The Söhlde Formation (Cenomanian, Turonian) of NW Germany: Shallow Marine Pelagic Red Beds

Abstract

The Söhlde Formation (Upper Cenomanian–lower Upper Turonian) of Lower Saxony and Sachsen-Anhalt is characterized by an alternation of red and white limestones of a pelagic biosedimentary system, deposited ca. 200 km distant from the nearest coastline on the European Cretaceous shelf sea at a paleolatitude around 45° N. Seven sedimentary cycles of ca. 430 ky duration can be recognized, each of which is separated by discontinuities and/or significant facies changes. White limestones and marl–limestone alternations were deposited mainly in intrashelf depressions and/or during relative sea-level highs. The red limestones were deposited on intrashelf swells above and shortly below storm wave base. Storm- and current-induced advective pore-water flow associated with low accumulation rates in a nutrient-depleted intrashelf swell setting (low Corg flux into the sediment) resulted in an excess of oxygen in the sediment column and an early diagenetic window, in which ferric iron minerals were generated, causing the red pigmentation. The source of the iron was most likely clay minerals, inasmuch as a positive correlation between clay content and red pigmentation is observed. No trace of microbial activity associated with the genesis of the red color can be confirmed yet.

Full text

151
SHALLOW WATER PELAGIC RED BEDS
Shallow-Water CORBs

FRANK WIESE
152

153
SHALLOW WATER PELAGIC RED BEDS
THE SÖHLDE FORMATION (CENOMANIAN, TURONIAN) OF NW GERMANY:
SHALLOW MARINE PELAGIC RED BEDS
FRANK WIESE
Fachrichtung Paläontologie, FU Berlin, Malteserstr. 74-100, D12249 Berlin, Germany
e-mail: frwiese@snafu.de
ABSTRACT: The Söhlde Formation (Upper Cenomanian–lower Upper Turonian) of Lower Saxony and Sachsen-Anhalt is characterized by
an alternation of red and white limestones of a pelagic biosedimentary system, deposited ca. 200 km distant from the nearest coastline on
the European Cretaceous shelf sea at a paleolatitude around 45° N. Seven sedimentary cycles of ca. 430 ky duration can be recognized, each
of which is separated by discontinuities and/or significant facies changes. White limestones and marl–limestone alternations were
deposited mainly in intrashelf depressions and/or during relative sea-level highs. The red limestones were deposited on intrashelf swells
above and shortly below storm wave base. Storm- and current-induced advective pore-water flow associated with low accumulation rates
in a nutrient-depleted intrashelf swell setting (low Corg flux into the sediment) resulted in an excess of oxygen in the sediment column and
an early diagenetic window, in which ferric iron minerals were generated, causing the red pigmentation. The source of the iron was most
likely clay minerals, inasmuch as a positive correlation between clay content and red pigmentation is observed. No trace of microbial
activity associated with the genesis of the red color can be confirmed yet.
KEY WORDS:Cretaceous oceanic marine red beds; shallow marine red beds; Cenomanian; Turonian; nutrient-depleted system; diagenesis;
NW Germany; Söhlde Formation
Cretaceous Oceanic Red Beds: Stratigraphy, Composition, Origins, and Paleoceanographic and Paleoclimatic Significance
SEPM Special Publication No. 91, Copyright © 2009
SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology), ISBN 978-1-56576-135-3, p. 153–170.
INTRODUCTION
The mid-Cretaceous greenhouse world (Barron et al., 1995;
Larson and Erba, 1999) was a period associated with severe
perturbation of the ocean–climate system. The repeated occur-
rences of oceanic anoxic events (OAEs; e.g., Jenkyns, 1980;
Schlanger et al., 1987; Leckie et al., 2002;) were associated with
strong variations in the CO2 budget (Bice and Norris, 2002) and
oceanic temperature fluctuations (Bice et al., 2006), with a thermal
maximum in the Turonian (Huber et al., 2002; Voigt et al., 2004).
The burial of organic carbon finds its expression in well-devel-
oped positive δ13C excursions, which likewise serve as excellent
isotopic stratigraphic markers for long-range correlation and as a
confirmation for the short-term occurrences of the OAEs and
their isochrony (e.g., Menegatti et al., 1998; Tsikos et al., 2004;
Erbacher et al., 2005). Inasmuch as the black shales have tradition-
ally been the subject of intense research, it slipped a bit out of
focus that geographically and stratigraphically closely spaced
marine red beds occur worldwide (e.g., Mitchell, 1995; Eren and
Kadir, 1999; Hu et al., 2005; Hu et al., 2006; Wagreich and
Krenmayr, 2005; Wang et al., 2005), referred to as CORBs, Creta-
ceous oceanic red beds. They represent antagonists to the dysoxic
or anoxic OAE black shales, and potentially reflect rapid fluctua-
tions in the oxygen content of marine bottom water, thus suggest-
ing vivid fluctuations of the ocean–climate system (Hu et al.,
2006). It is this strong possible genetic relation which has been
focused at in the context of the IGCP 463 (Upper Cretaceous
Oceanic Red Beds) and 494 (Dysoxic to Oxic Change in Ocean
Sedimentation during Middle Cretaceous).
CORBs in the form of pelagic but comparatively shallow-
water limestones deposited at water depths of ca. 20–100 m on the
European Turonian shelf sea (Fig. 1; for legend to all figures see
Fig. 2) are presented here. In NW Germany (Fig. 3), they alternate
with white limestones, with which they are included in the
Söhlde Formation (Wiese et al., 2007) of the Plänerkalk-Gruppe
(Pläner Limestone Group of Ernst et al., 1979). The Söhlde Forma-
tion is part of a geographically widespread belt of patchy marine
red-bed occurrences of early terminal Cenomanian to middle
Turonian age, ranging from Westphalia through Schleswig-Hol-
stein, Lower Saxony, Sachsen-Anhalt, Brandenburg, to
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, all N Germany (Diener, 1966). While
in most of these areas red beds are known only from boreholes,
the Söhlde Formation is superbly exposed in numerous aban-
doned and working quarries, especially in Lower Saxony and
Sachsen-Anhalt (Fig. 3). These have been the subjects of a large
number of paleontologic, stratigraphic, and, to a lesser extent,
sedimentologic contributions. The wealth of data has been pre-
sented mostly in excursion guides, including the Brochterbeck,
Söhlde, Salder, and Erwitte formations (Fig. 4), ranging from the
upper Cenomanian to the Lower Coniacian (e.g., Ernst and
Wood, 1995; Ernst and Wood, 1997; Ernst et al., 1998). Within this
context, a detailed measured section of the Söhlde Formation
from Loges Quarry is presented here for the first time, including
field data on fauna, biostratigraphy, lithology, and sequence
stratigraphy, together with a review of previously published
data. The final discussion of the genesis of the red limestones in
the given tectono-sedimentary setting is a first “state of the art”
interpretive step towards understanding the non-actualistic
Rotpläner facies.
REGIONAL GEOLOGY
During the Cenomanian to Turonian, Lower Saxony and
Sachsen-Anhalt (NW Germany) were part of the NW–SW-trend-
ing Lower Saxony Block Basin and the Subhercynian Cretaceous
Basin as parts of the European Cretaceous shelf sea (Fig. 1). This
shelf sea expanded progressively in the course of the worldwide
Cenomanian transgression, which initiated the deposition of
mainly gray to white pelagic limestones in widespread areas of
this shelf sea from the Cenomanian to the lower Coniacian
(Ziegler, 1988; Niebuhr et al., 2000). In northern Germany, these
pelagic limestones are grouped in the so-called Plänerkalk Group

