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Alexander von Humboldt: „Description of the Muschelkalk and Quadersandstein“, in: ders., Sämtliche Schriften digital, herausgegeben von Oliver Lubrich und Thomas Nehrlich, Universität Bern 2021. URL: <https://humboldt.unibe.ch/text/1822-Independance_des_formations-5-neu> [abgerufen am 29.03.2024].

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Titel Description of the Muschelkalk and Quadersandstein
Jahr 1836
Ort London
Nachweis
in: Henry Thomas De la Beche, A Selection of Geological Memoirs Contained in the Annales des Mines, Written by Brongniart, Humboldt, von Buch, and Others, London: William Phillips 1836, S. [313]–318.
Sprache Englisch
Typografischer Befund Antiqua; Auszeichnung: Kursivierung; Schmuck: Kapitälchen.
Identifikation
Textnummer Druckausgabe: IV.26
Dateiname: 1822-Independance_des_formations-5-neu
Statistiken
Seitenanzahl: 5
Zeichenanzahl: 9306

Weitere Fassungen
Indépendance des formations (Paris; Strasbourg, 1822, Französisch)
On Rock Formations (Edinburgh, 1824, Englisch)
On Rock Formations (Boston, Massachusetts, 1824, Englisch)
О волканическихъ областяхъ [O volkaničestkich oblastjach] (Sankt Petersburg, 1832, Russisch)
Description of the Muschelkalk and Quadersandstein (London, 1836, Englisch)
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Description of the Muschelkalk and Quader-sandstein. By A. von Humboldt. (Extracted from his Essai sur les Gisement des Roches, &c.)


Muschelkalk.

A formation which varies but slightly, and whose vaguedenomination of shelly limestone has caused it to be con-founded out of Germany, with the lower or upper strata ofthe oolite formation (with the lias or forest marble). It iswell characterized by its more simple structure, by the pro-digious quantity of shells, that are partly broken, which itcontains, and by its position above the Nebra sandstone(new red sandstone), and beneath the quadersandstein whichseparates it from the oolite formation. It covers a vast por-tion of northern Germany (Hanover, Heinberg near Gottin-gen, Eichfeld, Cobourg, Westphalia, Pyrmont, and Biel-feld), where it is much thicker than the zechstein or Alpinelimestone (magnesian limestone). It extends in southern Germany throughout the platformbetween Hanau and Stutgard. In France, where, notwith-standing the labours of Omalius d’Halloy, the secondaryformations beneath the chalk have been so long neglected, |314| Messrs. de Beaumont and Boué have recognised it round theVosges chain. The muschelkalk generally possesses pale,whitish, grey or yellow tints: its fracture is compact anddull, but the mixture of small laminæ of calcareous spar,arising perhaps from fossil remains, sometimes renders itgranular and brilliant. Many beds are marly, arenaceous,or passing into the oolite structure. (Seeberg near Gotha;Weper near Gottingen; Preussisch-Minden; Hildesheim.Chert (hornstein) passing into flint and jasper (Dransfeld,Kandern, Saarbrück), are either disseminated in nodulesin the muschelkalk, or form beds of small continuity. Theinferior strata of this formation alternate with the new redsandstone (between Bennstedt and Kelme), or insensiblypass into the sandstone, by becoming charged with sand,clay, and even (to the E. of Cobourg) with magnesia (mag-nesian beds of the muschelkalk). Subordinate beds. The Marls and clays so frequent inthe oolite formation, the new red sandstone, and the zech-stein (magnesian limestone) are rare in the muschelkalk. InGermany, this rock contains hydrate of iron, a little fibrousgypsum (Sulzbourg near Naumbourg), and coal (letten-kohle of Voigt; at Mattstedt and Eckardsberg near Wei-mar) mixed with aluminous schist and carbonized fruits(coniferæ?). The nearer coal is found to the tertiary for-mations, the more do at least some of its strata approach thestate of lignite and aluminous earth. Fossils. From the researches of M. von Schlotheim, andrejecting the beds which do not belong to the muschelkalk,the fossils are: Chamites striatus, Belemnites paxillosus,Ammonites amalteus, A. nodosus, A. angulatus, A. papyra-ceus, Nautilites binodatus, Buccinites gregarius, Trochiliteslævis, Turbinites cerithius, Myacites ventricosus, Pectinitesreticulatus, Ostracites spondyloides, Terebratulites fragilis,T. vulgaris, Gryphites cymbium, G. suillus, Mytulites socia-lis, Pentacrinites vulgaris, Encrinites liliiformis, &c. Someisolated beds of the oolite formation perhaps contain morefossils than the muschelkalk; but in no secondary forma-tion do organic remains so uniformly abound as in that |315| which now occupies us. An immense quantity of shells,partly broken, and partly well preserved, but strongly ad-hering to the stone (entrochi, turbinites, strombites, mytul-ites) is accumulated in many strata from 20 to 25 milli-metres (about 1 in.) thick, which occur in the muschelkalk.Many species occur united in families (belemnites, terebra-tulites, chamites). Between these very shelly strata aredisseminated ammonites, turbinites, some terebratulites, withtheir nacreous shells, the Gryphæa cymbium, and superbpentacrinites. Corals, echinites, and pectinites are rare.From the abundance of entrochi in the muschelkalk, thisformation has received the name of entrochite limestone(trochitenkalk) in some parts of Germany. As a bed ofentrochi often also characterizes the zechstein, and separatesit from the coal measures, this name may lead us to confoundtwo very distinct formations. The denomination of gryphitelimestone (calaire à gryphites of the zechstein and of theoolite formation) and all those which allude to fossils, with-out indicating the species, expose us to the same danger.It is stated that the muschelkalk contains the bones of largeanimals (oviparous? quadrupeds, Friesleben, T. 1, p. 74;T. iv, p. 24, 305) and birds (ornitholithes of the Heimberg;Blumenbach, Naturgesch; 3te. Aufl. p. 663); but thesebones may belong, as also the teeth of fish, to the brecciasand marls resting on the muschelkalk. Messrs. Buckland and Conybeare, during their tour in Ger-many, considered the muschelkalk of Werner as identicalwith the lias. I am inclined to think that there is rather aparallelism than an identity of formation. The muschel-kalk occupies the same place as the lias, it equally aboundsin ammonites, terebratulæ, and encrinites; but the fossilspecies differ, and its structure is much more simple and uni-form. The muschelkalk strata are not separated by theblue clays which abound in the lias. The middle strata ofthe latter possess a dull compact and even fracture, muchmore resembling the lithographic varieties of the ooliteformation than the muschelkalk of Gottingen, Jena, andEichsfeld. M. Boué has recongnised the muschelkalk in |316| France, in the platform of Burgundy, near Viteaux andCoussy-les-Forges, near Dax, in the commune of St. Pan deLon, &c. I have not observed this formation in the equi-noxial part of America.

