Original paper
Die Bernsteinlagerstätte Bitterfeld, nur ein Höhepunkt des Vorkommens von Bernstein (Succinit) im Tertiär Mitteldeutschlands
Fuhrmann, Roland
Zeitschrift der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geowissenschaften Band 156 Heft 4 (2005), p. 517 - 529
published: Dec 1, 2005
DOI: 10.1127/1860-1804/2005/0156-0517
ArtNo. ESP171015604008, Price: 29.00 €
Abstract
The discovery of the amber deposit Bitterfeld in 1974 triggered a search for amber in the whole area of Leipzig-Bitterfeld. Beside autochthonous finds in the Upper Eocene and Lower Oligocene many deposits of Upper Oligocene age have been detected.The deposit Bitterfeld and its about 10 m thick mainly marine Upper Oligocene sequence have been extensively investigated. Amber is included in the uppermost lagoonal Friedersdorf beds and the basal Zöckeritz horizon. The small autochthonous lignite seam Goitsche and several meters of sand are intercalated. The distribution of these layers is connected with the structures on the basis of the Lower Miocene Bitterfeld lignite seam. Two SW–NE striking ridges are spits of land, which were deposited during high stands of sea level from southwest to northeast. They constitute an age sequence from southeast to northwest. The embedded lignite seam Goitsche indicates an approximately 15 m fluctuation of sea level during formation of the deposit.The basal ridges in the whole Leipzig-Bitterfeld area and the inner structure of the Upper Bitterfeld Glimmersand resemble those of the Bitterfeld deposit. Embedded lignite seams indicate at least 10 eustatic variations of sea level of 15 to 20 m. Source of the sediment and the amber was a river flowing into a bay: the Saxonian Amber River.
Keywords
tertiary • central germany • amber • genesis • palaeogeography • climatic variations • germany