The Posidonia Shale (German: Posidonienschiefer, also called Schistes Bitumineux in Luxembourg) geologically known as the Sachrang Formation, is an Early Jurassic (Early to Late Toarcian) geological formation of southwestern and northeast Germany, northern Switzerland, northwestern Austria, southern Luxembourg and the Netherlands, including exceptionally well-preserved complete skeletons of fossil marine fish and reptiles.[5][6][7]
The Posidonienschiefer, the German translation, takes its name from the ubiquitous fossils of the oyster-related bivalve "Posidonia bronni" (synonym of Bositra buchii and Steinmannia bronni) that characterize the mollusk faunal component of the formation. The name Posidonia Shale has been used for more than a century, until revisions in 2016 proposed the Sachrang Formation as new name for the Germanic unit, in a same way Altmühltal Formation is the official name of the Solnhofen Limestone.[8] The Posidonia Shales where stablished as a valid vulgar name for this regions lower Toarcian Black Shales. The name Posidonienschiefer, while valid, represents another vulgar nomination, as Posidonia is an invalid genus and junior synonym of Bositra.[8] The type profile is still located on Dotternhausen.[8]
The formation comprises finely laminated layers of oil shales formed of fine-grained sediments intercalated with bituminous limestones and crops out in a number of locations in southwestern Germany, although most remains are from near the village of Holzmaden and Dotternhausen.[7] The European oil shales deposited on a sea floor during the Early Toarcian in the ancient Tethys Ocean are described as being deposited in an anoxic, or oxygen-depleted, deep water environment, although the details of the depositional environment are the subject of debate by researchers of the formation.[7][9]
^Ruebsam, W.; Schmid-Röhl, A.; Al-Husseini, M. (2023). "Astronomical timescale for the early Toarcian (Early Jurassic) Posidonia Shale and global environmental changes". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 623: 111619. Bibcode:2023PPP...62311619R. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111619. S2CID 258545235. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
^Burnaz, L.; Littke, R.; Grohmann, S. (2024). "Lower Jurassic (Pliensbachian–Toarcian) marine paleoenvironment in Western Europe: sedimentology, geochemistry and organic petrology of the wells Mainzholzen and Wickensen, Hils Syncline, Lower Saxony Basin". Int J Earth Sci (1). doi:10.1007/s00531-023-02381-8.
^Neumeister, S.; Gratzer, R.; Algeo, T. J.; Bechtel, A.; Gawlick, H. J.; Newton, R. J.; Sachsenhofer, R. F. (2015). "Oceanic response to Pliensbachian and Toarcian magmatic events: Implications from an organic-rich basinal succession in the NW Tethys". Global and Planetary Change. 126: 62–83. doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2015.01.007. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
^"Typlokalität der Sachrang-Formation W von Sachrang" (PDF). Retrieved 31 January 2024.
^Etter, Walter; Kuhn, Olivier (2000). "An Articulated Dragonfly (Insecta, Odonata) From The Upper Liassic Posidonia Shale Of Northern Switzerland". Palaeontology. 43 (5): 967–977. Bibcode:2000Palgy..43..967E. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00157. ISSN 0031-0239. S2CID 140165815.
^Henrotay, M.; Marques, D.; Paicheler, J. C.; Gall, J. C.; Nel, A. (1998). "Le Toarcien inférieur des régions de Bascharage et de Bettembourg (grand-duché du Luxembourg) : évidences paléontologiques et sédimentologiques d'environnements restreints proches de l'émersion" (PDF). Geodiversitas. 20 (2): 263–284.
^ abcClements, Thomas; Gabbott, Sarah (2022-04-13). "Exceptional Preservation of Fossil Soft Tissues". eLS: 1–10. doi:10.1002/9780470015902.a0029468. ISBN 9780470016176.
^ abcMönnig, Eckhard (2018). "Der Jura in der Stratigraphischen Tabelle von Deutschland (STD 2016)" (PDF). Newsletters on Stratigraphy. 41 (1–3): 253–261. doi:10.1127/0078-0421/2005/0041-0253. ISSN 0078-0421.