FRANK WIESE
154
(upper Cenomanian to lower Coniacian). Its spatial and temporal
lithological variability is expressed by a number of formations
(Fig. 4), of which the Cenomanian Herbram, Baddeckenstedt, and
Brochterbeck formations were recently treated in great detail
(Wilmsen, 2003; Wilmsen et al., 2005). With the Cenomanian–
Turonian boundary interval, a major tectonic event, the Santander
tectoevent (Wiese and Wilmsen, 1999) resulted in the establish-
ment of a pelagic but periodically very shallow-water shelf
depositional system, structured into small-scale intrashelf swells
and depressions (Hilbrecht and Dahmer, 1994; Wiese et al.,
2004a). The nearest coastlines were at least 200 km distant in all
directions.
Lithologically, this event is easily recognizable in all sections
exposing this interval by the abrupt turnover from white, mas-
sively bedded nannofossil limestones (Brochterbeck Forma-
tion) towards red, shell-detrital limestones (Söhlde Formation;
Fig. 7A, B), traditionally named “Rotpläner” (Red Pläner Lime-
stones) in northern Germany (Westphalia, Lower Saxony,
Sachsen-Anhalt), a name dating back to 1857 (von Strombeck,
1857). Rotpläner alternate with white limestones, which are
referred to as Weißpläner (White Pläner Limestones), but they
also can be lateral time-equivalent facies substitutes of the
Rotpläner (Fig. 5). Only in strongly subsiding areas of the
central Lower Saxony Basin (Voigt et al. 2008, p. 67, fig. 1),
Upper Cenomanian to lowermost Turonian black shales of the
OAE II (Hesseltal Formation; Fig. 4) rest abruptly on the
Brochterbeck Formation.
The Söhlde Formation (Wiese et al., 2006) can be mapped in
large parts of NW Germany (Lower Saxony, Sachsen-Anhalt). It
represents a lithologically heterogeneous succession of white and
red limestones with varying thickness up to 80 m. It is well
exposed in the type area around the village of Söhlde (Fig. 3) and
the abandoned Baddeckenstedt and Hoppenstedt limestone quar-
ries (Kott, 1986; Schönfeld et al., 1991; Horna et al., 1994; Horna,
1996; Horna and Wiese, 1997; Ernst and Rehfeld, 1998), the
Flöteberg road cut and the Schneeberg section near Salzgitter,
and the Harlyberg near Vienenburg (Ernst et al., 1997). In addi-
tion, numerous abandoned small pits, quarries, road-cuttings
and overgrown railway cuttings provide additional details on
sedimentology, microfacies, and faunal characteristics. Integrated
stratigraphy, including biostratigraphy, event stratigraphy,
tephrostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy, δ13C curves (e.g., Ernst
et al., 1983; Ernst and Wood, 1995; Horna and Wiese, 1997; Voigt
and Hilbrecht, 1997; Ernst et al., 1998; Wray, 1999; Wiese et al.,
2000; Wray and Wood, 2002), provides the basis for a precise
FIG. 1.—Simplified paleogeographic sketch of the European Tu-
ronian shelf sea. A) Fennoscandia, B) West Sudetic Island, C)
Bohemian Massif, D) Iberian Meseta. Working area indicated
by black dot.
FIG. 2.—Legend for Figures 3–5.
establishment of the lateral facies relationships between red and
white limestones and their shift within a high-resolution strati-
graphic framework (Fig. 5).
Typically, the Söhlde Formation consists of a vertically and
laterally heterogeneous succession of Rotpläner and Weißpläner.
Weißpläner occur preferentially in intrashelf depressions in the
form of white to gray flasery limestones, marly limestones, or
massively bedded limestone packages with intercalated marl
seams. Where developed, cyclic sedimentation is expressed by
regular symmetrical marl–limestone alternations or thickening-
upwards cycles (shallowing-upwards cycles) that start with
marls and terminate in thick-bedded to slightly nodular lime-
stones. Rotpläner represent settings more proximal to or near
intrashelf swells. Lithologically, they represent marly and/or
flasery limestones, intraclast-bearing marls and griotte-like lime-
stones (resembling, in polished slabs, Ammonitico Rosso and
comparable rocks), debris flows, shell-detrital beds, and chan-
nel structures of variable dimensions. Cyclic sedimentation is
expressed by shallowing- and coarsening-upwards cycles. These
start with red, pink, or white more massive limestones and
grade progressively into griotte-like sediments. Lateral color
changes from Rotpläner to Weißpläner can occur over a distance
of only few hundred meters as a result of narrowly spaced
intrashelf swells and basins resulting from minor synsedimen-
tary movements of subsurface salt structures (Hilbrecht, 1988;
Ernst and Wood, 1995; Niebuhr et al., 2001). High-resolution
stratigraphy shows that a correlation of individual sedimenta-

155
SHALLOW WATER PELAGIC RED BEDS
tion cycles from swell settings into intrashelf depressions is
possible. Given the lateral facies relations within the Söhlde
Formation (Fig. 5), repeated replacements of Weißpläner and
Rotpläner in the sedimentary column are the expression of
fluctuating relative sea level (Ernst et al., 1979; Niebuhr et al.,
2000; Wiese et al., 2004a).
The relation between coloration—red in shallower settings,
white in deeper settings—and depositional environment is not
strictly straightforward, and the color change from red to white
can occur in individual beds even within some tens of meters
without any significant changes in lithology, microfacies, and
fauna. This gives the occurrence of the Rotpläner some regional
and stratigraphic patchiness, with boundaries potentially not
isochronous. Thus, grouping the rocks of the Söhlde Formation
into units merely on the basis of a simple red–white distinction
(e.g., Ernst and Wood, 1995) inevitably results in an artificial
subdivision of genetically unrelated sedimentary units with a
potential for diachrony. The lithological subdivision applied
here is based instead on the distinction of sedimentary se-
quences bounded by unconformities, omission surfaces, or
abrupt lithofacies changes (Fig. 6), modified from Ernst et al.
(1998), Wiese et al. (2004a), and Wilmsen and Wiese (2004). Six
complete sedimentary sequences and one incomplete sequence
are included in the Söhlde Formation at the Loges Quarry: the
plenus, labiatus I, and labiatus II sequences approximate to the
Lower Rotpläner of traditional usage (Fig. 5, 6). The apicalis/
cuvierii Sequence includes the so-called “Weiße Grenzbank”
(White Boundary Bed, WBB), an important interregional marker
limestone between Westphalia, Lower Saxony, and Sachsen-
Anhalt, the lamarcki Sequence I corresponds approximately to
the Middle Rotpläner, and the uppermost part of the lamarcki II
Sequence represents the Upper Rotpläner. The perplexus Se-
quence is developed only in its basal part and not considered
further here. Considering an approximate duration of the Söhlde
Formation of ca. 3.0–3.5 Myr (Gradstein et al., 2004), an approxi-
mate duration of 400–500 ka for each sequence can be calculated.
This frequency may be seen as an expression of long eccentric-
ity-induced sea-level fluctuations, as proposed also for the
Cenomanian (Gale et al., 2002).
THE SÖHLDE FORMATION AT ITS TYPE LOCALITY
The Söhlde formation in its type area is exposed in several
abandoned and working quarries around the small village of
Söhlde, near Braunschweig (Fig. 3). The most complete and type
section is the Loges working quarry, where the Söhlde Forma-
tion has a thickness of ca. 35 m (Figs. 6, 7A). Detailed bio-event
and stable-isotope stratigraphy of the Loges quarry is available
(Ernst and Wood, 1995; Ernst and Wood, 1997; Ernst et al., 1998;
Horna and Wiese, 1997; Voigt and Hilbrecht, 1997), including
interbasinal correlation and geochemical analyses of some ben-
tonites (Wiese et al., 2004b; Wray and Wood, 2002). Interpreta-
FIG. 3.—Geological overview of the study area in Lower Saxony and Sachsen-Anhalt.
Variscian Paleozoic
of the Harz Mountains

