Geologica Belgica Geologica Belgica -  volume 4 (2001)  number 1-2 - Guide to a revised lithostratigraphic scale of Belgium 

Cambrian-Ordovician-Silurian lithostratigraphic units (Belgium)

Jacques VERNIERS
Ghent University, Department Geology & Pedology, Research Unit Palaeontology, Krijgslaan 281, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Alain HERBOSCH
Université Libre de Bruxelles, Département des Sciences de la Terre et de l'Environnement, 50 Avenue F. Roosevelt, CP160/02, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.
Michel VANGUESTAINE
Université de Liège, Laboratoire de Paléobotanique, Paléopalynologie & Micropaléontologie, Allée du Six Août, Bât. B18, Sart Tilman, B-4000 Liège, Belgium.
Fernand GEUKENS
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Afdeling Historische Geologie, Redingenstraat 16, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Bernard DELCAMBRE
Université Catholique de Louvain, Unité de Géologie, Place L. Pasteur 3, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
Jean-Louis PINGOT
Université Catholique de Louvain, Unité de Géologie, Place L. Pasteur 3, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
Isabelle BELANGER
Université Catholique de Louvain, Unité de Géologie, Place L. Pasteur 3, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
Michel HENNEBERT
Faculté Polytechnique de Mons, Institut Jules Cornet (Géologie), Rue de Houdain, 9, B-7000 Mons, Belgium.
Timothy DEBACKER
Ghent University, Department Geology & Pedology, Research Unit Palaeontology, Krijgslaan 281, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Manuel SINTUBIN
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Afdeling Historische Geologie, Laboratorium voor Structurele geologie en tektoniek, Redingenstraat 16, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Walter DE VOS
Geological Survey of Belgium, Jennerstraat 13, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium.

Abstract

The National Subcommission on the Stratigraphy of the Lower Palaeozoic of Belgium has evaluated the previous and present definitions of the Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian lithostratigraphical units (groups, formations and members) and presents in this paper the results of this evaluation. Some of these units described in published or unpublished documents are considered to be junior synonyms of previously described units. Other units were given a higher or lower ranking. Units that are too thin or too thick were abandoned. The Subcommission reached agreement on the validity and usefulness of all the units that are described below.

For each of them, a lithological and sedimentological description is given, the area of distribution and possible facies changes, the thickness of the unit, the arguments for the age determination, some remarks about the history of the definitions, and the names of units considered to be junior synonyms. In the Brabant Massif 32 formations are (re) defined and described, in the Condroz inlier 18 formations, in the Stavelot Massif 3 groups, 8 formations and 8 members, with an additional formation with an unspecified Mid Ordovician-earliest Devonian age, in the Rocroi Massif 3 groups, 7 formations and 2 members, in the Givonne Inlier 4 formations and in the Serpont Inlier 2 formations. The formations are shown in chronostratigraphical tables with a colour encoding the dominant lithology or sedimentology.

Keywords : Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Belgium, lithostratigraphy

To cite this article

Jacques VERNIERS, Alain HERBOSCH, Michel VANGUESTAINE, Fernand GEUKENS, Bernard DELCAMBRE, Jean-Louis PINGOT, Isabelle BELANGER, Michel HENNEBERT, Timothy DEBACKER, Manuel SINTUBIN & Walter DE VOS, «Cambrian-Ordovician-Silurian lithostratigraphic units (Belgium)», Geologica Belgica [En ligne], volume 4 (2001), number 1-2 - Guide to a revised lithostratigraphic scale of Belgium, 5-38 URL : https://popups.ulg.ac.be/1374-8505/index.php?id=1919.