The facies of lacustrine and palustrine carbonates from the Miocene of Langenaltheim/Southern Frankonian Alb

Sedimentological and carbonate isotope signatures to identify fluvial processes and catchment changes in a supposed impact ejecta‐dammed lake (Miocene, Germany)

“…This view persisted until recent times (e.g. Hüttner & Schmidt‐Kaler, 1999; Weiss et al ., 2008; Peterek & Schröder, 2010; Sturm et al ., 2015).…”

The Steinheim Basin impact crater (SW-Germany) – Where are the ejecta?

“…These freshwater limestones are pre-impact formations that directly underlie Ries ejecta and are partly incorporated into the lithic Bunte Breccia (Buchner and Schmieder, 2013a); elsewhere, these pisolitic limestones directly overlie the Bunte Breccia (Schmidt-Kaler and Salger, 1986;Weiss et al, 2008) and, thus, have to be considered as post-impact formations. These limestones were deposited in very shallow pools (Weiss et al, 2008), however, the sediments survived erosion and presently crop out in numerous patches surrounding the Ries crater and the Steinheim Basin. Deposited directly after the Ries-Steinheim event, these oncolithic sediments cover Bunte Breccia in the Ries area and should cover Steinheim ejecta if originally deposited which is not the case.…”

“…Pre-impact foreland basin deposits are locally incorporated into the impact breccias (e.g., Hüttner and Schmidt-Kaler, 1999;Buchner and Schmieder, 2013b); in particular, the Bunte Breccia of the Ries area contains a considerable portion of fluvial, lacustrine and palustrinen Miocene sediments. Due to the subtropical climatic and water-saturated environmental conditions, conspicuous palustrine cm-to dm-sized oncoids (e.g., Schmidt-Kaler and Salger, 1986;Weiss et al, 2008;Buchner and Schmieder, 2013a) formed in the Ries and Steinheim area close in time to the Ries-Steinheim impact event and are either incorporated into, directly overlain, but mostly underlain by the Bunte Breccia in the Ries area. Weiss et al (2008), for instance, described the occurrence of lacustrine/ palustrine oncoids that directly overlay Bunte Breccia near the village of Langenaltheim, approximately 10 km east of the Ries crater.…”

“…Due to the subtropical climatic and water-saturated environmental conditions, conspicuous palustrine cm-to dm-sized oncoids (e.g., Schmidt-Kaler and Salger, 1986;Weiss et al, 2008;Buchner and Schmieder, 2013a) formed in the Ries and Steinheim area close in time to the Ries-Steinheim impact event and are either incorporated into, directly overlain, but mostly underlain by the Bunte Breccia in the Ries area. Weiss et al (2008), for instance, described the occurrence of lacustrine/ palustrine oncoids that directly overlay Bunte Breccia near the village of Langenaltheim, approximately 10 km east of the Ries crater. These oncoids are still preserved in various locations in the periphery of both craters (Buchner and Schmieder, 2013a;Fig.…”

“…Remnants of conspicuous pisolithic freshwater limestones within a distance less than 1 to about 2.5 km south and southwest of the crater are of special interest because they were deposited chronologically close to the Ries impact event (e.g. Weiss et al, 2008;Buchner and Schmieder, 2013a). These freshwater limestones are pre-impact formations that directly underlie Ries ejecta and are partly incorporated into the lithic Bunte Breccia (Buchner and Schmieder, 2013a); elsewhere, these pisolitic limestones directly overlie the Bunte Breccia (Schmidt-Kaler and Salger, 1986;Weiss et al, 2008) and, thus, have to be considered as post-impact formations.…”