FRANK WIESE
156
tion is based on field data and 140 thin sections for the ca. 35 m
interval.
plenus Sequence
The name of the sequence derives from the belemnite
Praeactinocamax plenus, which has its main occurrence in this
stratigraphic interval in Europe. The base of the plenus Sequence
is taken at a prominent lithologic turnover, the “Facies Change”,
which is traceable in wide parts of Europe (sub-plenus erosion
surface in England (Jefferies, 1963; Wilmsen, 2003; Gale et al.,
2005). It marks the change from white nannofossil limestones of
the Brochterbeck Formation (Fig. 7A, Fig. 9A) towards red marls
and marly limestones. In Lower Saxony and Sachsen-Anhalt, it
marks the base of the Söhlde Formation and the base of the Lower
Rotpläner of traditional usage. The top of the plenus Bed (Fig. 7B)
is a regional undulating erosional surface with large, partly
superficially phosphatized white lithoclasts derived from the
plenus Bed itself. It is interpreted here as a sequence boundary
(SB), delimiting the base of the succeeding labiatus Sequence I.
However, there is still no general consensus on the sequence
stratigraphic interpretation of the interval. Voigt et al. (2006) and
Robaszynski et al. (1998) interpreted the plenus Bed as a part of a
lowstand, with the top of the plenus Bed reflecting a transgressive
surface. Prauss (2006) saw a maximum flooding interval at the
base of the plenus Bed, which was understood by Wilmsen (2003)
as a transgressive surface, whereas Hilbrecht and Dahmer (1994)
proposed a hiatus at the base of the plenus Bed.
Lithology and Lateral Facies Change.—
Although at Söhlde–Loges this facies change towards
Rotpläner is conspicuous, some green marly limestones are inter-
calated in more complete sections, only a few hundred meters
distant and positioned closer to the rim syncline of the Broistedt
salt structure. As shown by Hilbrecht and Dahmer (1994), the
sedimentological history of the sequence is complex, and, com-
pared to time-equivalent black-shale sections (Fig. 4; Hesseltal
Formation, Hiss et al. 2006) towards the west in the Hannover
area (Wunstorf and Misburg: Wood and Ernst, 1998; Prauss,
2006), the Loges section is greatly reduced in thickness. Discon-
tinuous sedimentation is also expressed by the much reduced
development of the well-known positive δ13C peak of the Cen-
omanian–Turonian boundary (Voigt and Hilbrecht, 1997; Tsikos
et al., 2004; Erbacher et al., 2005; Gale et al., 2005; Voigt et al., 2006).
In the lower part of the sequence, the microfacies shows abundant
calcareous dinoflagellate cysts (Pithonella sphaerica, P. ovalis),
subsequently referred to herein as c-dinocysts, and scattered
inoceramid debris. Towards the plenus Bed, the c-dinocyst con-
tent and the content of coarse bioclastic material decreases, giving
some evidence for a pelagization trend.
Fauna.—
In contrast to the fauna in the Anglo-Paris Basin (Jefferies,
1961, 1963) and in Westphalia (Lehmann, 1999; Diedrich, 2001) at
this level, the fauna collected at Loges is poor in abundance and
diversity. Apart from rare Inoceramus pictus, some pycnodonteine
oysters and Orbyrhynchia wiesti occur. Two specimens of
Praeactinocamax plenus were collected from the plenus Bed of the
Loges quarry. Trace fossils are abundant, and especially the ca. 2-
cm-thick Chondrites Event just below the plenus Bed (Fig. 6) is a
striking feature. This event is characterized by intense bioturba-
tion by the trace fossil Chondrites, which makes up to 50% of the
recognizable burrows. This ichnotaxon normally represents the
deepest tier, with a percentage of less than 1% of the total
preserved bioturbation (Bromley, 1999). This anomalous mass
occurrence is an expression of a short-lived dysoxic and anoxic
episode (Bromley and Ekdale, 1984), and it can be observed in the
Rotpläner facies of the Söhlde Formation as well as in the black-
shale facies of the Hesseltal Formation from Sachsen-Anhalt in
the east and Westphalia in the west.
Stratigraphy.—
Stable-isotope correlations (Voigt and Hilbrecht, 1997; Gale
et al., 2005) strongly indicate that the German plenus Bed corre-
lates with Jefferies Bed 3 of the Plenus Marls of the Anglo-Paris
Basin (see also Lehmann, 1999). This is also supported by the LO
of the planktic foraminifer Rotalipora cushmani in or at the plenus
Bed of both areas (Hilbrecht and Dahmer, 1994). This permits a
precise dating of the sequence as geslinianum to juddii zonal age.
Because the plenus Bed is internally divided by red marl seams,
Wood and Mortimore (1995) suggested a tripartite subdivision
of the plenus Bed with the highest unit—from where P. plenus is
recorded—as a possible equivalent of Jefferies Bed 4.
FIG. 4.—Lithostratigraphic subdivision of the Plänerkalk-Gruppe
in NW Germany (Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Sachsen-Anhalt).
Söhlde Formation is shaded in gray (changed after http://
www.palaeontologische-gesellschaft.de/palges/kreide,
2007).

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SHALLOW WATER PELAGIC RED BEDS
Mytiloides labiatus Sequence I
The labiatus Sequence I is named after the inoceramid bivalve
Mytiloides labiatus, which enters the stratigraphic record just
below a conspicuous marl layer, the Violet Marl Layer (VML).
The labiatus I Sequence rests unconformably on the plenus Bed
(Hilbrecht and Dahmer, 1994). The contact is expressed as an
undulating erosion surface developed at the top of the plenus Bed.
Large, partly phosphatized lithoclasts (up to 10 cm) of the plenus
Bed rest on this erosion surface and indicate transgressive re-
working. The top of the sequence is marked by the VML. At
Loges, the sequence has a thickness of only ca. 1.80 m, but in more
expanded sections such as the Hoppenstedt quarry (Horna, 1996;
Horna and Wiese, 1997), it is some 6 m thick.
Lithology and Microfacies.—
At Loges, the labiatus Sequence I consists of two small-scale
shallowing-upwards cycles (Fig. 6, 7B). The lower part of the
sequence consists of red wavy- to flaser-bedded limestones,
which, towards the top of the cycles, shift into nodular to intraclast-
bearing limestones, resulting in a texture that resembles that of a
griotte. Thin, blood-red detrital marl seams are intercalated. In
the upper part of the sequence, lithoclasts with sizes up to a few
centimeters occur. Coarse bioclastics (mainly debris from
inoceramid bivalves) and coquina-like shell accumulations occur
below the VML. Valves are disarticulated and often show convex-
down orientation (Fig. 8F). In some beds there is no significant
preferred orientation of shell debris, and also vertically embed-
ded shell fragments are common. These observations suggest
rapid deposition from suspension. There are also very rare small-
scale channel-like structures.
The microfacies is variable, characterized by abundant c-
dinocysts; inoceramid debris is almost rock-forming at some
levels, especially below the VML (c-dinocyst wackestone,
inoceramid wackestone to floatstone). Non-keeled planktic fora-
minifera and microcrinoid debris are also common. Benthic
foraminifera are extremely rare.
FIG. 5.—Lateral lithostratigraphic relations within the Söhlde Formation with details of biostratigraphy and event stratigraphy.
Synthesized after Ernst et al. (1979), Niebuhr et al. (2000), and the writer’s data. Approximate position of the Loges working quarry
is indicated by black arrow.

FRANK WIESE
158
FIG. 6.—Lithological column of the type locality of the Söhlde Formation, the Loges working quarry A) Formation name; B) substages;
C) inoceramid biostratigraphy; D) color: gray = red beds; E) thickness.

