Jochen Erbacher

Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe | BGR · Stratigraphy and Collections

During the Middle to Late Berriasian (so called “German Wealden”) a large lake system developed in the Lower Saxony Basin (LSB; in northwestern Germany) of which the eastern part is characterized by varying fluvial and lacustrine influences. The changeable situation through the earliest Cretaceous, particularly in the eastern LSB, is relatively und...

In the Lower Saxony Basin (LSB) of Northern Germany, the earliest Cretaceous (Berriasian, “German Wealden”) is represented by organic-rich shales assigned to the Isterberg Fm., which have been deposited under brackish-lacustrine conditions in a partially restricted basin. Towards the southern basin margin, these shales interfinger with nearshore sa...

Over the past few decades, Toarcian (Early Jurassic) black shale deposits of NW Europe have been extensively studied, and the possible global and regional mechanisms for their regional variation have been discussed. In this context, the black shales of the Northwest German Basin are still sparsely studied with regard to their palaeo-depositional hi...

In a recent report, the German Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE) estimated the probable duration of exploration activities within potential siting regions (BGE, 2022). Based on many years of expertise regarding the exploration of the subsurface, we outline in this contribution that the BGE (2022) likely underestimates the time ne...

New palynological and geochemical data from the KB Rehburg-2 core covering the German Wealden (W1-4) illustrate the unique development of this depositional setting. Despite the temporary isolation of the Lower Saxony Basin (LSB) from the open ocean, several marine flooding events into the basin were detected. Marine ingressions are suggested to hav...

High-amplitude changes in sedimentary δ¹³C characterize the Cretaceous system and have been proven useful for supra-regional chemostratigraphic correlation. In the Cretaceous, these δ¹³C perturbations indicate large shifts between the global carbon reservoirs that are usually caused by volcanic activity of large igneous provinces, the widespread de...

During the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian; ‘German Wealden’), the Lower Saxony Basin (LSB) in northern Germany was characterized by non-marine deposits in a restricted intercontinental setting (Schneider et al. 2017). New insights into these Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rocks can be gained from a recently drilled core (KB Rehburg-2, Lower Saxony, Ger...

Zwischen Rinteln und Eisbergen befindet sich eine Ziegeleitongrube, die entweder als "Tongrube Gut Dankersen" oder als "Tongrube Todenmann" bezeichnet wird. Sie befindet sich 500 m nördlich des Gutes Dankersen an der Weser. In dieser Grube treten schieferartige Tonablagerungen hervor, die im Tagebau von der Bergmann-Ziegeleiwerke GmbH zur Herstellu...

Delineation of stratigraphic sequences and their component systems tracts in mudstone‐dominated successions is challenging due to the relatively homogenous, fine‐grained nature of the strata. High‐resolution elemental intensity data from X‐ray fluorescence core scanning is used in order to develop a sequence stratigraphic framework for the Lower Cr...

The International Ocean Discovery Program, the world's largest research collaboration in the geosciences, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. With significant scientific and financial participation from Germany, the IODP expeditions and their core samples are providing fundamental insights into the Earth's structure and climate history.

In previous palaeoclimatic models, the Kimmeridgian stage has been defined as a typical greenhouse-time interval with weak latitudinal gradients. However, palaeoclimatic information based on biogenic low-Mg calcite δ¹⁸O for the Kimmeridgian is still limited. Here, shell materials (n = 81) precipitated by brachiopods, oysters and Trichites bivalves...

International Ocean Discovery Program: Der weltweit größte geowissenschaftliche Forschungsverbund feiert seinen 50. Geburtstag. Wissenschaftlich und finanziell unter maßgeblicher deutscher Beteiligung, liefern die IODP‐Expeditionen und ihre Bohrkerne grundlegende Einsichten in Erdaufbau und Klimageschichte.

JOBST WENDT spent much of his career as a sedimentologist and palaeontologist carrying out research on Devonian to Jurassic sedimentary successions in Europe, northern Africa and Iran. This volume comprises articles on the palaeontology and sedimentology of the famous mudmounds of Hamar Laghdad (Morocco) and is dedicated to JOBST WENDT. © 2018 E. S...

Editorial for a volume about the palaeontology of the mudmound locality Hamar Laghdad (Morocco). This volume is dedicated to the German sedimentologist and palaeontologist Jobst Wendt (Tübingen)

During the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian; Wealden 3–4), Northwestern Germany was covered by an east–west elongated tentatively brackish lake in which locally more than 700 m-thick black shales were deposited. While the distribution of organofacies’ in the basin is relatively well documented, the paleoenvironmental conditions in the basin center (e.g...

