Saar-Nahe Basin Research Articles

Putative branchiopod and vertebrate eggs from the Remigiusberg Lagerstätte (Pennsylvanian-Permian boundary) of the Saar-Nahe Basin, SW Germany

Putative branchiopod and vertebrate eggs from the Remigiusberg Lagerstätte (Pennsylvanian-Permian boundary) of the Saar-Nahe Basin, SW Germany

Rock characteristics and reservoir properties of Upper Carboniferous (Stephanian A–B) tight siliciclastic rocks from the Saar–Nahe basin (SW Germany)

Rock characteristics and reservoir properties of Upper Carboniferous (Stephanian A–B) tight siliciclastic rocks from the Saar–Nahe basin (SW Germany)

Evolution of Upper Carboniferous tight sandstone reservoirs in the Ruhr and Lower Saxony basins (NW Germany) of the Central European Variscan foreland

Foreland basins have been extensively explored for hydrocarbon resources, geothermal, and gas storage applications, and multidisciplinarily studied to reconstruct orogenic processes. In fact, in the case of the Late Carboniferous Central European Variscan foreland basin, numerous drill cores have been recovered by the hard coal industry and comprehensive geological data sets have been made available by research. These cores and data sets provide a continuous record of the tectono-sedimentary and reservoir evolution over time. For this purpose, we have compiled petrophysical and petrographic literature data of >450 mostly tight (porosity <10%, permeability <1 mD) siliciclastic rock samples from Variscan foreland (Ruhr and Lower Saxony basin, NW Germany) and intramontane basins (Saar-Nahe basin, SW Germany) covering the complete Late Carboniferous stratigraphy. As a result, increases in mean grain size, sorting, detrital quartz, and proportion of metamorphic to sedimentary rock fragment contents, and decreases in detrital feldspar contents along the Westphalian B–C boundary are interpreted as a response to sedimentary recycling and unroofing of the Variscan hinterland due to tectonic uplift in the course of the northwestward propagating Variscan front. Thus, tectonics have a greater influence on sandstone petrography and porosity than the depositional environment. Porosity is mainly controlled by grain size and dissolution porosity. Basin-specific paleogeothermal gradients affect authigenic quartz (up to 25.0%) and chlorite (up to 7.7%) formation. Moreover, quartz cement contents <5% may stabilize the granular framework against mechanical compaction preserving porosity. With increasing quartz cement contents >5%, however, pore space is progressively clogged and the porosity preserving effect diminishes.

A new eryopid temnospondyl from the Carboniferous–Permian boundary of Germany

AbstractA new eryopid temnospondyl, Stenokranio boldi n. gen. n. sp. is described based on well-preserved cranial and postcranial material from fluvio-lacustrine deposits of the Permo-Carboniferous (Gzhelian/Asselian) Remigiusberg Formation at the Remigiusberg quarry near Kusel, Saar–Nahe Basin, southwest Germany. The new taxon is characterized by three autapomorphies within the Eryopidae: (1) the relatively narrow posterior skull table, therefore nearly parallel lateral margins of the skull; (2) the short postparietals and tabulars; and (3) the wide ectopterygoid. Phylogenetic analysis reveals a monophyletic Eryopidae with the basal taxa Osteophorus, Glaukerpeton, and Onchiodon labyrinthicus forming a polytomy. Actinodon may be either a basal eryopid or a stereospondylomorph, and the genus Onchiodon is not monophyletic. Stenokranio n. gen. is found as a more derived eryopid forming the sister taxon to Eryops. Stenokranio n. gen. was among the largest predators of the Saar–Nahe Basin. Its semiaquatic lifestyle enabled Stenokranio n. gen. to browse riverbanks and lake shorelines for prey, but most likely it fed on aquatic vertebrates. Stenokranio n. gen. was part of a faunal assemblage of aquatic, semiaquatic, and fully terrestrial vertebrates, such as sarcopterygian and actinopterygian fishes, xenacanthid sharks, a dvinosaurian temnospondyl, different “lepospondyls”, diadectomorphs, and synapsids. This is in general accordance with the vertebrate community from the Permo-Carboniferous of North America and from the early Permian localities of Manebach (Thuringian Forest Basin) and Niederhäslich (Döhlen Basin). It is notable that the occurrence of Stenokranio n. gen. and other eryopids in these localities excluded the presence of other large temnospondyls such as Sclerocephalus. However, a previously described isolated eryopid mandible from the Remigiusberg locality differs from that of Stenokranio n. gen. in several characters, implying that probably two different eryopid taxa lived at the same locality.UUID: www.zoobank.org/88a52547-d6fc-40af-965c-a6786c252ed5

