The Pliocene–Pleistocene transition in the subsurface of the Dutch-Belgian border region: insights from borehole Huijbergen

Cross-border correlations of the Pliocene–Pleistocene successions in the southern Netherlands and northernmost Belgium are problematic, because biostratigraphic markers are often lacking. Correlation is further hampered by the poor age constraints of the Belgian Merksplas Formation. To address these issues, sedimentary, mollusc and...

Biostratigraphic ages and depositional environments of the upper Oligocene to lower Miocene Veldhoven Formation in the central Roer Valley Rift System (SE Netherlands-NE Belgium)

Discussions on the age and the depositional environments of the Veldhoven Formation and its members are persistent in Belgium and the Netherlands. Uncertainties on stratigraphy and the constructive process of sediment accumulation continue today as a result of lack of data on this succession within the Roer Valley Rift System. The present study...

Middle Miocene depositional evolution of the central Roer Valley Rift system

Correlations between bio- and/or lithostratigraphically analysed boreholes provide new insights on the late-early to early-late Miocene depositional evolution of the central Roer Valley Rift System (RVRS) as part of the southern North Sea Basin. This evolution started with a major regression that occurred in two steps, one during the late...

The Oligocene/Miocene boundary in the ON-Mol-1 and Weelde boreholes along the southern margin of the North Sea Basin, Belgium

Based on palynologic interpretations, the Oligocene/Miocene boundary was identified in the cored samples of the ON-Mol-1 and Weelde boreholes in the southern North Sea Basin. In both boreholes, the presumed location of the Oligocene/Miocene boundary is marked by a thin gravel bed, which testifies of a hiatus, within a continuation of shelly,...

Introducing the Vale formation in the southern central North Sea Basin offshore Netherlands

Based on the re-interpretation of well (log) data this study shows that the Våle Formation was deposited over large areas (> 100 km) in the southern central North Sea Basin (offshore Netherlands). Up to now, the Våle Formation (and the lateral equivalent Maureen Formation) were only described in the nearby offshore Denmark, Norway and UK. In the...

Un updated and revised stratigraphic framework for the Miocene and earliest Pliocene strata of the Roer Valley Graben and adjacent blocks

In the Netherlands, the bulk of the Miocene to lowest Pliocene sedimentary succession is currently assigned to a single lithostratigraphical unit, the Breda Formation. Although the formation was introduced over 40 years ago, the definition of its lower and upper boundaries is still problematic. Well-log correlations show that the improved lecto...

The implications of K-Ar glauconite dating of the Diest Formation on the paleogeography of the Upper Miocene in Belgium

The glauconite-rich Diest Formation in central and north Belgium contains sands in the Campine subsurface and the hilly Hageland area that can be distinguished from each other. The Hageland Diest Sands member contains no stratigraphically relevant fossils while in the Campine subsurface dinoflagellate cysts are common and show a stratigraphic...