northwest and Central Europe and Quaternary sediment type areas. 41 4.2 Building components of the genetic sequence hercynic basin and the Thuringian basin. Together with equivalent stratigraphical framework for the Middle Pleistocene glacial
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  • First Record of Trogontherium Cuvieri (Rodentia, Castoridae) from the Oosterschelde

    First Record of Trogontherium Cuvieri (Rodentia, Castoridae) from the Oosterschelde

    David F. Mayhew 1 2, John de Vos2 & Joop C. van Veen3 1 Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam 2 Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum Naturalis, Leiden 3 Teylers Museum, Haarlem First record of Trogontherium cuvieri (Rodentia, Castoridae) from the Oosterschelde Mayhew, D.F., de Vos, J. & van Veen, J.C., 2008 - The first record of Trogontherium cuvieri (Rodentia, Castoridae) from the Oosterschelde - DEINSEA 12: 17 - 20 [ISSN 0923-9308]. Published online 10 July 2008. A fragment of right tibio-fibula from the bed of the Oosterschelde deep channel is identified as Trogontherium cuvieri, not recorded previously from this area. The bone is larger than other material from Late Pliocene/ Early Pleistocene deposits in the Netherlands and the UK and falls within the size range of Middle Pleistocene material. Various interpretations are possible: size variation through time, sexual dimorphism (not previously recorded) or else the mixing of Middle Pleistocene material with the fauna from the Oosterschelde deep channel. Correspondence: David F. Mayhew (corresponding author), Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam, P.O.Box 23452, NL-3001 KL, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, e-mail: [email protected]; John de Vos, Naturalis, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands; Joop C. van Veen, Teylers Museum, Spaarne 16, 2011 CH Haarlem, The Netherlands. Keywords: Rodentia, Castoridae, Trogontherium, southwest Netherlands, Late Pliocene, Early Pleistocene INTRODUCTION various different generic and specific names. During the trawling operations of the annual The genus was reviewed by Mayhew (1978, ‘Kor en Bot’ trip in 2001, a fragment of a right see for synonymy and detailed references) tibio-fibula of a beaver was recovered from a with the conclusion that the genus was a depth of 36m in the channel just off the coast single lineage, with an increase in body size of Schouwen-Duiveland near Zierikzee (prov- through the Pliocene and Pleistocene fol- ince of Zeeland, The Netherlands).