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Microfacies development, sea-level change, and conodont stratigraphy of Famennian mid- to deep platform deposits of the Beringhauser Tunnel section (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, Germany)

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Abstract

High resolutional microfacies data from the Beringhauser Tunnel section in the northern part of the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge allow the reconstruction of a relative sea-level curve. Distinctive sedimentological signals in this cephalopod limestone section indicate the positions of sea-level lowstands that correlate well with pre-existing sea-level curves. Only slight differences in some lowstand positions have been observed by means of conodont biostratigraphy. The basal Famennian portion of the succession at the Beringhauser Tunnel section exposes microbial sedimentary structures reported from the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge for the first time that are indicative of initial mud-mound formation or mud-mound flanks. Further mud-mound growth with the development of a synsedimentary relief was stopped, probably due to drowning.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Willi Ziegler (†) for valuable and helpful comments on conodont stratigraphy. We are also indebted to Michael Amler (Marburg, bivalves), Dieter Korn (Berlin, cephalopods), Raimund Feist (Montpellier, trilobites), and Gerd Trost (Düsseldorf, brachipods) for their help in the determination of the macrofossils. Heartfelt thanks are extended to R. Thomas Becker (Münster), Eberhard Schindler (Frankfurt), and Matthias Piecha (Krefeld) for their cooperation in the Late Devonian working group of the German Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy. We would like to thank Z. Belka (Tübingen) for valuable comments. J. Over (Geneseo) improved the English of the manuscript. W. Buggisch (Erlangen) and R. Henrich (Bremen) kindly reviewed the manuscript and provided helpful comments

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  1. Institut für Geologie und Paläontologie, Universität Hannover, Callinstraße 30, 30167, Hannover

    Immo Schülke & Adrian Popp

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  1. Immo Schülke
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Correspondence to Immo Schülke.

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Schülke, I., Popp, A. Microfacies development, sea-level change, and conodont stratigraphy of Famennian mid- to deep platform deposits of the Beringhauser Tunnel section (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, Germany). Facies 50, 647–664 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-004-0041-6

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