Revising the Gent Formation: a new lithostratigraphy for Quaternary wind-dominated sand deposits in Belgium

Abstract

1. IntroductionThe Gent Formation was introduced by Paepe & Vanhoorne (1976) to include “all coversands deposited during the Weichselian”. Gullentops et al. (2001) extended the chronostratigraphical position of the Gent Formation to all sandy aeolian coversand deposits dating from the Middle and Late Pleistocene (Tables 1 & 2) and subdivided the formation in three members: the Dilsen Member (pre-Weichselian), the Sint-Lenaarts Member and the Wildert Member (both Weichselian). The Dilsen Member was initially introduced by Paulissen (1973) to include the coversand deposits in which an interglacial (Eemian) soil had developed. The Sint-Lenaarts Member was originally defined by De Ploey (1961) as reworked aeolian sand, with silt and peat layers, occurring underneath the Wildert Member. The latter included all coversand deposits that covered the pre-existing landscape as a blanket. In the scheme proposed by Gullentops et al. (2001), aeolian sands that constitute a dune landform where grouped into the Hechtel Formation. This formation included Late Glacial dune sands covering the Usselo Soil (Gullentops, 1957), as well as drift sands originating from aeolian reworking of older dune sands and Podzols during the Holocene (grouped in the Kalmthout Member; De Ploey, 1961). Table 1. Quaternary lithostratigraphy of marine, fluvial and aeolian deposits of Belgium, as defined in Gullentops et al. (2001).Table 2. Correlation between the latest version of the Dutch lithostratigraphy (TNO, 20