159
SHALLOW WATER PELAGIC RED BEDS
FIG. 7.—A) Overview of the section exposed in the Loges quarry. a) Brochterbeck Formation, b) Lower Rotpläner, c) Weiße Grenzbank
=White Boundary Bed WBB, d) Middle Rotpläner, e) Upper Rotpläner. White limestone above: basal Upper Turonian facies
turnover, cf. Fig. 6. B) Details of the Lower Rotpläner. Br, Brochterbeck Formation; pl., plenus Bed l Se; I. labiatus Sequence I; l Se.
II, labiatus Sequence II; VML, Violet Marl Layer (sequence boundary). C) Details around the WBB. Lower sequence boundary, SB:
Mid-Turonian erosion surface is indicated in Figure 6, base apicalis–cuvierii Sequence (a./c. Se.), upper SB: M0, base lamarcki
Sequence I (la. Se. I). D) Top Middle Rotpläner with bentonite TC to basal Upper Turonian facies turnover and TC2. Lower SB:
flasery marl (see Fig. 6), base lamarcki Sequence II (la. Se. II). E) Terminal lamarcki Sequence II with Upper Rotpläner (URP) and
basal Upper Turonian facies turnover (BUTFT).

FRANK WIESE
160
Macrofauna.—
The eponymous taxon for this sequence, Mytiloides labiatus,
and M. mytiloides can occur in great abundance, especially below
the VML, representing the first of the three Mytiloides Events
recognized by Ernst et al. (1983). In addition, small terebratulid
and rhynchonellid brachiopods are common. In washed resi-
dues, regular echinoderm spines and asteroid ossicles occur.
Microcrinoid debris (Roveacrinus) is especially abundant below
the VML. One fragment of Watinoceras devonense was recorded
from a gutter cast well below the VML in the Söhlde area (Ernst
et al., 1998). Böttcher (1996) found a giant unsculptured ammo-
nite (Puzosia?) 10 cm below the VML.
Stratigraphy.—
Precise age determination of the base of the labiatus I Sequence
in the Loges quarry is difficult, due to its reduced thickness. From
more expanded sections like Baddeckenstedt (Fig. 3), two beds
with Mytiloides hattini–like inoceramids occur above the plenus
Bed and well below the VML (Ernst and Rehfeld, 1998), giving
stratigraphic evidence for the Cenomanian–Turonian transition.
However, δ13C data from the Loges section suggest the terminal
Cenomanian and lowermost Turonian to be highly condensed or
to fall into a hiatus (Voigt and Hilbrecht, 1997), and sedimenta-
tion might have started in the Lower Turonian, presumably in the
Watinoceras devonense Zone. The topmost part is located in the
Mammites nodosoides Zone (see discussion below).
Mytiloides labiatus Sequence II
The base of the labiatus Sequence II (thickness ca. 8.50 m at
Loges) is positioned at the VML, a ca. 1-cm-thick bed consisting
of brittle-weathering shell-detrital material in a red to violet
marly matrix. It can be recognized in all sections of Sachsen-
Anhalt and eastern Lower Saxony, thus being traceable about
several hundred km2. It can also be recognized in Westphalia and
eastern England (Ernst et al., 1984; Wood 1992). Its top is defined
by a regional basal mid-Turonian erosion surface. The labiatus
Sequence has a thickness of ca. 8.50 m at Loges.
Lithology and Microfacies.—
The labiatus Sequence II consists of several shallowing-up-
wards parasequences that reflect stepwise deepening of the
depositional area. It is expressed by continuous lithofacies change
in each parasequence from more massively bedded limestones to
flasery limestones and griottes, associated with a progressive
weakening of the red coloration. The lowest parasequence above
the VML starts with red flasery limestones and bioclastic
wackestones to floatstones with inoceramid debris, c-dinocysts,
and rare planktic foraminifera (Fig. 9B). There are also sporadic
patches enriched in roveacrinid debris. It terminates in griotte-
like limestones with inoceramid debris and entire valves. Above
these limestones (at ca. 5.50 m), c-dinocysts prevail (Fig. 9C).
Some beds are interpreted as debris flows, consisting of weak
pink to red limestone with lithoclasts floating in a shell-detrital
muddy matrix. Lithoclasts show semi-plastic to brittle deforma-
tion, and rotation during sediment movement is indicated by the
development of tails (seen only in polished slabs, Fig. 8G; see also
Hilbrecht, 1988). The microfacies in this interval comprise bio-
clastic to c-dinocyst wackestones.
Some tens of centimeters above the VML, broad (up to 3 m
lateral extent) but shallow channels (Fig. 8A) and small-scale
channel fills (Fig. 8C) are common at Söhlde and other localities
(Kott, 1985; Horna and Wiese, 1997). The channels, 10 to 20 cm
wide (Fig. 8B), show sharp erosional bases. Asymmetric channels
display development of geometry of cut banks and point bars
(Fig. 8C). Polished slabs show a subhorizontal infill following the
relief of the channel, with inoceramid fragments in convex-down
orientation in the lower parts. In the upper part of the channel fill,
cross bedding occurs with shells in convex-up orientation, indi-
cating deposition under current influence. Channel size, geom-
etry, and infill history are typical of gutter casts, developed
during storm depositional events (Aigner, 1985; Myrow, 1992b;
Bhattacharya et al., 2004).
Morphologically similar but genetically different structures are
storm-infilled Thalassinoides burrows (“tubular tempestites”; see
also Horna, 1996), in which the open burrow system has been
catastrophically infilled with suspension load (Wanless et al., 1988;
Tedesco and Wanless, 1991). The top of the burrow infill is planar
due to erosional truncation. As in the case of gutter casts, the
burrow fill consists of subhorizontally laminated infill with larger
lithoclasts (ca. 7 mm max. diameter). Recent relatives of the burrow
producers are thalassinid crustaceans, which burrow a few centi-
meters to tens of centimeters into the sediment (see Bromley, 1999,
for an overview). A significant degree of erosion of previously
deposited sediment is needed to obtain the “half-pipe” preserva-
tion of horizontal parts of crustacean burrow networks.
Towards the upper part of the labiatus II Sequence, gutter
casts disappear; inoceramids and their debris become rarer, and
the limestones beds show wavy bed contacts. A conspicuous
change towards platy limestones and a decrease in red pigmen-
tation occurs at ca. 7.20 m, which is likewise accompanied by an
increase in matrix, a decrease in particle size, and the sporadic
occurrence of planktic foraminifera, expressing an overall rela-
tive sea-level rise.
Fauna.—
Faunal diversity is poor, and mass occurrences of inoceramid
bivalves are characteristic in the lower part of the sequence. These
accumulations are still part of the Mytiloides Event I of Ernst et al.
(1983), which sandwiches the VML. Two further abundance
peaks of Mytiloides are associated with lithoclastic flasery lime-
stones at the top of two shallowing-upwards parasequences (Fig.
6). In Baddeckenstedt, Mammites nodosoides is recorded from the
VML (Ernst and Rehfeld, 1998). Of special stratigraphic signifi-
cance is the occurrence of inoceramid bivalves densely encrusted
by the serpulid Filograna avita in and above the VML. Small
terebratulid and rhynchonellid brachiopods are common, espe-
cially in more flasery intervals. In washed residues of the VML,
echinoderm spines and asteroid ossicles were collected.
Stratigraphy.—
The occurrence of F. avita in and 10 cm above the VML (Ernst
and Wood, 1995) in NW Germany represents the Filograna avita
event of the Chalk of the Anglo-Paris Basin (Gale et al., 1993), where
it marks a biodatum of Jarvis et al. (2006) in the Lower Turonian
nodosoides Zone. Assuming a correct correlation of the beds in both
areas, which is not in conflict with stable-isotope data (Voigt and
Hilbrecht, 1997; Jarvis et al., 2006), the base of the labiatus Sequence
II falls into the (middle) Mammites nodosoides Zone (Figs. 5, 6). The
top is located at the base of the apicalis/cuvierii Zone.
Inoceramus apicalis/cuvierii Sequence
The apicalis–cuvierii Sequence (thickness ca. 4 m) corresponds
to the hercynicus Sequence of Ernst et al. (1998). This name is

