The Höör Sandstone is a

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 ...

Skåne County Skåne County ( ), sometimes referred to as Scania County or just Scania in English, is the southernmost Counties of Sweden, county, or , of Sweden, mostly corresponding to the traditional Provinces of Sweden, province of Scania. It borders th ...

, southern

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. It is

Early Jurassic The Early Jurassic Epoch (geology), Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic series (stratigraphy), Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic� ...

(

Hettangian The Hettangian is the earliest age and lowest stage of the Jurassic Period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between 201.3 ± 0.2 Ma and 199.3 ± 0.3 Ma (million years ago). The Hettangian follows the Rhaetian (part of the Triass ...

Pliensbachian The Pliensbachian is an age of the geologic timescale and stage in the stratigraphic column. It is part of the Early or Lower Jurassic Epoch or Series and spans the time between 192.9 ±0.3 Ma and 184.2 ±0.3 Ma (million years ago). The Plie ...

) in age. This unit outcrops in central Skane on a few isolated exposures, being traditionally subdivided into the lower “millstone” (“kvarnstenen”) and the upper “buildingstone”. The lowermost layers where also claimed to host

Rhaetian The Rhaetian is the latest age (geology), age of the Triassic period (geology), Period (in geochronology) or the uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Triassic system (stratigraphy), System (in chronostratigraphy). It was preceded by the N ...

strata, however latter works suggested that the layers devolved as red beds, were part of the new Hörby Formation, thus delimitating the Höör sandstone to the lower Jurassic. It has been assumed to be limited to

Sinemurian In the geologic timescale, the Sinemurian is an age (geology), age and stage (stratigraphy), stage in the Early Jurassic, Early or Lower Jurassic epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans the time between 199.5 ±0.3 annu ...

layers, yet recent palynological analysis suggest the uppermost section is of Pliensbachian age, underlying and maybe interacting with the younger volcanic deposits. The Höör sandstone represents a mostly fluvial unit with a rich collection of fossil plants, yet also includes brackish bivalves in some layers, pointing to marine ingressions locally.

Members

Stanstorp member

This member represents the older layers of the formation, being exposed in the abandoned stanstorpsgraven quarry and in the Vittseröd area. The member is mainly composed by sandstone and has abundant plants fossils, with both allochthonous plant fragments and plant roots indicating vegetation in situ (palaeosols). The layers suggest several types of fluvial and/or coastal depositions, from dunes and river banks to beach deposits, where the palaeocurrent directions are clear generally from the north-east to the south-west. This section hosts abundant conglomerate intercalations, with the lower ones formed by mud fragments and the uppers with distant source material, both abundant on wood fragments, some of them up to 20 cm in diameter.

Vittseröd member

The youngest member is composed by finer-grained and much better sorted sandstones, with limited abundance of mudstones and plant fragments small and limited to a few horizons. The presence of silt and mature quartz arenites, well sorted and fairly well rounded derived from strongly altered feldspars, shows that this member hosted a high-energy environment, one where tidal currents have been invoked for the modification of fine-grained sandstones, linked with the changes of the Laurasian Seaway. The upper parts of this unit are influenced by the initial pulse of the Pliensbachian coeval vulcanism with heavy volcanic minerals in the uppermost layers.

Fauna

Ichnofossils

*'' Lockeia siliquaria'' (Bivalves) *''

Planolites ''Planolites'' is an ichnogenus found throughout the Ediacaran and the Phanerozoic that is made during the feeding process of worm-like animals. The traces are generally small, , unlined, and rarely branched, with fill that differs from the host ...

annularis'' (Polychaetes) *''

montanus'' (Polychaetes) *''

Diplichnites ''Diplichnites'' are arthropod trackways with two parallel rows of blunt to elongate, closely spaced tracks oriented approximately perpendicularly to the mid-line of the trackway. The term is more often used for the ichnofossils of this descript ...

isp.'' (Xiphosurans, Insects, Arachnids) *''

Teichichnus ''Teichichnus'' is an ichnogenus with a distinctive form produced by the stacking of thin 'tongues' of sediment, atop one another. They are believed to be fodinichnia, with the organism adopting the habit of retracing the same route through var ...

isp.'' (Polychaetes, Echiurans, Holothurians.) *''

Skolithos ''Skolithos'' (formerly spelled ''Scolithus'' or ''Skolithus'') is a common trace fossil ichnogenus that is, or was originally, an approximately vertical cylindrical burrow with a distinct lining. It was produced globally by a variety of organ ...

isp.'' (Polychaetes, Phoronidans) *'' Monocraterion tentaculatum '' (Polychaeta, Sipuncula, Enteropneustans & Echiurans) *''

Rhizocorallium ''Rhizocorallium'' is an ichnogenus of burrow, the inclination of which is typically within 10° of the bedding planes of the sediment. These burrows can be very large, over a meter long in sediments that show good preservation, e.g. Jurassic r ...

isp.'' (Polychaeta, Sipuncula, Enteropneustans & Echiurans) *'' Aulichnites isp.'' (Gastropods) *''

Diplocraterion ''Diplocraterion'' is an ichnogenus describing vertical U-shaped burrows having a spreite (weblike construction) between the two limbs of the U. The spreite of an individual ''Diplocraterion'' trace can be either protrusive (between the paired ...

parallelum'' (Polychaeta, Sipuncula, Enteropneustans & Echiurans)

Bivalves

Arthropoda

Flora

References

{{Mesozoic Sweden, state=expanded Geologic formations of Sweden Jurassic System of Europe Early Jurassic Europe Jurassic Sweden Hettangian Stage Sinemurian Stage Pliensbachian Stage Sandstone formations Coal formations Coal in Sweden Paleontology in Sweden