Definition of the Salzgitter-Formation with the Grenzlerburg-Subformation, Glockenberg-Subformation, and Morgenstern-Subformation from below to above.

Correlation of shallow-marine carbonate deposits with their coeval pelagic counterparts is often hampered by the lack of open-marine stratigraphic marker fossils and by the restrictions of regional biostratigraphic schemes. These difficulties can partly be overcome by the use of coupled δ¹³C and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr chemostratigraphy based on pristine shell c...

Shallow-marine Kimmeridgian (Late Jurassic) deposits in the Lower Saxony Basin (LSB) composed of alternating limestone, marl and claystone attract great palaeontological interest due to their rich invertebrate and vertebrate assemblages. Unfortunately, the absence of open-marine marker fossils and numerous sedimentary gaps in combination with later...

A core recovered in the North German Basin at the locality of Eulenflucht in the Süntel Mountains, 30 km SE of Hannover, Germany, is interpreted in terms of Oxfordian to Kimmeridgian sequence stratigraphy of this basin. Thirteen different facies are recognized which record the evolution of an outer ramp into a restricted hypersaline lagoon. Changes...

Abundance patterns of planktic and benthic foraminifera from the middle to late Albian of tropical Atlantic Ocean Drilling Program Site 1258 (Demerara Rise) display a pronounced shift between two clearly distinguishable assemblages: (1) a foraminiferal fauna dominated by coiled taxa, which is inferred to represent a deep and/or weak oxygen minimum...

Stratigraphic uncertainties due to the lack of open marine marker fossils (e.g. ammonites) hamper the precise age assignment and stratigraphic correlation of Kimmeridgian strata found in the Lower Saxony Basin of Northern Germany. Correlation of these deposits with the Jurassic standard ammonite zonation is still difficult, since the existing ostra...

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Fine-grained sedimentary rocks predominantly composed of silts and clays (mudstones) are currently a popular topic within industry and academia. Of particular interest is to better constrain the pervasive facies variability present within these rocks. Despite their apparent homogeneity at core and outcrop scale, mudstones can actually be highly het...

The upper Albian to lower Cenomanian interval in the Hanover area (Germany) is characterized by a well-developed lithological transition from upper Albian monotonous (marly) claystones of several hundred metres thickness, which become enriched in biosilica in the topmost Albian, to increasingly CaCO3-rich marls and limestones in the lower and middl...

During the Kimmeridgian, sedimentation in the Lower Saxony Basin was characterized by shallow-water deposits composed of alternating limestones, marls and claystones. Stratigraphic uncertainties caused by the absence of open marine marker fossils and prevalence of sedimentary gaps hamper a precise age assignment and correlation of these successions...

Samplings of spores and pollen assemblages were done on shale bodies from Mamu in Anambra Basin and Patti in Mid-Niger Basin. This area is straddled portion of both basins of Anambra and Mid-Niger. The straddled areas of the two basins are stratigraphically correlatable and are lateral equivalents of each other. The mappable lithostratigraphic unit...

Global warming, changes in the hydrological cycle and enhanced marine primary productivity all have been invoked as having contributed to the occurrence of widespread ocean anoxia during the Cenomanian–Turonian oceanic anoxic event (OAE2; ~94 Ma), but disentangling these factors on a regional scale has remained problematic. In an attempt to separat...

Global warming, changes in the hydrological cycle and enhanced marine primary productivity all have been invoked as having contributed to the occurrence of widespread ocean anoxia during the Cenomanian–Turonian oceanic anoxic event (OAE2; c. 94 Ma), but disentangling these factors on a regional scale has remained problematic. In an attempt to separ...

Global warming, changes in the hydrological cycle and enhanced marine primary productivity all have been invoked to have contributed to the occurrence of widespread ocean anoxia during the Cenomanian-Turonian Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE2; ~ 94 Ma), but disentangling these factors on a regional scale has remained problematic. We generated palynologica...

To obtain a stratigraphic standard section for the Upper Jurassic of the Lower Saxony Basin, we investigated a 325-m-long core using biostratigraphic (benthic foraminifers, ostracods, and palynology) and chemostratigraphic (stable carbon isotope data) methods. From the results, we were able to establish a detailed biozonation of the section.

The upper Jurassic (Oxfordian to Tithonian) sediments of the Lower Saxony Basin (Northern Germany) comprises a succession of limestones, marlstones and claystones deposited in a shallow marine to lacustrine epicontinental basin situated between the Tethys and the Sub-Boreal seas. Both, the depositional environment and the palaeogeographically isola...

The Mid-Cretaceous period was characterised by a series of prominent anoxic events, one of these was the late Early Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a (OAE 1a). The Fischschiefer horizon is the regional sedimentary expression of this event in a small epicontinental sea in northwest Europe (Germany, Lower Saxony Basin). In the present study, two sedimen...