Diversity and variability of grylloblattidan insects (Grylloblattida) from the early Permian Meisenheim Formation of the Saar-Nahe Basin (SW-Germany)

Diversity and variability of grylloblattidan insects (Grylloblattida) from the early Permian Meisenheim Formation of the Saar-Nahe Basin (SW-Germany)

A new archaeorthopteran insect from the Early Permian of the Saar-Nahe Basin, SW Germany, and the earliest record of Elcanoidea (Orthoptera)

A new archaeorthopteran insect from the Early Permian of the Saar-Nahe Basin, SW Germany, and the earliest record of Elcanoidea (Orthoptera)

Egg deposition on carapaces of the giant clam shrimp Palaeolimnadiopsis (Crustacea: Spinicaudata) from the Early Permian of the Saar-Nahe Basin, SW Germany

Egg deposition on carapaces of the giant clam shrimp Palaeolimnadiopsis (Crustacea: Spinicaudata) from the Early Permian of the Saar-Nahe Basin, SW Germany

First high-precision U–Pb age from the Pennsylvanian-Permian of the continental Saar–Nahe Basin, SW Germany

First high-precision U–Pb age from the Pennsylvanian-Permian of the continental Saar–Nahe Basin, SW Germany

A new putative moss bug (Insecta: Hemiptera) from the lower Permian of the Saar-Nahe Basin, SW Germany, and the age of Coleorrhyncha

ABSTRACT Permoridium fresenaci gen. et sp. nov., the oldest putative representative of the bug suborder Coleorrhyncha, is described from the lower Permian of Germany, in the new family Permoridiidae. The main autapomorphies of the new taxon are the separation of M+CuA from R at extreme wing base and the veins CuP and PCu strongly appressed. Its position in the Hemiptera is discussed. Its attribution to the modern Coleorrhyncha is supported by the putative synapomorphies ‘a very long and well-defined ScP, ending into RA’, ‘ScP appressed R +M+CuA at extreme wing base’ and ‘a strong ScA, distant from costal vein and with a short anterior branch at its extreme base, ending into C, plus posterior branches’. The relationships of the extinct families Hoploridiidae, Karabasiidae and Progonocimicidae with the extant Coleorrhyncha are discussed. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:6B3A89FF-6265-4F50-A73E-11D791488909

Grylloblattidan insects from Sperbersbach and Cabarz (Germany), two new early Permian and insect-rich localities

AbstractNew fossil insect specimens from two new localities in Germany, namely Sperbersbach and Cabarz (Goldlauter Formation; early Permian), belonging to the Grylloblattida, are described. Abundant material is assigned to Pictoborella clara n. gen. n. sp., regarded as closely related to Pictoborella germanica (Prokop et al., 2012) n. comb., from the Saar-Nahe Basin (Germany; early Permian). Liomopterum fuscatum n. sp., represented by fewer specimens, is delimited based on previously published and new data on various Liomopterum spp. Two other Liomopteridae, Uralioma thuringiensis n. sp. and Liomopterites sperbersbachensis n. sp., each known from a single forewing, are also described. Finally, Cabarzopterum magnificus n. gen. n. sp., with unclear familial affinities, is described based on three forewings. The assemblages of grylloblattidan insects at Sperbersbach and Cabarz are generally similar, with differences probably related to different depositional environments and local paleoclimatic conditions.UUID: http://zoobank.org/25ae125c-6a17-415f-8cf0-4c0507e4f89d

A new archaeorthopteran insect from the Early Permian of the Saar-Nahe Basin, SW Germany

A new archaeorthopteran insect from the Early Permian of the Saar-Nahe Basin, SW Germany

