Garschella Formation

The Garschella Formation is an early Aptian to early Cenomanian geologic formation in the Alps of Austria, France, Germany and Switzerland.^[1] It preserves fossils dated to the Cretaceous period.

Garschella Formation
Stratigraphic range: early Aptian-early Cenomanian
Type	Formation
Underlies	Seewen Formation
Overlies	Schrattenkalk Formation
Thickness	up to 120 m (390 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Limestone
Other	Sandstone
Location
Region	Alps
Country	Austria Germany France Switzerland
Type section
Named for	Garschella Plateau
Named by	Föllmi & Ouwehand
Year defined	1987

Description

The Garschella Formation consists of glauconite- and apatite-bearing sandstones, limestones, marls and phosphorite layers.The Garschella Formation varies in thickness and can be up to 120 m thick. The rocks of the Garschella Formation can be bedded, often they are overgrown with moss and weather angularly. The bedding is often heavily fissured, with the fissures being almost perpendicular to the stratification.

Formation

The change from the Schrattenkalk Formation to the Garschella Formation was caused by a transgressive phase in which the carbonate production was severely restricted by the changing ocean currents.^[2]

See also

• List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Austria
• List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in France
• List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Germany
• List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Switzerland