Wellheim Formation
geological Formation in Bavaria, Germany
The Wellheim Formation is a geological formation in southern Germany deposited during the Cenomanian to earliest Turonian stages of the Upper Cretaceous.
The Formation is subdivided into three member units: unnamed basal marine sandstone, the Neuburg Kieselerde Member, and an upper silicified conglomerate (Homsand facies).Geographically, this formation is located in the central southernmost part of the Franconian Jura, on the left bank of the Danube, roughly between the towns of Wellheim and Neuburg in Bavaria.The formation is commercially quarried for siliceous earth, which has a variety of applications.
Stratigraphy
The formation infills karstic voids found in Upper Jurassic limestones. Its upper contact is with either Miocene Upper Freshwater Molasse clays and marls or Pleistocene glacial deposits while the lower contact is with the Jurassic limestones, or the Lower Cretaceous Schutzfels Formation, a terrestrial unit which also infills the karstic terrain.
Depositional Environment
The Wellheim Formation was formed in a quiet water environment by deposition of pelagic sediments into a number of submerged karsts in the ocean floor over several million years. Wilmsen et al (2010) identified the primary sediment composition as sandy and spiculitic sediments, with notably little terrigenous input. It consists of marine sediments classified as opoka. Opoka refers to Upper Cretaceous sponge spicule-rich, siliceous, marine limestones found in Poland and western Ukraine.
Lüttig (2007) called the scientific view of the formation of the Neuburg Kieselerde Member "contested" however that position has not been supported by subsequent authors.
Fossils
The Wellheim Formation is fossiliferous with the Neuburg Kieselerde Member having one of the most diverse invertebrate assemblages in the Danubian Cretaceous Group.
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