Abstract
A 250 m-deep inclined well, the Mont Terri BDB-1, was drilled through the Jurassic Opalinus Clay and its bounding formations at the Mont Terri rock laboratory (NW Switzerland). For the first time, a continuous section from (oldest to youngest) the topmost members of the Staffelegg Formation to the basal layers of the Hauptrogenstein Formation is now available in the Mont Terri area. We extensively studied the drillcore for lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy, drawing upon three sections from the Mont Terri area. The macropaleontological, micropaleontological, and palynostratigraphical data are complementary, not only spatially but they also cover almost all biozones from the Late Toarcian to the Early Bajocian. We ran a suite of geophysical logs to determine formational and intraformational boundaries based on clay content in the BDB-1 well. In the framework of an interdisciplinary study, analysis of the above-mentioned formations permitted us to process and derive new and substantial data for the Mont Terri area in a straightforward way. Some parts of the lithologic inventory, stratigraphic architecture, thickness variations, and biostratigraphic classification of the studied formations deviate considerably from occurrences in northern Switzerland that crop out further to the east. For instance, with the exception of the Sissach Member, no further lithostratigraphic subdivision in members is proposed for the Passwang Formation. Also noteworthy is that the ca. 130 m-thick Opalinus Clay in the BDB-1 core is 20 m thinner than that equivalent section found in the Mont Terri tunnel. The lowermost 38 m of the Opalinus Clay can be attributed chronostratigraphically solely to the Aalensis Zone (Late Toarcian). Deposition of the Opalinus Clay began at the same time farther east in northern Switzerland (Aalensis Subzone, Aalensis Zone), but in the Mont Terri area the sedimentation rate was two or three orders of magnitude higher.
Editorial handling: P. Bossart and A. G. Milnes.
This is paper #1 in the Mont Terri Special Issue of the Swiss Journal of Geosciences (see Bossart et al. 2017, Table 3 and Fig. 7). It is a short version of Mont Terri Technical Report, TR 16-02 (Reisdorf et al. 2016).
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Acknowledgements
The Mont Terri Project Partners BGR, GRS, IRSN, Nagra, NWMO, and swisstopo financially contributed to the drilling of the BDB-1 borehole. The operator of the Mont Terri rock laboratory swisstopo managed the drilling of the BDB-1 borehole and provided the facilities of the Mont Terri rock laboratory. This study was financially supported by the Mont Terri Consortium in the framework of the SO (Sedimentology of Opalinus Clay) experiment. All these contributions are gratefully acknowledged. We furthermore thank all the involved contractors and especially Entrepose Drilling SA for their great on-site operation, which yielded core material of excellent quality. In a first phase Sue Turner (Brisbane) helped to improve the English. To complete, Roy Freeman (Lucerne) reviewed the English text. The authors are much obliged to the constructive reviews of Reto M. Burkhalter, Robin Allenbach, Paul Bossart, and Alan G. Milnes, all of which enhanced the character of the final paper.
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Hostettler, B. et al. (2018). Litho- and biostratigraphy of the Opalinus Clay and bounding formations in the Mont Terri rock laboratory (Switzerland). In: Bossart, P., Milnes, A. (eds) Mont Terri Rock Laboratory, 20 Years. Swiss Journal of Geosciences Supplement, vol 5. Birkhäuser, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70458-6_2
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