The Wetterstein Formation is a regional

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 ...

of the Northern Limestone Alps and Western Carpathians extending from southern

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the west, through northern

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 ...

to northern

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

and western

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 ...

in the east. The formation dates back 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). ...

to Carnian stages of the

Late Triassic The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch (geology), epoch of the Triassic geologic time scale, Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between annum, Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch ...

. The formation is named after the Wetterstein Mountains in southern Germany and northwestern Austria. The center of its distribution, however, is in the Karwendel Mountains. It occurs in the

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

and Southern Limestone Alps and in the Western Carpathians. The formation is composed of mostly reefal

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

s and

dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form par ...

, the latter the result of widespread diagenesis. In many areas there is a frequent alternation of limestone and dolomite facies. Local variants to indicate the Wetterstein Formation include german: Wettersteinkalk (Wetterstein Limestone), Wettersteindolomit ("Wetterstein Dolomite") and combinations thereof. The Wetterstein Formation reaches a maximum thickness of with major regional thickness variations. It belongs to the tectonostratigraphical unit

Austroalpine nappes The Austroalpine nappes are a geological nappe stack in the European Alps. The Alps contain three such stacks, of which the Austroalpine nappes are structurally on top of the other two (meaning they were thrust over the other two). The name Aust ...

. The carbonate rock of the formation is from the

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 ...

epoch of the

stage, comparable to the German stage in which

Muschelkalk The Muschelkalk (German for "shell-bearing limestone"; french: calcaire coquillier) is a sequence of sedimentary rock strata (a lithostratigraphic unit) in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic (240 to 230 million ye ...

rock strata were formed. The formation has provided numerous fossils of

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

bivalve Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

s and other marine groups indicative of a shallow marine carbonate platform environment deposited at the northern end of the Tethys Ocean.

Naming

The Wetterstein Formation is named after the Wetterstein Mountains in southern Germany and northwestern Austria. Alternative names for the whole formation or parts of it in stratigraphical (vertical) or facies (lateral) sense are: * Wetterstein Limestone (Wettersteinkalk) * Wettersteinkalk FormationWettersteinkalk Formation
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...

.org * Wettersteindolomit - used in Semmering and Kalkkögel, AustriaPiller & Erhart, 2004 * Wetterstein Limestone FormationCsászár, 1997, p.23Wetterstein Limestone Formation
at

.org * Wetterstein kalk/dolomit - used in the Northern Limestone Alps of Austria * Wetterstein reef limestone FormationWetterstein reef limestone Formation
at

.org

The Swiss stratigraphical lexicon uses Wetterstein Formation as "informal, but used name" with the following historical variants:Wetterstein Formation
at Strati.ch * Wettersteinkalk (von Guembel 1861, Fraas 1910) * Wettersteinkalk = Ladinische Stufe (Cornelius 1935) * Wetterstein = Wettersteindolomit = Wettersteinkomplex (Stöcklin 1949) (Fellerer 1964, Kraus 1964) * Calcaire de Wetterstein ic= Calcaire du Wetterstein = Formation de Wetterstein ic(Hirsch 1966) * Wettersteindolomit, Wetterstein-Dolomit

Subunits

Its subunits include: * Messerstich Limestone * Schlern Dolomite *

Marmolata Limestone Marmolada (Ladin language, Ladin: ''Marmolèda''; German language, German: ''Marmolata'', ) is a mountain in northeastern Italy and the highest mountain of the Dolomites (a section of the Alps). It lies between the borders of Trentino and Ven ...

* Steinalm Formation * Ramsau Dolomite Formation

Description

The Wetterstein Formation, with a total thickness of up to , is a major regional stratigraphic unit of the Northern Limestone Alps and Western Carpathians in

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' ...

