Continental Upper Carboniferous red beds in the Variscan intermontane Saale Basin, central Germany: orbital forcing detected by wavelet analysis

Abstract

Abstract Stratigraphical correlation within continental red beds is hampered by uniformity of sediments and the lack of fossils, such that classical lithostratigraphical and biostratigraphical methods often fail. For a drilled section of Upper Carboniferous non-marine sediments of the Variscan intermontane Saale Basin, almost 800 m in thickness, an alternative approach is proposed. Wavelet-based time-series analysis is used to identify the internal organization of the cyclicity, and to distinguish cycles of different magnitude and origin as being autocyclically, tectonically or climatically controlled. Based on this distinction, basin-wide correlations of fluvial red beds are possible using a combination of high-resolution stratigraphy, biostratigraphy and classical lithostratigraphy. The analyses of well Querfurt 1/64 suggest the presence of short and long eccentricity cycles, and a duration of 5–7 Ma if the grey facies at the base of the section is to be correlated with the Grillenberg Subformation sediments. This subformation is of Stephanian A or Barruelian age, respectively, such that the well Querfurt 1/64 exposes a nearly complete section of the Mansfeld Subgroup (complete Stephanian stage).