The strong diachronous Muschelkalk/Keuper facies shift in the Central European Basin: implications from the type-section of the Erfurt Formation (Lower Keuper, Triassic) and basin-wide correlations

Abstract

The transition from the shallow marine Upper Muschelkalk Sea to the Lower Keuper fluvial plain represents the most diachronous facies shift of the entire Germanic Triassic. The type-section of the fluvial Lower Keuper (Erfurt Formation) is described in detail for the first time including biostratigraphic dating of the Muschelkalk/Keuper boundary. The type-section is integrated into a NNE-SSW cross section through the Central European Basin, and the Muschelkalk/Keuper facies shift is constrained by high-resolution conodont and ceratite biostratigraphy. Thus, the fundamental changes in palaeogeography, shifts of facies belts and stratal pattern architecture are visualised. Forced by a rapid transgression from Tethyan waters, the shallow marine Upper Muschelkalk Sea attained its maximum flooding in the lower conodont zone 2 (sequens/pulcher to philippi/robustus zones). Subsequent slow continuous regression to the South was accompanied by step-by-step progradation of coastal to fluvial plain environments of the Lower Keuper, culminating in a fluvial plain extending to South Germany. Based on stratal patterns, an improved sequence-stratigraphic interpretation for the Upper Muschelkalk/Lower Keuper interval is suggested. In combination with biostratigraphic arguments, the new sequence-stratigraphy points to a revised correlation of this interval within the Tethyan Triassic, incorporating the positions of the Anisian/Ladinian and Fassanian/Longobardian boundaries.