161
SHALLOW WATER PELAGIC RED BEDS
abandoned. Although parts of the sequence fall into the strati-
graphic range of the Mytiloides hercynicus (Fig. 5), it is virtually
absent in the study area, apart from some finds from the nearby
Baddeckenstedt quarry (Ernst et al. 1998). This sequence bound-
ary marks the approximate entry of the inoceramids of the
Inoceramus apicalis/cuvierii assemblage. The base of the apicalis–
cuvierii Sequence is marked by a well developed early mid-
Turonian erosion surface with an undulating bed contact, sharply
overlain by dark red marl (Fig. 8E). Open Thalassinoides burrow
systems are deeply infilled by red marls. Lithoclasts of variable
sizes float within the matrix. The bioturbation-mottled ero-
sional surface and the sharp contact between burrows and
burrowed stratum are accentuated by the red–white color con-
trast, resulting in a pseudo-nodular fabric in some intervals.
FIG. 8.—A) Small-scale channel fill at the level of the VML. B) Large gutter casts with red infill and gray laminae (above VML). C)
Small gutter casts ca. 100 cm above the VML; original color is greenish; D) lithoclastic interval (debris flows); for position see
Figure 6. E) Omission surface at the base of the apicalis/cuvierii Sequence (see Fig. 6C). F) Inoceramid valve with convex-down
orientation below VML. G) Polished slab of Part D; height ca. 15 cm.

FRANK WIESE
162

163
SHALLOW WATER PELAGIC RED BEDS
Ernst and Wood (1998) reported a Gibbithyris brachiopod event
from this interval. The apicalis–cuvierii Sequence incorporates
both white and red limestones in its lowermost part, but it is
visually dominated by the “Weiße Grenzbank”, WBB, the base
of which has previously used to locate the base of the middle
Turonian (Ernst et al., 1979; Ernst et al., 1983) traceable in the
whole of Sachsen-Anhalt, Lower Saxony, and Westphalia.
Lithology, Sedimentology, and Microfacies.—
The base of the sequence is characterized by the recurrence
of dark red marl seams intercalated between pink to white or
pink-white variegated flasery limestones. Microfacies of the
limestones shows bioclastic wackestones with abundant fila-
mentous bivalve fragments and inoceramid and echinoderm
debris. This interval has traditionally been included in the
Lower Rotpläner (Fig. 6). Towards the WBB (ca. 250 cm), there
is a gradational change in color from red to white, associated
with a lithofacies change towards massively bedded lime-
stones. The main WBB is bipartite, the two parts being sepa-
rated by a marl seam. Except for bioturbation, no textures can
be observed. A pelagization impulse associated with the WBB
is expressed by an increase in matrix, a decrease in bioclasts,
and an increase in planktic foraminifera, resulting in the depo-
sition of wackestones (Fig. 9E) and in some parts mudstones
(Fig. 9F). Scattered inoceramid and roveacrinid debris can be
observed. Some patches enriched in microdebris result from
biogenic sorting.
Fauna.—
The macrofauna is rare and consists of small rhynchonellid
brachiopods (Orbirhynchia), Inoceramus ex gr. cuvierii, and I.
apicalis. The terebratulid brachiopod Gibbithyris occurs around
the sequence boundary. Due to its faunal content, the WBB has
traditionally been taken as the Middle Turonian marker in the
area. However (see above), the first inoceramid marker for the
Middle Turonian occurs in the Lower Rotpläner around the
sequence boundary.
Stratigraphy.—
The inoceramid fauna dates this sequence as lower Middle
Turonian. By means of ammonite biostratigraphy, it correlates
approximately with the lower part of the Collignoniceras woollgari
Zone.
Inoceramus lamarcki Sequence I
The base of the lamarcki Sequence I (thickness ca. 7 m) is
marked by a well developed erosion surface on top of the WBB,
with white limestone lithoclasts reworked directly from the
underlying WBB. The top of the WBB is deeply penetrated by
Thalassinoides burrows, resulting in a burrow-mottled texture.
Internally, the Thalassinoides burrows are penetrated by Chon-
drites and Planolites. Sharp burrow walls and well accentuated
color contrasts between white and the red infill are indicative
of sediment consolidation pre-dating burrow penetration,
pointing to a disruption of sedimentation. This hiatus is of
regional significance. The lamarcki Sequence I corresponds
broadly to the Middle Rotpläner of traditional usage (Ernst
and Wood, 1995).
Lithology, Sedimentology, and Microfacies.—
The lamarcki Sequence I is characterized by a regular alter-
nation of flasery pink limestones and red flaser–marly lime-
stones. It marks the turnover from asymmetrical to symmetri-
cal cycles (Fig. 6), indicating increased accommodation space
due to relative sea-level rise. Lithoclastic horizons are still
common. At the base of the sequence, in a thin limestone above
the detrital marl M0, the microfacies is characterized by bio-
clastic c-dinocyst wackestones with planktic and fewer benthic
foraminifera (Fig. 9F). Higher up-section, a relative sea-level
rise is associated with the decrease of c-dinocysts and other
bioclasts, resulting in a more matrix-dominated wackestone.
Towards the top of the sequence, limestones become more
flasery again; matrix decreases and c-dinocysts become more
common. The sequence boundary is characterized by nodular,
flasery marl. In the southern part of the Loges quarry, the
Middle Rotpläner stops shortly below the SB (Fig. 7D). In the
northern part of the quarry, ca. 300 m distant, red coloration
crosses the SB.
Fauna.—
At M0, the first inoceramids referable to I. lamarcki occur. I.
cuverii and apicalis are still present and form an abundance
peak at that level (lamarcki–cuvierii Event I of Ernst et al. 1983).
Around bentonite TC, a further inoceramid acme occurs
(lamarcki–cuvierii Event II). Apart from inoceramids, other
macrofauna is depleted. One limestone block contained a
dense cluster of the wood-boring bivalve “Teredo” amphisboena,
without any traces of the xylic material in which they bored.
Intense bioturbation is indicated by mottled color differences
between reddish and pinkish to white patches.
Stratigraphy.—
The inoceramid assemblage of Inoceramus lamarcki together
with I. cuvierii and I. apicalis dates this sequence as Middle
Turonian.
←
FIG. 9 (facing page).—Representative thin sections of rocks from the Loges working quarry. Scale bar 1 mm, except Part C: 0.5 mm.
A) Top Brochterbeck Formation. Wackestone with small c-dinocysts and scattered bioclasts. B) Ca. 10 cm below the VML
(uppermost labiatus Sequence I): bioclastic wackestone with abundant inoceramid debris (a), c-dinocysts, and rare planktonic
foraminifera (b). Note the significant increase in grain size. C) Basal labiatus Sequence II (see Figure 5): monotonous c-dinocyst
wackestones to packstones. D) C-dinocyst wackestone, scattered planktonic foraminifera (b) occur. E) White Boundary Bed:
mudstones to wackestones with rare c-dinocysts, inoceramid prisms, and planktonic foraminifera. Decrease in bioclastics
indicates maximum pelagization in the succession. F) Lowermost lamarcki Sequence, ca. 20 cm above M0: bioclastic wackestone
dominated by inoceramid debris (a) and brachiopods (c). Lithoclasts of the underlying WBB (mudstones) are indicated by an
arrow. G) Middle part of the lamarcki II Sequence with bioclastic wackestones containing inoceramid debris (a) and small c-
dinocysts; (d): spine of an regular echinoid. H) Uppermost part of the lamarcki II Sequence (Upper Rotpläner): bioclastic
wackestone showing an increase in planktonic foraminifera and other bioclastics; c-dinocysts are still common.

