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Eocene sediments and a fresh to brackish water biota from the early rifting stage of the Upper Rhine Graben (west of oil field Landau, southwest Germany): implications for biostratigraphy, palaeoecology and source rock potential

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Abstract

The Eocene biota from the pre-rifting stage of the Upper Rhine Graben (southwest Germany) is, with exception of the world-famous fossil sites Messel and Bouxwiller, poorly known. While from these localities exclusively terrestrial and freshwater fossils were recovered, here we present floral and faunal assemblages from the middle Upper Rhine Graben which clearly indicate a temporarily brackish water environment and consist of a diverse palynomorph association, calcareous nannoplankton, foraminifers, ostracods and some fish and reptile remains. Based on the occurrence of Trochastrites hohnensis, a Lutetian age is assumed. Organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts, in particular Phthanoperidinium comatum, Phthanoperidinium echinatum, Apectodinium homomorphum and Apectodinium quinquelatum, suggest a late Ypresian to Lutetian age. The pollen and spores assemblage includes typical mid Eocene species, such as Tegumentisporis villosoides, Tricolporopollenites crassostriatus and representatives of Bombacaceae, but a late Ypresian to Priabonian age cannot be excluded. Foraminifers and ostracods do not further refine the biostratigraphical assignment. Hence, a Lutetian age is most probable. The mass occurrence of Neocyprideis, various foraminifer taxa and an organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst assemblage of very low diversity are indicative of a brackish water environment. Disarticulated vertebrate remains include fish teeth of Lepisosteidae, turtle plates and alligatoroid teeth of Diplocynodon and Hassiacosuchus. The present palaeogeographical scenarios do not consider a connection from the Upper Rhine Graben to the North Sea Basin, Alpine Sea/Paratethys or Paris Basin during the mid Eocene. Provided that the middle Upper Rhine Graben was land-locked and definitely not reached by a marine ingression during this time interval, we tentatively suggest that the brackish water taxa may have been accidentally introduced into a brackish inland sea by wind (anemochory), rain, highly mobile insects or vertebrates such as fish, birds and mammals (endozoochory/ectozoochory). The presumably freshwater calcareous nannoplankton species Nannoserratolithus minutus Martini is newly described.

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Data availability

Fossil material, sediment samples, thin sections and polished epoxy-mounted samples are stored in various collections open to the public on reasonable request (for details see Material). All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

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Acknowledgements

This study was initiated by the late Karl R. G. Stapf who introduced C. Hartkopf-Fröder to the geology of the Haardt during a university course. Günter Schweigert is thanked for discussions on Lower Jurassic biostratigraphy. Dietrich Kadolsky kindly commented on an earlier version of the manuscript. Oliver Hampe and Bettina Reichenbacher gave advice on the fish teeth structure and otolith fauna, respectively. Ralf Littke provided access to a Zeiss Axio Imager.M2m incident light microscope and Donka Macherey assisted with the photographs of the fish teeth cross-sections. The help of Ursula Amend, Ulrike Lux and Jörg Schardinel in producing the figures is gratefully acknowledged. The manuscript considerably benefitted from perceptive advice and constructive comments by Kirsten I. Grimm and Olaf K. Lenz. We thank Anna-Kristin Stössel and Sinje Weber for technical editing of the manuscript. We dedicate this publication to our friend and colleague Martin Hottenrott who was involved in the initial stage of this project but passed away on September 29, 2013. German palynology has suffered a sad loss by his untimely death. He is greatly missed by all of us.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Str. 49a, 50674, Köln, Germany

    Christoph Hartkopf-Fröder

  2. Parkstr. 40, 61476, Kronberg/Taunus, Germany

    Erlend Martini

  3. Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University, Høegh-Guldbergs Gade 2, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

    Claus Heilmann-Clausen

  4. Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

    Frank H. Neumann

  5. Institute of Geology and Palaeontology – Palaeobotany, University of Münster, Heisenbergstr. 2, 48149, Münster, Germany

    Frank H. Neumann

  6. Bachmayerstr. 12, 65195, Wiesbaden, Germany

    Peter Schäfer

  7. Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Str. 9–11, 26129, Oldenburg, Germany

    Heinz Wilkes

  8. Neptune Energy Holding Germany GmbH, Ahrensburger Str. 1, 30659, Hannover, Germany

    Johannes Böcker

  9. Hessian Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology, Rheingaustr. 186, 65203, Wiesbaden, Germany

    Martin Hottenrott

Author notes

  1. Martin Hottenrott is deceased. This paper is dedicated to his memory.

    • Martin Hottenrott
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Hartkopf-Fröder, C., Martini, E., Heilmann-Clausen, C. et al. Eocene sediments and a fresh to brackish water biota from the early rifting stage of the Upper Rhine Graben (west of oil field Landau, southwest Germany): implications for biostratigraphy, palaeoecology and source rock potential. Palaeobio Palaeoenv 104, 53–102 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-023-00577-z

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