The first Permian scorpionfly from Germany (Insecta, Panorpida: Protomeropidae)

A new genus and species, Glanomerope virgoferroa gen. et sp. nov., the first Permian record of a scorpionfly from Germany, is described from the Niedermoschel black shale, Meisenheim Formation, Lower Rotliegend of the Saar-Nahe basin. It is assigned to the Protomeropidae, the oldest known family of the holometabolous superorder Panorpida, ranging from the Bashkirian-Moscovian (Late Carboniferous) to the Roadian. It confirms that this family was very diverse in Central Europe during the Early Permian. Protomeropidae possibly became extinct in the course of major climatic changes that progressively affected the supercontinent Pangea after the Artinskian, although generally these changes seem to have more severely affected some other insects such as the palaeopteran Dictyoneuridae than holometabolous groups.

Entwicklung des Saar-Nahe-Beckens im späten Paläozoikum abb:5 tab:1

Entwicklung des Saar-Nahe-Beckens im späten Paläozoikum abb:5 tab:1

Osteology of the Permian temnospondyl amphibian &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Glanochthon lellbachae&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; and its relationships

Abstract. The early Permian Meisenheim Formation of the Saar–Nahe Basin (Germany) is famous for its richness in vertebrate fossils, among which the temnospondyls were present with microvores and fish-eating apex predators. The latter trophic guild was occupied exclusively by the genus Sclerocephalus in that basin within a long time interval up to M8, whereas in M9, a new taxon, Glanochthon lellbachae, appeared. This taxon is defined by (1) a preorbital region 1.8–2.0 times as long as the postorbital skull table, (2) dermal ornament with tall radial ridges, (3) a prefrontal anteriorly wider with straight lateral margin, (4) a squamosal posteriorly only half as wide as the quadratojugal, (5) phalanges of manus and pes long and gracile, (6) carpals unossified in adults, and (7) tail substantially longer than skull and trunk combined. Phylogenetic analysis finds that G. lellbachae forms the basal sister taxon of the stratigraphically younger G. angusta and G. latirostre and that this clade nests within the paraphyletic taxon Sclerocephalus, with S. nobilis forming the sister taxon of the genus Glanochthon (urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3038F794-17B9-4FCA-B241-CCC3F4423651; registration date: 15 March 2021).

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;New Early Permian insects (Insecta: Paoliida and Grylloblattida) from the Niedermoschel black shale of the Saar-Nahe Basin, SW Germany&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

A new paoliid genus and species, Permomertovia simpliciradius, and a new grylloblattid species, Oborella monsjovisensis, are described from the Early Permian (Lower Rotliegend) of Sitters and Niedermoschel in the Saar-Nahe Basin, Germany. These discoveries increase the insect diversity documented from the Niedermoschel black shale and furthermore confirm the high diversity of Paoliidae in Central Europe during this period.

Wildfire during deposition of the \u201cIllinger Fl\xf6zzone\u201d (Heusweiler-Formation, \u201cStephanian B\u201d, Kasimovian\u2013Ghzelian) in the Saar-Nahe Basin (SW-Germany)

Wildfires occurred more or less regularly in many Pennsylvanian ecosystems, not only in seasonally dry regions but also in the ever wet tropics. One of the reasons for this was probably the relatively high atmospheric oxygen conditions prevailing during this period. The present study reports evidence for the occurrence of wildfires during deposition of the Upper Pennsylvanian Heusweiler Formation (“Stephanian B”, Kasimovian–Gzhelian) in the intramontane Saar-Nahe (or Saar-Lorraine) Basin in SW-Germany. Based on anatomical features of the charcoal, as well as the co-occurring adpression flora, it seems possible that some of the fires occurred in an ecosystem inhabited by Cordaites. Some of the charcoal fragments exhibit traces of pre-charring decay by fungi, indicating either the consumption of litter by ground or surface fires, or of still standing (partly) dead trees by crown fires.