FRANK WIESE
164
Inoceramus lamarcki Sequence II
The base of the lamarcki Sequence II (thickness ca. 8 m) is taken
at the base of a green, lithoclast-bearing, flasery marl
(“Flasermergel” in Figure 6), as it is exposed in Loges south (Fig.
7). At Loges north, it is a red marl associated with an omission
surface, and ca. 2 km distant, at Woltwiesche, there is a well
developed sharp and undulating erosion surface. The top of the
sequence is taken at the Basal Upper Turonian Facies Turnover
(Wiese et al., 2004a). The Rotpläner sediments stop at this interval
at Loges, except for weakly pink marl some decameters above.
Lithology and Sedimentology.—
Flasery limestones, marly limestones, or massively bedded
limestone packages (CaCO3 content always well above 90%;
Ernst et al., 1998) are stacked in symmetrical sets of parasequen-
ces in the lower parts of the sequence. Inoceramids are common
to abundant. Microfacies comprise c-dinocyst wackestones. In
the upper part of the sequence, decreasing accommodation space
and, thus, relative sea-level fall is indicated by a turnover from
symmetrical to asymmetrical cycles in the form of small-scale
shallowing-upwards cycles. This interval of the section is like-
wise associated with a recurrence of Rotpläner (Upper Rotpläner;
Fig. 7E) in the form of limestones and marls. Although coastline
progradation cannot be proven, the development of the symme-
try of the cycles and their stacking pattern resembles that of a late
highstand systems tract in sequence stratigraphic understand-
ing, here, however, triggered by a progressive lowering of rela-
tive sea level and an increase in reworking due to reduced
accommodation space for in situ–generated biogenic sediments.
Fauna.—
Around and above the basal sequence boundary, a third
inoceramid acme occurs (lamarcki–cuvierii Event III), and
inoceramids occur scattered throughout the section. In the upper
Rotpläner, the irregular echinoid Plesiocorys (Sternotaxis) plana is
common. The contact of the basal Upper Turonian facies turnover
on the Upper Rotpläner, in particular, has often been described in
the literature as marking a Conulus–Sternotaxis Event (Ernst and
Wood, 1995). However, among tens of specimens of P. (Sternotaxis),
no specimen of Conulus was found recently, so this event should
rather be understood simply as a P. (S.) plana peak occurrence.
Stratigraphy.—
Based on inoceramids, the base of the sequence is located in
the higher Middle Turonian. However, interbasinal δ13C correla-
tions show that the upper Rotpläner falls into a well-developed
positive excursions (Voigt and Hilbrecht, 1997), the Pewsey Event
of Gale (1996), which is an important interbasinal isotope datum
(Wiese, 1999; Jarvis et al., 2006). Detailed reassessment of avail-
able biostratigraphic data in the context of the placing of the
Middle–Upper Turonian boundary (Wiese and Kaplan, 2001)
suggests that the base of the Upper Turonian correlates with the
massive white limestone at 30.5 m (the basal Upper Turonian
facies turnover of Wiese et al., 2004a). The top of the sequence thus
approximates to the Middle–Upper Turonian boundary.
SUMMARY OF RELATIVE
SEA-LEVEL DEVELOPMENT
With the facies change at the base of the plenus Sequence, a
stepwise relative sea-level fall is expressed by the following two
sequences. A first relative sea-level minimum and the establish-
ment of a shallow-water, fully pelagic carbonate system with
water depths above and around storm wave base (Hilbrecht and
Dahmer, 1994) happened within the labiatus Sequence I. Sedi-
mentology suggests a bypass-zone tempestite facies model as
described by Myrow (1992a). Applying recent depth of storm
wave base of ca. 7 to max 30–35 m (Aigner and Reineck, 1982; Liu
and Zarillo, 1989; Storms, 2003), ca. 20 m might be a reasonable
guess (see also Wilmsen, 2003). The lowest relative sea level is
associated with the VML, which likewise is an inflection point
towards transgressively stacked high-frequency third-order sea-
level cycles, as demonstrable by the microfacies change from
shell-detrital floatstones and/or packstones towards matrix-domi-
nated limestones with a prevalence of c-dinocysts and planktic
foraminifera. Presumably, water depth below storm wave base
was reached in the middle part of the labiatus Sequence II.
However, lithoclastic beds are still common, suggesting continu-
ation of influence by storm surges and backflows. A first relative-
sea-level high is marked by the lithologically homogeneous WBB,
which reflects a pelagization pulse. Its geographical extent over
some 100 km from Sachsen-Anhalt through Lower Saxony to
Westphalia, with only moderate thickness variations in a re-
gional context, indicates a period of cessation of synsedimentary
tectonism. Post-WBB sedimentation (lamarcki I and II sequences)
is again accompanied by structural differentiation, as indicated
by lateral changes in facies, thickness, and color over less than
200 m in the Loges quarry. However, especially in the lamarcki
II Sequence, the higher relative sea level and increasing accom-
modation space resulted in the development of more or less
symmetrical sets of marl–limestone successions with marls
grading into (nodular) limestones and back into marls. The
upper part of this sequence exhibits a “progradational” stacking
pattern with progressive shallowing, lithoclastic–debritic hori-
zons, and griotte-like limestones. However, storm wave base
was not reached, but the griotte-like limestones and nodular
marls indicate a significant amount of reworking by increased
water turbulence.
THE RED COLORATION
On close inspection of the Rotpläner, it can be seen that the red
coloration varies in intensity both laterally and vertically and can
exhibit variegated pigmentation patterns, especially in the white
to slightly pinkish limestones such as the plenus Bed and the WBB.
The marls are often more strongly pigmented; with increasing
carbonate content the red pigmentation becomes weaker. No red
crusts, veins, or other obvious mineralization occur that can be
responsible for the pigmentation. Thin sections reveal that the
pigmentation is not homogeneous. Instead, color distribution is
patchy and cloudy, darker red intervals grade into lighter inter-
vals, and Chondrites burrows, in particular, tend to lack pigmen-
tation. Brownish-red ferric iron mineralization sometimes occurs
within chambers of fossils such as foraminifera, where it forms
thin wall covers or completely fills the voids, as partly observed
in c-dinocysts. Especially dark red are pressure-solution seams or
microstylolites, where insoluble residues are concentrated. Judg-
ing from the comparatively low degree of dissolution in the latter
and the comparatively high and somewhat disproportionate
increase in red coloration, it appears that even slight dissolution
might result in a rapid and significant deepening of the color. This
can explain the very deep red colors in the marlier intervals. This
was also observed by Rose and Radczewski (1949) and Bräutigam
(1962), who therefore suggested that the red coloration can be
linked to the clay-mineral content; in fact, the higher the CaCO3
content, the less is the red coloration, indicating a positive corre-