We present a 20 Million year record of benthic foraminiferal assemblage data spanning the Cenomanian to early Campanian black shale sequence at Demerara Rise, tropical Atlantic (ODP Leg 207). This location is characterized by a continuous formation of organic-rich sediments (black shales) that have mean TOC values of 5-10 %, peaking at the OAE2 eve...

In addition to Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2), other perturbations of the carbon cycle occurred during the Cenomanian and Turonian, of which the Middle Cenomanian Event (MCE) is the most prominent one. In palaeoecological publications, however, this event is strongly underrepresented in contrast to the well-studied OAE2. In order to fill this gap, w...

The late Early Aptian Fischschiefer, a laminated black shale horizon deposited under anoxic conditions in a shallow epicontinental sea in northwest Europe (Lower Saxony Basin), has been investigated in detail over the last decades. Biostratigraphic studies indicate, that the Fischschiefer horizon corresponds to the Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a (OAE 1a)....

A volumetric gas-in-place estimation of shale gas in Germany is given in this presentation. This is a first step in a general assessment of potential unconventional hydrocarbon resources in Germany, which is conducted on behalf of the German Federal Government. This first estimation is based on three major shale formations which are widespread in G...

A new 55 m.y. global compilation of benthic foraminifera delta C-13 and delta O-18 for the middle to Late Cretaceous shows that there was widespread formation of bottom waters with temperatures >20 degrees C during the Cretaceous greenhouse world. These bottom waters filled the silled North Atlantic and probably originated as thermocline or interme...

In addition to Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2), other perturbations of the carbon cycle occurred during the Cenomanian and Turonian, of which the Middle Cenomanian Event (MCE) is the most prominent one. In palaeoecological publications, however, this event is strongly underrepresented in contrast to the well-studied OAE2. In order to fill this gap, w...

Nowadays, samples retrieved in scientific drilling programs are usually handled, registered, and curated according to internationally established guidelines. This advance in data management emerged from several constraints such as the uniqueness of most drill specimens, the high costs for their acquisition and storage, and by international collabor...

Pronounced paleotemperature variations associated with the carbon cycle perturbations of oceanic anoxic events (OAEs 1b and 1d) are known to have occurred during the early and latest Albian. However, reliable paleotemperature data spanning the 12 m.y. between these two events are sparse. Here we present 18O, 13C, and Mg/Ca data for the middle to ea...

Evaluating terrestrial input into the upper Cretaceous western tropical Atlantic by biomarker and compound specific isotope analyses

The Cenomanian/Turonian boundary interval (CTBI) is marked by an intense climatic warming presumably caused by large magmatic eruptions. This warming was characterised by one of the most prominent Mesozoic perturbations of the carbon cycle, the Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2), which is marked by a well pronounced positive carbon isotope excursion (CI...

Published stable isotope records in marine carbonate are characterized by a positive δ18O excursion associated with a negative δ13C shift during the early Maastrichtian. However, the cause and even the precise timing of these excursions remain uncertain. We have generated high-resolution foraminiferal stable isotope and gray-scale records for the l...

This study is based on Cenomanian sediments of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Sites 1258 and 1260 from Demerara Rise (Leg 207, western tropical Atlantic, off Suriname, ~ 1000 and ~ 500 m paleo-water depth, respectively). Studied sediments consist of laminated black shales with TOC values between 3 and 18% and include the Mid Cenomanian Event (MCE), a...

The mid Cretaceous represents one of the most prominent episodes of greenhouse climate with high atmospheric CO2 levels and much higher global temperatures than today. During this super-greenhouse, massive and widespread deposition of organic carbon occurred during several Oceanic Anoxic Events (OAEs). The OAEs are associated with prominent shifts...

We produced new stable isotope data sets of Cenomanian to Santonian benthic foraminifera from the western equatorial Atlantic (ODP Leg 207) and from the tropical Pacific Ocean (DSDP Sites 305 and 463). Together with literature data our results are compiled into a global isotope compilation, resulting in a continuous benthic ^18O record for the last...

We used continuously laminated early Cenomanian to early Campanian sediments from ODP Sites 1258, 1259, 1260, and 1261 at Demerara Rise (Leg 207, western tropical Atlantic) to decipher long- and short-term changes of benthic foraminiferal assemblages within the Atlantic Ocean. Studied sediments include the Mid-Cenomanian Event (MCE) and the Oceanic...

This study is based on Cenomanian sediments of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Sites 1258 and 1260 from Demerara Rise (Leg 207, western tropical Atlantic, off Suriname, ~1000 and ~500 m paleo-water depth, respectively). Studied sediments consist of laminated black shales with TOC values between 3 and 18% and include the Mid Cenomanian Event (MCE), a p...