Stratigraphic reinterpretation of the Rotliegend from a series of wells in the Saar-Nahe Basin (Carboniferous-Permian, SW Germany)

Stratigraphic reinterpretation of the Rotliegend from a series of wells in the Saar-Nahe Basin (Carboniferous-Permian, SW Germany)

Edaphosauridae (Synapsida, Eupelycosauria) from Europe and their relationship to North American representatives

A recent discovery from the Carboniferous–Permian transition of the southwest German Saar–Nahe Basin has revealed a medium-sized edaphosaurid skeleton. It is described as Remigiomontanus robustus gen. et sp. nov. Apart from a largely complete dorsal column, showing the typical hyper-elongated spines with lateral tuberculation, few other elements are preserved. Although lacking certain autapomorphies, the unique character combination of this new form strongly suggests an intermediate position between Ianthasaurus and Edaphosaurus. This study presents a revision of the complete European material of Edaphosauridae, counting the newly named genus Bohemiclavulus (type species Naosaurus mirabilis Fritsch, 1895), and a confirmation that Edaphosaurus credneri is an indeterminate juvenile of this most derived genus. Further fragments include a second young juvenile from the Dohlen Basin, east Germany, the lost spine set of Ramodondron from Boskovice Basin, Czech Republic, and a poorly preserved specimen from Autun, France, for which its hitherto parareptilian classification is debated. A renewed dataset is used to carry out a phylogenetic analysis. Exhaustive comparisons allow for a deeper understanding of back sail characters, which on the other hand hamper a phylogenetic resolution for both European and North American taxa. Previously reconstructed faunal provinces of edaphosaurid distribution are not evident from the present knowledge.

The carbonates of the post-Variscan basins of Sardinia: the evolution from Carboniferous–Permian humid-persistent to Permian arid-ephemeral lakes in a morphotectonic framework

AbstractLate to post-Variscan sedimentary basins of Sardinia were influenced during Pennsylvanian to Permian times by two main tectono-sedimentary cycles: a Pennsylvanian to Cisuralian cycle represented mainly by dark limnic deposits, overlain by a Guadalupian to a possibly Lopingian cycle, mostly characterized by red-bed deposits. Lacustrine waterbodies developed in some sedimentary basins that were filled with siliciclastic to frequently early silicified carbonate deposits, depending on the climate and environmental conditions, landscape morphology and tectonic regime. The limnic successions of the lower tectono-sedimentary cycle were deposited in permanent, tens of metres deep lakes in deep, narrow tectonic strike-slip basins under a temperate to warm-humid climate. They started as lakes with terrigenous sedimentary input and developed minor carbonate deposits mainly at the end of their story. Conversely, the red-bed successions of the upper cycle were deposited in ephemeral, shallow playa lakes related to wider basins in an extensive alluvial plain under a hot and arid climate. Here, the siliciclastic sediments are intercalated with thin carbonate beds that are typical of a high evaporation rate. The evolution of the lake type could be related not only to a major climatic shift, but also to the changing morphotectonic conditions of the Variscan chain influencing the local microclimate. Comparisons with coeval successions in the Provence Basin, the Massif Central Aumance basin (France) and the Saar–Nahe Basin (Germany) show both similarities and differences between the basins.

Geophysical greenfield exploration in the permo‐carboniferous Saar–Nahe basin—The Wiesbaden Geothermal Project, Germany

ABSTRACTStructurally bound upwelling and outflowing hot fluids in the city of Wiesbaden suggest an interesting geothermal potential at the northern margin of the permo‐carboniferous Saar–Nahe basin, Germany. The Saar–Nahe basin in the Wiesbaden area was previously not a target for intensive geophysical prospecting of the deep underground. We present an exploration concept to investigate potential geothermal reservoirs near Wiesbaden for heat and power production. The acquired geophysical exploration data give new insights into the local geometry and internal structure of the Saar–Nahe basin. The exploration combines a wide range of methods, including the analysis of data, a dense grid gravity survey, as well as two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional seismic surveys. The resulting data, which for the first time reveal the deep structure of the Mainz and Saar–Nahe basins near Wiesbaden down to a depth of c. 4,000 m, show that the Saar–Nahe basin is strongly segmented and contains deep‐reaching active faults. Combining these information with numerical models of the stresses in the fault system and of the temperature distribution in the exploration area, a promising drilling target has been identified, which promise high permeability at a low risk of induced or triggered seismicity.