165
SHALLOW WATER PELAGIC RED BEDS
lation between pigmentation and clay-mineral content. In order
to get an idea of the nature of the red pigment, two samples from
the VML were decalcified (10% acetic acid and hydrochloric acid)
for SEM analyses. A few scattered crystals (0.5 nm length) in the
decalcified samples could represent ferric iron minerals, but
otherwise no clear evidence for the staining agent was found.
However, most of the clay minerals show tuberculate structures
on their surfaces, which could represent ferric iron minerals
resulting from in situ alteration, which is also recorded by Heim
(1957).
Geochemical analyses of Rotpläner and Weißpläner (Rose
and Radczewski, 1949) show that the Fe2O3 content in the
Brochterbeck Formation (Weißpläner: 0.82%) and in the Lower
Rotpläner (0.95%) varies only insignificantly; however, in the
white limestones Fe is bound to the carbonate lattice whereas it is
suggested to occur as limonite in the Rotpläner. RFA measure-
ments (done at the IBCM Oldenburg; Germany) of white and red
limestones from the Söhlde Formation show Fe2O3 values from
0.29 to 0.42% for Weißpläner and 0.36 to 0.83% for Rotpläner,
indicating slightly higher but altogether very low values com-
pared to recent average shales or deep-sea red clays, with ca. 5%
(Glasby, 1991), or deep-water CORBs, reaching a Fe2O3 content of
10% (Hu et al., 2005). Other elements such as Mn are also depleted
(Weißpläner, 560–270 ppm; Rotpläner, 540–290 ppm), showing
no relation to color, and Ba is below the detection limits. Interest-
ing is the fact that variations in CaCO3 contents are somehow
linked to pigmentation: more argillaceous (above 60% CaCO3)
limestones are more strongly pigmented than the massively
bedded white limestones with 90% CaCO3 (Schönfeld et al., 1991;
Ernst et al., 1998). The Corg content (less than 0.1 wt % in selected
white limestone and ca. 0.2 wt % in the Lower Rotpläner) is
equally low, as shown in the neighboring Baddeckenstedt section
by Schönfeld et al. (1991)
DISCUSSION
The red coloration of the Rotpläner has not been treated in
detail in the past. Brinkmann (1935) suggested sediment oxida-
tion in deeper water, making the red coloration an indicator for
paleogeography of the area during Turonian times. As already
commented by Diener (1967), his interpretation of the deposi-
tional environment is not in agreement with lithology and sedi-
mentology. Riedel (1942) supposed potential terrigenous influ-
ence from areas with pre-Cretaceous terrestrial red beds, and
Kemper (1987) suggested that the source of the red material was
“terra rossa” paleosols. However, Hinze and Meischner (1967)
showed already that—crossing the redox boundary layer—terra
rossa is reduced, resulting in dark sediments (see below). Jordan
(1974) suggested input of terrigenous red beds and development
of hematite under the influence of salinar brines, but this model
fails to explain the limitation of the red beds to swell settings.
Ernst et al. (1983) suggested cold arctic water upwelling in the
area for the development of the red coloration, but δ18O values
from brachiopod shells show bottom-water temperature data
between 14° and 18°C for the area (Voigt, 2000). Based on geochemi-
cal data, Rose and Radczewski (1949) suggested oxidation pro-
cesses under highly oxic bottom-water conditions as the trigger
for the red coloration, a mechanism also suggested for the genesis
of the English Red Chalk (Jeans et al., 2000). However, as in the
case of terra rossa, the ferric iron minerals will be reduced below
the redox boundary layer.
A discussion on the genesis of the Rotpläner first needs to
elucidate the dating of the process causing the pigmentation. The
occurrence of numerous stylolites in massive limestones (such as
the WBB) and of flattened inoceramids in more marly sediments
indicates a significant amount of compaction associated with
pressure solution during late diagenesis. As pressure solution in
the marlier intervals resulted in an enrichment of the insoluble
residue, and likewise an increase in red coloration, the appear-
ance of the red color must predate compaction and pressure
solution. Gutter casts are often three-dimensionally preserved,
showing no or very little evidence of compaction, indicative of
earlier cementation than the ambient sediment. Most of the gutter
casts are greenish or yellowish, floating in the red limestones, but
completely red-pigmented three-dimensionally preserved gut-
ter casts can also be observed, dating the development of red
pigmentation before or during earliest diagenetic cementation.
Comparable observation can be made on trace fossils, which
sometimes are infilled by greenish-gray limestones and grade
laterally into red sediments when crossing the burrow–sediment
interface. These observations pinpoint the oxidation of ferrous
iron to have occurred between deposition and early diagenetic
cementation during earliest diagenesis in a still open system.
Under normal marine conditions, a well developed redox
boundary layer in the sediment marks an abrupt shift from fully
oxidized layers near the sediment–water interface towards an-
oxic sediments below—a separation marking a demarcation line
between ferric and ferrous iron (see overview in Sundby, 2006).
For this reason, the idea that the red pigmentation can be ex-
plained merely by the input of red-pigmented clay minerals is
rejected. Therefore, for the formation of recent red clays, it is
inevitable that oxygen concentration is higher than the amount of
oxygen consumed by oxidation of organic matter. In such an
environment, oxidation of ferrous iron—derived from decom-
posing organic matter and from in situ alteration of detrital iron
bound in clay minerals—can occur. This then results in diffusion
of oxygen into the sediment, establishment of an oxic sediment
column, and oxidation of ferrous iron, giving the clay the typical
red to brown color (Glasby, 1991). A further prerequisite is a very
low accumulation rate of less than 4 mm/kyr (Müller and Mangini,
1980). However, larger accumulation rates up to 20 mm/kyr are
also recorded (Cranston and Buckley, 1990), opening a range of
accumulation rates for the genesis of red-pigmented deep-sea
clays into which several of the CORBs fit (e.g., Wang et al., 2005;
Hu et al., 2005). The Lower Rotpläner, with accumulation rates of
ca. 9 mm/kyr, lies well within this range.
In shelf settings, diffusion of oxygen into the sediment plays
a minor role, and tidal pumping (Riedl et al., 1972), storm events
(Moore and Wilson, 2005), or wave action and bottom-current
velocity (Precht and Huettel, 2004; Moore and Wilson, 2005) are
the main factors driving the introduction of oxygen into deeper
parts of the sediment column (Moore and Wilson, 2005) by
advective pore-water flow. Advection in open burrow systems or
by bioturbation-induced sea-bed topographies (Ziebis et al., 1996)
can provide additional sediment ventilation. On the other hand,
flow over topographies creates interstitial low pressure via the
Bernoulli effect and a flow of pore water to the sediment surface,
providing a mechanism for effective interstitial water exchange.
Being deposited above and around storm wave base, the Lower
Rotpläner must inevitably have been affected by these processes.
Given the low content of Corg and the virtual absence of barium—
a paleoproxy for productivity (Dymond and Collier, 1996; Prakash
Babu et al., 2002)—low primary productivity in the water column
of a nutrient-depleted system might have characterized the depo-
sitional system. From a paleontological point of view, this view is
reflected by the abundance of Pithonella-dominated c-dinocyst
assemblages in the Rotpläner, which might serve as an indicator
for reduced nutrient availability analogous to the distribution
pattern of recent c-dinocysts (Zonneveld et al., 1999; Zonneveld
et al., 2005) and also suggested in part for Cretaceous pithonellids

