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| White Jurassic | |
|---|---|
| Name | White Jurassic |
| Period | Late Jurassic |
| Lithology | Limestone, marl |
| Region | Europe |
White Jurassic is a lithostratigraphic unit of the Late Jurassic that denotes light-colored carbonate rocks widely exposed in parts of Central and Western Europe. It is known for massive limestone beds, rich marine fossil assemblages, and a prominent role in regional building stone and cement industries. The unit figures in regional correlations between facies described in classical 19th-century work and modern stratigraphic frameworks used by institutions such as the Geological Survey of Germany and the British Geological Survey.
The White Jurassic corresponds to carbonate-dominated successions deposited during the Kimmeridgian to Tithonian stages of the Late Jurassic and is often correlated with internationally used chronostratigraphic terms such as the Upper Jurassic series. In regional German stratigraphy it contrasts with the darker Brown Jurassic and the overlying Malm in some older literature; modern schemes align it with lithostratigraphic units defined in the stratigraphic codes promoted by the International Commission on Stratigraphy. Depositional settings include shallow epicontinental shelves, carbonate platforms, and localized basinal slopes influenced by eustatic changes recorded in sequences recognized by researchers at the University of Munich and the University of Tübingen.
Lithologically, the unit is dominated by thick-bedded, often oolitic and peloidal limestone, interbedded with marl horizons and subordinate cherty levels documented in sections studied by teams at the Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie and the Senckenberg Museum. Subdivision schemes recognize members, beds, and marker horizons tied to ammonite biozones established through correlation with faunal zonations developed by paleontologists affiliated with the Natural History Museum, London and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris. Early diagenetic cementation, stylolitization, and secondary dolomitization have been described in petrographic work conducted at the Technical University of Munich and the ETH Zurich, affecting porosity and reservoir potential discussed in industry reports by companies such as BASF and consultancies linked to the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers.
Fossil content is diverse and includes marine invertebrates like ammonite genera used for biostratigraphy, brachiopod assemblages, echinoid remains, and abundant bivalve taxa recorded in catalogs curated by the Natural History Museum, London and the Paleontological Museum Munich. Vertebrate finds include marine reptile remains comparable to taxa described from collections at the British Museum and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, while microbialites and trace fossils have been documented by researchers at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. Iconic localities have yielded specimens studied by scholars associated with the Geological Society of London and deposited in repositories such as the Bavarian State Collection of Paleontology and Geology.
Exposures are particularly notable in parts of southern Germany, the Swabian Alb, and the Franconian Alb, extending into adjacent areas of France, Switzerland, and Austria. Correlative facies occur in the Paris Basin and peripheral basins where comparable carbonate platforms were mapped by teams from the French Geological Survey (BRGM) and the Swiss Geological Survey. Regional mapping campaigns coordinated by national surveys and universities, including the University of Freiburg and the University of Strasbourg, have produced detailed stratigraphic charts and geologic maps linking White Jurassic sequences across structural domains such as the Alps foreland and the intracratonic basins influenced by tectonism associated with the Alpine orogeny.
The light-colored limestones have long been quarried as dimension stone, roofing tiles, and raw material for lime and cement production, exploited by firms historically recorded in trade registers of cities like Stuttgart and Ulm. Famous building stones from White Jurassic quarries adorn monuments cataloged by architectural historians at the Victoria and Albert Museum and municipal archives of Regensburg and Nuremberg. Modern extraction and processing practices have involved engineering assessments from the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) and quarry rehabilitation plans coordinated with regional planning authorities such as the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment. Economic studies by the European Cement Association and geological consultancy reports address resource volumes, market demand, and environmental management in active quarry districts.
The unit entered 19th-century stratigraphic literature through the work of geologists associated with institutions like the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and the Geological Society of London, who built on earlier mapping by provincial surveyors. Key contributions came from descriptive monographs published by academics at the University of Heidelberg and the University of Würzburg, with subsequent refinement by paleontologists linked to the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin and stratigraphers participating in international congresses organized by the International Geological Congress. Debates over nomenclature and correlation persisted into the 20th century and were addressed in syntheses prepared by panels convened under the auspices of the International Commission on Stratigraphy and national geological surveys.
Category:Jurassic geology of Europe