Muschelkalk
Lithostratigraphic unit in Europe / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Muschelkalk (German for "shell-bearing limestone"; French: calcaire coquillier) is a sequence of sedimentary rock strata (a lithostratigraphic unit) in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic (240 to 230 million years) age and forms the middle part of the three-part Germanic Trias (that gives the Triassic its name) lying above the older Buntsandstein and below the younger Keuper. The Muschelkalk ("mussel-chalk") consists of a sequence of limestone and dolomite beds.
System | Series | Stage | Age (Ma) | European lithostratigraphy |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jurassic | Lower | Hettangian | younger | Lias |
Triassic | Upper | Rhaetian | 201.4–208.5 | |
Keuper | ||||
Norian | 208.5–227.0 | |||
Carnian | 227.0–237.0 | |||
Middle | Ladinian | 237.0–242.0 | ||
Muschelkalk | ||||
Anisian | 242.0–247.2 | |||
Bunter or Buntsandstein | ||||
Lower | Olenekian | 247.2–251.2 | ||
Induan | 251.2–251.9 | |||
Permian | Lopingian | Changhsingian | older | |
Zechstein | ||||
Major lithostratigraphic units of northwest Europe with the ICS's geologic timescale of the Triassic.[1] |
In the past, the time span in which the Muschelkalk was deposited could also be called "Muschelkalk". In modern stratigraphy, however, the name only applies to the layers of rock.