Early Carboniferous (Mississippian) calciturbidites in the northern Rhenish Mountains (Germany)

Visean calciturbidites occur in two separate turbidite sequences at the northern margin of the Rhenish Mountains: (1) the Herdringen Sequence (Becke-Oese, Retringen and Herdringen formations), and (2) the Hellefeld Sequence (Hellefeld, Linnepe and Wennemen formations). Both sequences show temporal fluctuations in the carbonate content, which can be related to global eustatic fluctuations. Two peaks of carbonate sedimentation which occurred during lowstands in the Holkerian to early Asbian and in the Brigantian are interrupted by a late Asbian decline of carbonate deposition during a transgressive interval. Patterns of bed thickness and carbonate content in the Herdringen Sequence indicate a sediment source to the north; it shifted during the Late Visean from the northeast to the northwest. Coeval sediments in the Hellefeld Sequence were derived from a source to the southeast. Detailed analyses of Asbian sections show the high potential for fine-scaled correlation. Copyright (C) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.