strati.ch - Lithostratigraphic Lexicon of Switzerland

Representation and status

Origin of the Name: Wallau (Deutschland, Hessen), Stadtteil von Hofheim am Taunus

Historical Variants: Mergelfacies des Meeressandes (Andreae 1888), Marnes à foraminifères (Meyer 1928, Barbier 1938, Schnaebele 1948, Lagneau-Herenger 1965, Sittler 1965, 1992, Ménillet et al. 1970, Doebl et al. 1976, Duringer 1988, Roussé 2006, Pirkenseer et al. 2010, Pirkenseer & Berger 2011), Couches à foraminifères (Maïkovsky 1941), Foraminiferenmergel (Förster 1909a, Vonderschmitt 1941, 1942, Bitterli 1945, Wagner 1950, 1955, Hess & Weiler 1955, Schneider 1960, Fischer 1965a, 1969, Doebl 1970, Fischer et al. 1971, Brianza et al. 1983, Wittmann 1983, Bitterli-Brunner & Fischer 1988, Grimm 1994, 1998, Ohmert 1993, Huber 1994, Schwarz 1997, Hinsken 2003, Berger et al. 2005a, Picot et al. 2008, Pirkenseer et al. 2013, GeORG 2013, Schäfer 2013), Foraminifera Marls (Sissingh 1998, 2006), Wallau-Subformation (Grimm & Radke 2002), Wallau Formation (Pirkenseer et al. 2018)

Nomenclatorial Remarks: Entspricht dem «Foraminiferenmergel» auct. des Oberrhein-Grabens. Diese Beckenfazies stellt ein laterales Äquivalent der küstennahe Lörrach-Fm. («Meeressand» auct.) dar.

Thickness: 8-17 im Mainz-Becken, 6-29 m im Oberrhein-Graben (Pirkenseer et al. 2018).

Fossil Content

Units at roof

Upper boundary: "To simplify the definition of the [Wallau-Hochberg Fm boundary] we consequently exclude the microfossil content as correlative tool, since it rather represents the expression of quickly shifting palaeoenvironmental conditions (e.g. increasing water depth in the transgressive system tract) in a palaeogeographically complex area. The transition to the overlying Hochberg Fm therefore sees an abrupt change to dark brown to black, finely laminated marls bearing abundant marine macrofossils and intercalations of calcareous nannoplankton mass occurrences (white laminae). Near the basin margins (e.g. southern Sundgau and Laufen subbasin; Förster 1909a; Koch 1923) this lithological change can be somewhat less distinct, but remains recognisable." (Pirkenseer et al. 2018 p.196)

Paleogeography

Rhine Graben

Tectonic unit (resp. main category)

Kind of protolith

Definition: Grimm Kirsten I., Radtke G. (2002) : Lithostratigraphische Gliederung im Rupelium/ Chattium des Mainzer Beckens, Deutschland: Wallau-Subformation („Unterer Rupelton“, „Foraminiferenmergel“), tiefstes Schichtglied der Bodenheim-Formation (Selztal-Gruppe). Geol. Abh. Hessen 129, 127-131

Definition: Pirkenseer Claudius, Rauber Gaëtan, Roussé Stéphane (2018) : A revised Palaeogene lithostratigraphic framework for the Northern Swiss Jura and the Southern Upper Rhine Graben and its relationship to the North Alpine Foreland Basin. Riv. Italiana Pal. Strat. 124/1, 163–246

p.193: The Wallau Fm consists of bioturbated, generally massive or indistinctly stratified brown, green and grey marls with occasional silt/sand layers and rare macrofossils (Grimm & Radtke 2002; Roussé 2006). Closer to the basin margin the silt/sand content may be higher. The Wallau Fm is recorded from the entire URG and represents the basinal analogue of the coeval coastal Lörrach Fm. It is however absent in the Laufen, the Delémont and probably the Ajoie subbasins, which has already been illustrated schematically by Schneider (1960) and Fischer (1965a).