, spanning across four countries from southwestern

to northwestern

Extent

The formation crops out to the north of the Hohe Tauern window and is part of the

Stratigraphy

In the Semmering area of Austria, where the name Wettersteindolomit is used, the formation is unconformably overlain by the Kapellener Shale and overlies the Reifling Formation, in the Kalkkögel and

Radstadt Tauern The Radstadt Tauern (german: Radstädter Tauern) are a subrange of the Central Eastern Alps in Austria. Together with the Schladming Tauern, the Rottenmann and Wölz Tauern and the Seckau Tauern the Radstadt Tauern form the major range of mount ...

the dolomite overlies the

Partnach Formation The Partnach Formation is a Middle Triassic geologic formation in the eastern Northern Limestone Alps and Western Carpathians, within Austria and Slovakia, Central Europe.Raibl Formation, while in

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

the formation, called Wettersteinkalk/dolomit unconformably overlies the Gutenstein and Steinalm Formations and unconformably underlies the Reingraben Formation. In the Aggtelek-

Rudabánya Rudabánya is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Hungary. The town territory was the location of the discovery of a hominid from 12 million years ago, '' Dryopithecus brancoi'' (1969). International relations Rudabánya is twinned with: ...

mountains of Hungary, the formation, called Wetterstein Limestone Formation overlies the

Reifling Reifling is a former municipality in the district of Murtal in Styria, Austria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform, it is part of the municipality Judenburg Judenburg ( bar, Judnbuag) is a historic town in Styria, Austria. It i ...

and Steinalm Formations and is overlain by the Szádvárborsa Formation.

Regional correlations

In Austria the Wetterstein Dolomite correlates with the

Alberg Formation Alberg is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Carl Alberg (1900–1986), ship engineer and sailboat constructor *Ifrish Alberg (born 1988), Surinamese sprinter *Petur Alberg (1885–1940), Faroese violinist, composer, and author * ...

of the Linz Dolomites, the Wetterstein kalk/dolomite with the lower part of the

Hallstatt Formation Hallstatt ( , , ) is a small town in the district of Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Salzkammerg ...

of the Northern Limestone Alps and with the Schlern Dolomite, or Schlern Formation, in the Southern Limestone Alps. In Hungary, the formation is time-equivalent with the Berva Formation of the Bükk, the Bódvavölgyi Ophiolite, Szentjánoshegy and Derenk Formations of the Aggtelek-Rudabánya range and the Csanádapáca Formation of the Békés Zone. In the Dinarides, the formation is time-equivalent with the Grivska Formation of

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

. The Kopaonik Formation in its eponymous

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

is considered a distal, more deep water equivalent of the Wetterstein platform sediments.Schefer et al., 2010, p.106

Diagenesis

Dolomitization of the Wetterstein Carbonate Platform is a widespread phenomenon, especially in the Tirolic units of the Northern Calcareous Alps. At the Clessinsperre, the type locality for the underlying Steinalm Formation, intense dolomitization has altered the microfacies characteristics of the Wetterstein Carbonate platform – typical are fore-reef carbonates, later reefal and back-reefal carbonates topped by lagoonal carbonates, making the original features hardly visible.Gawlick et al., 2013, p.182

Fossil content

Because, during

dolomitisation Dolomitization is a geological process by which the carbonate mineral dolomite is formed when magnesium ions replace calcium ions in another carbonate mineral, calcite. It is common for this mineral alteration into dolomite to take place due to ev ...

, traces of fossils are largely lost as a result of recrystallisation, fossils in the Wetterstein dolomite are harder to distinguish, and even in thin sections may be barely recognizable. Wetterstein dolomite is rarely as bituminous as typical

Main Dolomite Main Dolomite (german: Hauptdolomit, hu, Fődolomit, it, Dolomia Principale) is a lithostratigraphic unit in the Alps of Europe. Formation was defined by K.W. Gümbel in 1857. Middle to Late Triassic sedimentary record in the Alpine realm is ...

and therefore tends to be much more pure and brighter-coloured. Otherwise, there are no fundamental differences with the Wetterstein limestone. Among others, the following fossils have been described from the Wetterstein Formation:

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

World map at the time of the Early/Lower Triassic

''Cephalopod coquina beds in the Wetterstein Limestone''
{{Authority control Geologic formations of Austria Geologic formations of Germany Geologic formations of Hungary Geologic formations of Slovakia Geologic formations of Switzerland Triassic System of Europe Triassic Austria Triassic Germany Carnian Stage Ladinian Stage Limestone formations Dolomite formations Reef deposits Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of Europe Geology of the Alps Limestone Alps Northern Limestone Alps Southern Limestone Alps