The Muschelkalk Was Arid

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

Vecsei, A. & Mandau, T. 2002. Redbeds from the Middle Muschelkalk (Middle
Triassic) of the SW Germanic Basin: Arid environments from Pangea's
interior. _International Journal of Earth Sciences (Geol. Rundsch.)_ 91
(1): 111-122.

 
http://link.springer-ny.com/link/service/journals/00531/bibs/2091001/20910111.htm

abstract:
  "The facies of a redbed succession from the lower Middle Muschelkalk of
the SW Germanic Basin allows reconstruction of the depositional
environment and inference with regard to the climate in a little studied
part of Pangea's interior. The redbeds are dominated by fine-grained
terrigenous deposits, with both intercalated thin sandstone and carbonate
beds. The clastics were derived from the nearby hinterland, and their
facies suggest episodic deposition on a playa mud flat or flood plain. The
occurrence in the lower part of the succession of sand-patch breccias,
ooids, and dolomicrite beds suggests an origin in saline pans and playa
lakes. These diverse facies, and phreatic dolomites, reflect an arid
climate during deposition."



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