Quadersandstein (Sandstone of Königstein).

A very distinct formation (Banks of the Elbe, aboveDresden, between Pirna, Schandau, and Königstein; be-tween Nuremberg and Weissenburg; Staffelstein in Fran-conia; Heuscheune, Adersbach; Teufelsmauer at the footof the Hartz; valley of the Moselle and near Luxembourg;Vic in Lorraine; Nalzen in the Pays de Foy, and Navar-reins, at the foot of the Pyrenees) characterized by M.Hausmann, and for a long time confounded either with thequartzose varieties of the new red sandstone, the sandstoneof the plastic clay, or with the sandstone of Fontainebleau,above the calcaire grossier of Paris: it is the white sandstoneof M. de Bonnard, and the third formation sandstone ofM. d’Aubuisson. Preferring geographical names, I oftencall this formation the Königstein sandstone, the new redsandstone the Nebra sandstone, and the muschelkalk theGottingen limestone. The quadersandstein has a white, yellowish, or grey colour,with very fine grains, which are agglutinated together by anearly invisible argillaceous or quartzose cement. Mica isnot abundant in it, and is always silvery and disseminatedin isolated plates. It neither contains the included oolitebeds, nor the flattened lenticular masses of clay (thongallen)which characterise the new red sandstone. It is neverschistose; but is divided into very thick beds, which are cutat a right angle by fissures, and of which some easily decom-pose into a very fine sand. It contains hydrate of iron (Metz)disposed in nodules. The organic remains disseminated inthis formation present, according to Messrs. von Schlotheim,Haussmann, and Raumer, an extraordinary mixture of seashells (very analogous to those of the muschelkalk) and |318| dicotyledonous phytolithes. In it have been found mytu-lites, tellinites, pectinites, turritellæ, and ostreæ, (withcerithia, but no ammonites; Habelschwerd, Alt-Lomnitz inSilesia), and at the same time the wood of palms, the im-pressions of leaves belonging to the class of the dicotyledons,and small deposites of coal (Deister, and Wefersleben nearQuedlinbourg), very well described by Messrs. Rettbergand Schulze, and passing into lignite. M. von Raumer had observed that the quadersandstein isseparated from the new red sandstone by the muschelkalk;it is placed between this limestone and the Jura limestone,and consequently beneath the oolite formations of Englandand the continent. In this position we cannot consider it,with M. Keferstein (see his Essay on the mineral geographyof Germany, T. 1. p. 12. and 48.), as parallel to the molasseof Argovy (mergelsandstein), which represents the plasticclay beneath the chalk. The nature of the vegetable remainscontained in the quadersandstein, and its resemblance to theplänerkalk which belongs to the chloritous and sandy strataof the chalk, have caused it to be regarded by many cele-brated geologists as a formation posterior to the oolite for-mation: thus Messrs. Buckland, Conybeare, and Phillipsplace it between the chalk and the upper beds of the oolites.But, according to the observations of M. Boué and manyother celebrated German geologists, the quadersandstein,sometimes alternating with marly and conglomerate beds,rests immediately on gneiss near Freyberg, on the coal mea-sures in Silesia, and in Bohemia; on the new red sandstonenear Nuremberg in Franconia; on the muschelalk betweenHildesheim and Dickholzen near Helmstädt, and nearSchweinfurt on the Mein. It is covered by the oolite for-mation, and alternates with marly beds of this limestone inWestphalia, between Osnabrück, Bielfeld, and Bückebourg.