The Partnach Formation is a

Middle Triassic In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epochs of the Triassic period or the middle of three series in which the Triassic system is divided in chronostratigraphy. The Middle Triassic spans the time between Ma and ...

geologic formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...

in the eastern Northern Limestone Alps and Western Carpathians, within

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...

. Google Books: ''The Geology of Central Europe: Mesozoic and Cenozoic''
edited by Tom McCann; pgs. 790-795. The formation consists of alternating grey and green

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...

s and

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

s (Partnach shales) and grey limestones (Partnach Limestone), often

breccia Breccia () is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language, in which it means "rubble". A breccia may have a variety of di ...

ted, oncolithic and containing clay intraclasts. The formation is gradually evolving from the Reifling Formation. It is usually overlain by the Lunz/Reibl Formation or

Wetterstein Formation The Wetterstein Formation is a regional geologic formation of the Northern Limestone Alps and Western Carpathians extending from southern Bavaria, Germany in the west, through northern Austria to northern Hungary and western Slovakia in the east. ...

. Sediments of the Partnach Formation were deposited in intrashelf basins. The rock unit was originally defined as ''Partnachschichten'' by

Wilhelm von Gümbel Ritter (i. e. personal knight) Karl Wilhelm von Gümbel (11 February 1823 – 18 June 1898), Germany, German geologist, was born at Dannenfels, in the Palatinate (region), Palatinate of the Rhine, and is known chiefly by his researches on the ...

in 1858. It preserves

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

dated to the

Ladinian The Ladinian is a stage and age in the Middle Triassic series or epoch. It spans the time between Ma and ~237 Ma (million years ago). The Ladinian was preceded by the Anisian and succeeded by the Carnian (part of the Upper or Late Triassic). ...

age of the Middle Triassic

Epoch In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided by ...

of the

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

Period.

Fossil content

* Sauropterygia ** '' Lariosaurus cf. balsami'' ** '' Neusticosaurus toeplitschi'' ** '' Microleptosaurus schlosseri'' ** '' Simosaurus gaillardoti'' *

Temnospondyl Temnospondyli (from Greek language, Greek τέμνειν, ''temnein'' 'to cut' and σπόνδυλος, ''spondylos'' 'vertebra') is a diverse order (biology), order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered Labyrinthodontia, primitive amphi ...

s ** '' Tatrasuchus sp.''

References

{{Reflist

Fossil content

See also

References

Further reading