Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Prelude
- Introduction
- GENERAL PART
- ASSEMBLAGES
- 6 Middle Ordovician Trenton Group of New York, USA
- 7 Middle Ordovician of the Lake Simcoe Area of Ontario, Canada
- 8 Upper Ordovician of the Cincinnati, Ohio, Area, USA
- 9 Silurian of Gotland, Sweden
- 10 Middle Silurian Rochester Shale of Western New York, USA, and Southern Ontario, Canada
- 11 Scyphocrinitids from the Silurian–Devonian Boundary of Morocco
- 12 Lower Devonian Manlius/Coeymans Formation of Central New York, USA
- 13 Lower Devonian Hunsrück Slate of Germany
- 14 Middle Devonian Windom Shale of Vincent, New York, USA
- 15 Middle Devonian Arkona Shale of Ontario, Canada, and Silica Shale of Ohio, USA
- 16 Lower Mississippian Hampton Formation at LeGrand, Iowa, USA
- 17 Lower Mississippian Burlington Limestone along the Mississippi River Valley in Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri, USA
- 18 Lower Mississippian Edwardsville Formation at Crawfordsville, Indiana, USA
- 19 Upper Pennsylvanian LaSalle Member, Bond Formation of Central Illinois, USA
- 20 Permian
- 21 Triassic Muschelkalk of Central Europe
- 22 Pentacrinites from the Lower Jurassic of the Dorset Coast of Southern England
- 23 Lower Jurassic Posidonia Shale of Southern Germany
- 24 Middle Jurassic of Southern England
- 25 Middle Jurassic of Northern Switzerland
- 26 Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Plattenkalk of Bavaria, Germany
- 27 Uintacrinus Beds of the Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Formation, Kansas, USA
- 28 Tertiary
- 29 Recent
- Appendix I Geological Time Table with Crinoid Assemblages
- Appendix II Glossary of Rocks
- Bibliography
- General Index
- Taxonomic Index
13 - Lower Devonian Hunsrück Slate of Germany
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Prelude
- Introduction
- GENERAL PART
- ASSEMBLAGES
- 6 Middle Ordovician Trenton Group of New York, USA
- 7 Middle Ordovician of the Lake Simcoe Area of Ontario, Canada
- 8 Upper Ordovician of the Cincinnati, Ohio, Area, USA
- 9 Silurian of Gotland, Sweden
- 10 Middle Silurian Rochester Shale of Western New York, USA, and Southern Ontario, Canada
- 11 Scyphocrinitids from the Silurian–Devonian Boundary of Morocco
- 12 Lower Devonian Manlius/Coeymans Formation of Central New York, USA
- 13 Lower Devonian Hunsrück Slate of Germany
- 14 Middle Devonian Windom Shale of Vincent, New York, USA
- 15 Middle Devonian Arkona Shale of Ontario, Canada, and Silica Shale of Ohio, USA
- 16 Lower Mississippian Hampton Formation at LeGrand, Iowa, USA
- 17 Lower Mississippian Burlington Limestone along the Mississippi River Valley in Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri, USA
- 18 Lower Mississippian Edwardsville Formation at Crawfordsville, Indiana, USA
- 19 Upper Pennsylvanian LaSalle Member, Bond Formation of Central Illinois, USA
- 20 Permian
- 21 Triassic Muschelkalk of Central Europe
- 22 Pentacrinites from the Lower Jurassic of the Dorset Coast of Southern England
- 23 Lower Jurassic Posidonia Shale of Southern Germany
- 24 Middle Jurassic of Southern England
- 25 Middle Jurassic of Northern Switzerland
- 26 Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Plattenkalk of Bavaria, Germany
- 27 Uintacrinus Beds of the Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Formation, Kansas, USA
- 28 Tertiary
- 29 Recent
- Appendix I Geological Time Table with Crinoid Assemblages
- Appendix II Glossary of Rocks
- Bibliography
- General Index
- Taxonomic Index
Summary
ROOFS AND TILES
Visitors to this part of Germany cannot fail to notice the dark grey slate roofs and walls in the picturesque towns along the rivers Rhine and Moselle. The Hunsrückschiefer belongs, together with the Lower Jurassic Posidonia Shale and the Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Lithographic Limestone, to those sediments that have been exploited since ancient times for building purposes. The discovery of a large number of world-famous fossils in these strata is, therefore, due to the observation and skilled manual work of quarrymen preparing the slabs and tiles. Fossils wrested from the dark grey Hunsrück Slate are mostly small and, therefore, may not be quite so spectacular as those from some other sites, but they open a fascinating window onto the development of life in these early times.
DECLINE OF A CRAFT
The Hunsrückerschiefer is exposed in the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge between Koblenz, Trier and Mainz. The best localities for well-preserved fossils are the communities of Bundenbach and Gemünden. The slates were widely quarried in former times (slates for roofs, etc.); and during the 19th and present centuries, more than 600, mostly small, pits were exploited. Today, only one quarry remains open in the main fossiliferous region of Bundenbach. Unlike other famous Lagerstätten, the Hunsrück Slate has not undergone detailed sedimentological examination with modern techniques.
THICK SEDIMENTS FROM THE REMAINS OF AN OLD CONTINENT
The slates are of Early Devonian age and were deposited from the Late Siegenian (Late Pragian) Stage and ceased towards the end of the Early Emsian Stage (age about 390 million years). The sediments were deposited in a number of offshore basins separated by swells.
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- Fossil Crinoids , pp. 111 - 121Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1999
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