Sediments of the Ries Crater Lake (Miocene, Southern Germany).

Abstract

This field trip is devoted to the post-impact history of the Nördlinger Ries with focus on its carbonate lake sediments. We will explore major facies belts of the Ries crater lake, including basinal shales, littoral carbonate grainstones, dolomitic algal bioherms, sublacustrine spring mounds, carbonate floodplains, deltaic deposits and late freshwater limestones. Special emphasis is taken on fossil algae (green algae, charophytes, cyanobacteria), rhythms and cycles of bioherm growth, the genesis of microbialites in relation to climate and lake water chemistry, and paleosol formation in carbonate swamps.