Schaarsbergen Member

Code
NUDRSC
Status
Formal (Bakker et al. 2003).
Lithological description

Grey to greyish white, yellowish brown to greyish green fine to very coarse sand, gravelly, (slightly) calcareous. Local channel fills (near the top) and horizontal stratification.

Depositional setting

Fluvioglacial (including proglacial sandur; stratified sand), sub-/proglacial (tunnel valley, kame, esker), locally glaciolacustrine. Crystalline gravel and flint have a northern provenance, which may be masked by reworked fluvial gravel.

Definition of lower boundary

Generally diffuse transition into fluvial sand.

Definition of upper boundary

Sharp contact with till (Gieten Member, Drente Formation), gradual transition into fluvial sand (Kreftenheye Formation).

Thickness indication
Up to about 55 m.
Geographical distribution
Northern Netherlands, northern and central part of the Dutch North Sea.
Regional correlation
North Sea: Molengat Formation (defined and mapped in conjunction with the British Geological Survey; Laban 1995); UK: part of Wolston Glacigenic Formation (McMillan et al. 2011); GER: similar deposits in the Lower Rhine Embayment are classified as 'Sander' (Klostermann 1992; Braun & Thiermann 1981); BEL: not present.
Age
late Middle Pleistocene (Saalian).
Holostratotype
Well:
B40A0132 (Schaarsbergen)
Depth (thickness) AH:
0 - 51.25 m (51.25) below land surface
Origin of name
Named after the village of Schaarsbergen, in the eastern Netherlands.
Previous name(s)
Molengat Formation.
Reviewed by (date)
Wim Dubelaar (2018), Sytze van Heteren (2019).
References
Bakker, M.A.J., Den Otter, C. Weerts, H.J.T. 2003. Beschrijving lithostratigrafische eenheid. Nederlands Instituut voor Toegepaste Geowetenschappen TNO. Utrecht.
Braun, F.J., Thiermann, A. 1981. Geologische Karte von Nordrhein-Westfalen 1:25.000. Erläuterungen zu Blatt 4130 Emmerich. Geologisches Landesamt Nordrhein-Westfalen, Krefeld.
Klostermann, J. 1992. Das Quartär der Niederrheinischen Bucht. Geologisches Landesamt Nordrhein-Westfalen, Krefeld, 200 p.
Laban, C. 1995. The Pleistocene glaciations in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. A synthesis of sedimentary and seismic data. PhD Thesis, University of Amsterdam, 194 p.
McMillan, A.A., Hamblin, R.J.O., Merritt, J.W. 2011. A lithostratigraphical framework for onshore Quaternary and Neogene (Tertiary) superficial deposits of Great Britain and the Isle of Man. British Geological Survey Research Report, RR/10/03, 343 p.
Cite as
TNO-GDN ([YEAR]). Schaarsbergen Member. In: Stratigraphic Nomenclature of the Netherlands, TNO – Geological Survey of the Netherlands. Accessed on [DATE] from https://www.dinoloket.nl/en/stratigraphic-nomenclature/schaarsbergen-member.