The upper Miocene Deurne Member of the Diest Formation revisited: unexpected results from the study of a large temporary outcrop near Antwerp International Airport, Belgium

Abstract

A 5.50 m thick interval of fossiliferous intensely bioturbated heterogenous glauconiferous sand of the upper Miocene Diest Formation is documented from a very large temporary outcrop just southeast of Antwerp International Airport (northern Belgium), allowing to observe lateral variations over several hundreds of meters and to collect many vertebrate and invertebrate fossils. This paper documents observations on lithology, sedimentary and post-sedimentary structures, and discusses the results of the multi-proxy analyses of the sediment (granulometry, glauconite content, clay mineralogy, Fe content and Fe3+/Fe2+ ratios), the interpretation of the trace fossil assemblage and the sedimentary structures as well as of the large-scale samplings of micro-, meso- and macrofossils. We evidence that the Diest Formation in the Antwerp area consists of two different lithological entities, and that this twofold character can be extrapolated to all previously recorded Deurne Member outcrops. A revised lithostratigraphic scheme for the Diest Formation in the Antwerp area is proposed, with the new Borsbeek member at the base and a redefined Deurne Member at the top.