FRANK WIESE
166
by Dias-Brito (2000). Although this interpretation is in conflict
with, e.g., Wendler et al. (2002a, 2002b) and Wilmsen (2003), the
associated low-diversity macrofauna assemblages of epibenthic
inoceramid bivalves (Mytiloides, Inoceramus) and brachiopods
may support this: as with Mytilus, inoceramid bivalves could
potentially have been capable of handling poor food supply due
to large pumping rates (Meyhöfer, 1985; Riisgård and Larsen,
2000), and brachiopods are also known to show some preferences
for nutrient-depleted environments (Tomasovytch, 2006).
A very specific interaction of waves, currents, pore-water
flow, and the very low flux of Corg into the sediment provided
excess oxygen for oxidation of ferrous iron, leading to genesis of
the red limestones. This demands additional diagenetic path-
ways for the genesis of greenish/yellowish/gray gutter casts and
burrows floating within the Rotpläner. Apart from oxygen avail-
ability, precipitation of iron minerals shows a relationship to
temperature and the eH/pH ratio (Millero, 1987). As shown by
Furukawa (2001), burrow walls represent locations of intense pH
gradients and shifts from almost anoxia to oxygen saturation
within millimeters. The higher amount of Corg in burrows can
result, after sedimentary infill, in a diagenetic environment that
favors precipitation of ferrous iron instead of the ferric iron
precipitating in the surrounding Corg-depleted sediments. This
also explains the green colors of some larger burrows and the lack
of pigmentation in small burrows visible in thin sections. Storm
events can introduce bioclastics and organic matter into open
burrow systems by wave pumping, generating “biogeochemical
hotspots” of selective early diagenesis such as cementation
(Tedesco and Wanless, 1991) in an oxygen-depleted environ-
ment. This may also be valid for the gutter casts, which is (then
green colored) or is not (reddish) enriched in allochthonous Corg.
On the other hand, open burrow systems could also have been the
route of advective oxygen supply (Ziebis et al., 1996), which then
could explain the development of variegated limestones with
slightly pink Thalassinoides burrows and ambient white/gray
burrowed sediment, especially when the burrow-producing or-
ganisms did not create any mucus lining of the burrow walls,
creating a reducing environment.
The scenario outlined above can explain the development of
red sediments from postdepositional alteration of clay minerals
associated with precipitation of ferric iron under oxic conditions
throughout the sediment column, and it can likewise explain the
different colors in early-diagenetically cemented burrows and
gutter casts. The Lower Rotpläner show the most widespread and
extensive distribution due to a low relative sea level and an
agitated environment around storm wave base. With progressive
sea-level rise, these conditions were restricted to swell areas,
while in more basinal settings the diagenetic window closed to
Rotpläner genesis due to the increased accumulation and de-
creased current activity. Intercalated white (WBB) or slight pink
(plenus Bed) limestones, dominated by matrix from coccolith rain
in an oligotrophic pelagic water mass (Brand, 1994; Gale et al.,
2000; Wilmsen, 2003; Wilmsen et al., 2005), are characterized by
high CaCO3 and low Corg contents (Schönfeld et al., 1991) at low
accumulation rates of only ca. 13–18 mm/kyr in the case of the
Brochterbeck Formation (Wilmsen, 2003). These rocks might
have had little or no potential for Rotpläner development because
of their depositional depth well below storm wave base and the
low paleorelief leading to lower current activity.
From Albian strata of England, Jeans et al. (2000) reported Red
Chalk from a shallow-water setting and coeval occurrence of
unpigmented chalks from deeper settings, a situation similar to
that of the Söhlde Formation. They suggested that the red colora-
tion resulted from introduction of ferrous iron via hydrothermal
waters and its precipitation as Fe(III) hydroxide under highly
oxic water conditions (see also Rose and Radczewski, 1949).
However, as discussed above, it is not the oxic water but the oxic
conditions within the sediment column that are essential for
development and preservation of Fe(III). Thus, it is likely that the
same principles as discussed for the Söhlde Formation also
triggered the development and preservation of ferric iron in the
Red Chalk.
An alternative mechanism for precipitation of ferric iron is
bacteria-induced hematite mineralization (Haese, 2006), as, e.g.,
suggested for the Ammonitico Rosso (Mamet and Préat, 2003)
and other Phanerozoic limestones (for overview see Mamet and
Préat, 2006) as well as for the banded iron formations (Kappler
and Newman, 2004). This process is relevant inasmuch as bacte-
ria-induced oxidation of Fe(II) does not necessarily require oxic
conditions in the sediment (Croal et al., 2004; Fortin and Langley,
2005), and red sediment colors can also develop under anoxic or
dysoxic conditions (Mamet and Préat, 2006) at comparatively low
Fe(III) concentrations of only 350 ppm, as in the case of the
Ammonitico Rosso (corresponding approximately to the values
of the Söhlde Formation). However, hardly any of the typical
sedimentary and micropaleontological features regarded as typi-
cal of bacteria-induced precipitation of ferric iron (e.g., biofilms,
filamentous structures, and others; see Mamet and Préat, 2006)
can be observed in the Rotpläner, except for scattered red miner-
alization in foraminifera and c-dinocysts. Of course, it cannot be
excluded that bacteria played a role in Rotpläner genesis, but so
far no evidence exists.
One hypothesis of IGCP 463/494 has been that CORBs could
have developed as a feedback after periods of black-shale depo-
sition of OAE I and II, and possible causal links were discussed
by Hu et al. (2005) and Hu et al. (2006). However, they consid-
ered exclusively deeper-water settings, which does not apply to
the Söhlde Formation because of its depositional position on the
shelf at water depths estimated to have been between 20 and 80–
100 m. Whether or not there is a genetic link between black
shales and the origin of red beds may be answered when
comparing the stratigraphic extension of both lithologies in NW
Germany. Rotpläner continued to develop on favorable swell
positions until early Coniacian times (Voigt, 1962), providing an
approximate time span of ca. 5 Myr of geographic and strati-
graphic patchy Rotpläner occurrence in NW Germany. The
OAE II is restricted to the terminal Cenomanian and the earliest
Turonian. On the other hand, red beds and black shales occur
contemporaneously on the European shelf sea, demonstrating
that the first is not the aftermath of the second. On the other
hand, red beds and black shales occur contemporaneously on
the European shelf sea, demonstrating that the first is not the
aftermath of the second. It therefore appears that both litholo-
gies are most likely detached genetically, and each unit needs an
individual genetic interpretation.
Apart from the Söhlde Formation, several shallow-water
CORB occurrences are known, such as the largely unstudied
Turonian Rotpläner occurrences in Westphalia, Brandenburg,
and Mecklenburg, Germany (Diener, 1967), the Albian–Cenoma-
nian Red Chalk in eastern England (Whitham, 1991; Mitchell,
1995; Jeans et al., 2000) and Schleswig-Holstein, N Germany
(Schönfeld et al., 2000), the “Rote Cenoman-Kreide” (red Cen-
omanian chalk) of Helgoland island, North Sea, Germany (Wood
and Schmid, 1991), red intercalations in the Turonian–Coniacian
Seewen Limestone of the Helvetic shelf (Bolli, 1945), and the
Albian very shallow-water red rudist limestone of Ereño, Spain
(Dietrich, 1984). Taking these occurrences of marine red beds into
consideration, together with other records throughout the Phan-
erozoic (Mamet and Préat, 2003, 2006; it shows that marine red
beds occur repeatedly in the geological record. Such widespread

167
SHALLOW WATER PELAGIC RED BEDS
occurrences of marine red beds both in shelf and in deep-water
settings demand a comparable variety of genetic interpretations,
of which the tentative discussion of the genesis of the Söhlde
Formation presented here is only one.
CONCLUSIONS
The Rotpläner of the Söhlde Formation developed on a
pelagic shelf with swells and intra-shelf depressions. During
Early Turonian times, a very low relative sea level above storm
wave base and associated advective pore-water flow in sedi-
ments depleted in Corg resulted in a widespread distribution of
red-pigmented limestones and marls, affecting both swells and
small depressions, in eastern Lower Saxony and Sachsen-Anhalt.
With progressive transgression, increased accommodation space,
and lowering of current velocities and water turbulence,
Rotpläner development became restricted to swell positions. In
the course of progressive transgression with equalization of
relief and increased accumulation rates, the diagenetic window
for development closed. A final occurrence of Rotpläner is
recorded from the Lower Coniacian in Westphalia. It is con-
cluded that the Rotpläner was triggered mainly by the ex-
tremely low flux of Corg into the sediment, inasmuch as other
observed sedimentological parameters (e.g., low accommoda-
tion space, water depth, pore-water flow) are not uniquely
restricted to the Rotpläner depositional environment. Within
this context, the Rotpläner could serve as a paleoproxy for
nutrient-depleted water masses of only moderate to shallow
water depths, which likewise aids in understanding the
paleoceanographic setting and potentially the shelf-water sys-
tems on the Turonian Cretaceous shelf sea of Europe.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am particularly indebted to M. Wilmsen (Würzburg) for
inspiring discussions during the final phase of the manuscript.
C.J. Wood (Minehead), J. Wendler (Bremen), and C.V. Jeans
(Cambridge) are thanked for their critical reviews. Thanks go to
M. Glos and M. Barlage (FR Paläontologie) for sample prepara-
tion and laboratory assistance and to Tom and Steffi for preparing
the thin sections.
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