Published stable isotope records in marine carbonate are characterized by a positive d18O excursion associated with a negative d13C shift during the early Maastrichtian. However, the cause and even the precise timing of these excursions remain uncertain. We have generated high-resolution foraminiferal stable isotope and gray-scale records for the l...

The Cenomanian-Turonian Boundary Event (CTBE) is reflected by one of the most extreme carbon cycle perturbations in Earth's history and is characterized by the widespread occurrence of sediments indicating oxygen deficiency in oceanic waters (Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 = OAE 2). At Wunstorf (northern Germany) the CTBE is represented by a 26.5 m thick s...

During the mid-Cretaceous period, the global subsurface oceans were relatively warm, but the origins of the high temperatures are debated. One hypothesis suggests that high sea levels and the continental configuration allowed high-salinity waters in low-latitude epicontinental shelf seas to sink and form deep-water masses. In another scenario, surf...

During the mid-Cretaceous period, the global subsurface oceans were relatively warm, but the origins of the high temperatures are debated. One hypothesis suggests that high sea levels and the continental configuration allowed high-salinity waters in low-latitude epicontinental shelf seas to sink and form deep-water masses (Brass et al., 1982, doi:1...

We produced new stable isotope data sets of Cenomanian to Santonian benthic foraminifera from the western equatorial Atlantic (ODP Leg 207) and from the tropical Pacific Ocean (DSDP Sites 305 and 463). Together with literature data our results are compiled into a global isotope compilation, resulting in a continuous benthic d18O record from 115-65...

The ammonite fauna from the Hannover-Lahe borehole, northern Germany is described. The core comprises a monotonous claystone succession that is upper Middle Albian Euhoplites nitidus ammonite Subzone at the base and lower Upper Albian Callihoplites auritus Subzone at the top. Furthermore, inoceramid taxa are discussed in relation to ammonite biostr...

The mid-Cretaceous is widely considered the archetypal ice-free greenhouse interval in Earth history, with a thermal maximum around Cenomanian-Turonian boundary time (ca. 90 Ma). However, contemporaneous glaciations have been hypothesized based on sequence stratigraphic evidence for rapid sea-level oscillation and oxygen isotope excursions in recor...

The position of the Albian–Cenomanian boundary in the U.S. Western Interior Basin has been the subject of debate because the ammonites and foraminifers that define the boundary are endemic. Traditionally, the boundary, as defined in Europe by planktonic foraminifers and ammonites, is correlated with the last occurrence of the ammonite genus, Neogas...

No abstract available. doi:10.2204/iodp.sd.4.05.2007

The Wunstorf drilling project aims at establishing a high resolution stable isotope record for the black shale succession (OAE 2) of the CTBI and developing this into a globally applicable high resolutionbio- and chemostratigraphic reference section. Disciplines involved include micropaleontology (calcareous nannofossils, planktonic foraminifera),...

The mid-Cretaceous is widely considered the archetypal ice-free greenhouse interval in Earth history, with a thermal maximum around Cenomanian-Turonian boundary time (ca. 90 Ma). However, contemporaneous glaciations have been hypothesized based on sequence stratigraphic evidence for rapid sea-level oscillation and oxygen isotope excursions in recor...

We present new extraordinarily well preserved high-resolution foraminiferal isotope measurements from the mid-Cenomanian equatorial Atlantic at Demerara Rise. Those records are compared with mid-Cenomanian eustatic records to test the mid-Cretaceous glaciation hypothesis. While planktic foraminiferal isotopes stay constant during the interval analy...

This study is based on Cenomanian to lower Turonian sediments of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Sites 1258, 1259, 1260, and 1261 from the Demerara Rise (Leg 207, western tropical Atlantic, off Suriname) that are oriented along a paleodepth transect. Studied sediments include the Cenomanian/Turonian Boundary Event (CTBE) or Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE...

This paper is based on Santonian–Campanian sediments of Ocean Drilling Program Sites 1257 (2951 mbsl) and 1259 (2353 mbsl) from Demerara Rise (Leg 207, western tropical Atlantic, off Surinam). According to its position, Demerara Rise should have been influenced by the early opening of the Equatorial Atlantic Gateway and the establishment of a botto...

Assemblages of live (Rose-Bengal-stained) and dead benthic foraminifera and stable oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of live benthic foraminifera were studied in and outside a bacterial mat composed of the large sulphur-oxidizing bacteria Thioploca and Beggiatoa from the oxygen-minimum zone off Pakistan (NE Arabian Sea). Two cores from the sam...