Tidal Deposits, Dachstein Limestone of the North-Alpine Triassic

Abstract

Late Triassic (Norian-Rhaetian) limestones, 1,000 to 1,500 meters thick, consist of interbedded lagoonal limestones (90 percent) and intertidal-supratidal dolomitic limestones (10 percent). The belt was originally some 20 km wide, extending some 250 km from the Loferer and Leoganger Steinberge in the west, through the region of Berchtesgaden and Salzburg, toward Vienna. It is bounded on the south by a belt of reefs defining the southern edge of the Dachstein bank, and on the north by the Hauptdolomit ultrabackreef facies. The deposit is well exposed in the many mountain faces and high plateaus of the region; lower and readily accessible exposures south of Salzburg include cuts and a quarry near Golling (Pass Lueg), and at Berchtesgaden, the road from Obersalzberg to Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” on Mt. Kehlstein. Rocks are moderately deformed, with primary porosity lost by cementation.