^Brenner, K. (1978). "New aspects about the origin of the Toarcian Posidonia Shales". Abhandlungen Neues Jahrbuch fur Geologie und Paläontologie. 157 (3): 11–18.
The PosidoniaShale (German: Posidonienschiefer, also called Schistes Bitumineux in Luxembourg) geologically known as the Sachrang Formation, is an Early...
Formation or "Posidonienschiefer" Formation (Whose Vulgar name is "PosidoniaShale") is a geological formation of southwestern Germany, northern Switzerland...
fin. This hypothesis was confirmed by new finds from Germany. In the PosidoniaShale at Holzmaden, dating from the early Jurassic, already in the early...
specimen – a tibia (shinbone) and ankle – was discovered in rocks of the PosidoniaShale near the village of Ohmden. The specimen, which was originally identified...
Harpoceras falcifer zone, of the famous Posidonien-Schiefer lagerstätte (PosidoniaShale) of Holzmaden, dating to the early Toarcian stage of the Early Jurassic...
Palaeopleurosaurus, which is known from the Early Jurassic (Toarcian) PosidoniaShale of Germany, as well as Pleurosaurus from the Late Jurassic of Germany...
northern Kentucky Seirocrinus subangularis from the Early Jurassic PosidoniaShale at Holzmaden, Germany Crinoid columnals (Isocrinus nicoleti) from the...
Jurassic. It is only known from multiple specimens, all discovered in the PosidoniaShale of southwestern Germany. The only species of Hydrorion is H. brachypterygius...
Early Jurassic epoch in Europe. It is known from the Toarcian of the PosidoniaShale of Germany. It is unusual due to being an extrange aberrant Chimaera...
of the genus have been found in France, the PosidoniaShale in Germany and Luxembourg, and the Alum Shale Formation of England. The type species, M. homalospondylus...
Substrates: A Medium for the Exceptional Preservation of Ichthyosaurs of the PosidoniaShale (Lower Jurassic) of Germany. Kaupia - Darmstädter Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte...
fossils have been found in the PosidoniaShale near Holzmaden, Germany. The PosidoniaShale is composed of black bituminous shales with intercalated bituminous...
Charmouth Mudstone Formation, United Kingdom, Early Jurassic (Sinemurian) PosidoniaShale, Early Jurassic (Toarcian) Family †Baissopteridae Martynova, 1961 -...
attempted to build a shale oil industrial production complex for utilization of Swabian Alb oil shale deposits (PosidoniaShale). The project was driven...
Diplobelida. Two species are described, C. conocauda is known from PosidoniaShale, and C. montefiorei is known from Charmouth Mudstone Formation. Clarkeiteuthis...
Soft tissue remains of plesiosaurs are rare, but sometimes, especially in shale deposits, they have been partly preserved, e.g. showing the outlines of...
disinteger and Ichthyosaurus integer, both found in the Toarcian-age PosidoniaShale of Holzmaden. The generic name means "Swabian Leviathan". The type...
Campterophlebiidae. The species C. elegans is from the Jurassic (Lower Toarcian) PosidoniaShale of Germany. It is the largest Early Jurassic flying insect, with a...
a crustacean, a belemnite and a vertebrate from the Early Jurassic PosidoniaShale". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 140 (1): 10. Bibcode:2021SwJP..140...
the Early Jurassic (Toarcian) of Europe. Fossils are known from the PosidoniaShale of Germany, the Whitby Mudstone of the United Kingdom, and the "schistes...
Substrates: A Medium for the Exceptional Preservation of Ichthyosaurs of the PosidoniaShale (Lower Jurassic) of Germany". Kaupia – Darmstädter Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte...
primitive ichthyosaur found in the Early Jurassic (Lower Toarcian) PosidoniaShale of Dotternhausen, Germany. The holotype specimen is SMNS96922, a nearly...
Substrates: A Medium for the Exceptional Preservation of Ichthyosaurs of the PosidoniaShale (Lower Jurassic) of Germany". Kaupia - Darmstädter Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte...
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