Code
NUKRWY
Status
Formal (Busschers & Weerts 2003).
Lithological description
Typically firm, grey silty clay, with local admixture of fine sand. Humic and non-calcareous, especially at the organic-rich top, which may be marked by a palaeosol.
Depositional setting
Meandering floodplain subject to frequent overbank flow (Rhine; Törnqvist et al. 1994; Makaske & Nap 1995; Busschers 2008; Autin 2008). A similar deposit may be present at the top of the Beegden Formation (Meuse).
Definition of lower boundary
Commonly sharp, unconformable contact with coarser fluvial channel sand (Kreftenheye Formation, undifferentiated) or periglacial sand (Boxtel Formation).
Definition of upper boundary
Gradual transition into softer fluvial clay (Echteld Formation).
Thickness indication
Up to about 2 m.
Geographical distribution
Narrow west-east zone extending from Rotterdam Harbour to the German border.
Regional correlation
North Sea: fragmentarily present as Kreftenheye Formation (undifferentiated; Cameron et al. 1989); UK: not present; GER; not distinguished; BEL: not present.
Age
Late Pleistocene (Allerød/late Weichselian) - early Holocene.
Type section
Well:
Not yet determined.
Depth (thickness) AH:
Not yet determined.
Origin of name
Named after the village of Wijchen (southeast of Utrecht, close to the German border).
Previous name(s)
Wijchen Member (Törnqvist et al. 1994).
Reviewed by (date)
Wim Dubelaar (2018), Sytze van Heteren (2019).
References
Autin, W.J. 2008. Stratigraphic analysis and paleoenvironmental implications of the Wijchen Member in the lower Rhine-Meuse Valley of the Netherlands. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, 87 (4), 291-307.
Busschers, F.S. 2008. Unravelling the Rhine. Response of a fluvial system to climate change, sea-level oscillation and glaciation. PhD Thesis, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 184 p.
Busschers, F.S., Weerts, H.J.T. 2003. Beschrijving lithostratigrafische eenheid. Nederlands Instituut voor Toegepaste Geowetenschappen TNO. Utrecht.
Cameron, T.D.J., Schüttenhelm, R.T.E., Laban, C. 1989. Middle and Upper Pleistocene and Holocene stratigraphy in the southern North Sea between 52° and 54° N, 2° to 4° E. In: Henriet, J.P. De Moor, G. (eds.): The Quaternary and Tertiary geology of the Southern Bight, North Sea. Brussels, Belgian Geological Survey, 119-135.
Makaske, B., NAP, R.L. 1995. A transition from a braided to a meandering channel facies, showing inclined heterolithic statification (Late Weichselian, central Netherlands). Geologie en Mijnbouw, 74, 1-8.
Törnqvist, T.E., Weerts, H.J.T., Berendsen, H.J.A. 1994. Definition of two new members in the upper Kreftenheye and Twente Formations (Quaternary, the Netherlands): a final solution to persistent confusion? Geologie en Mijnbouw, 72, 251-264.
Cite as
TNO-GDN ([YEAR]). Wijchen Bed. In: Stratigraphic Nomenclature of the Netherlands, TNO – Geological Survey of the Netherlands. Accessed on [DATE] from https://www.dinoloket.nl/en/stratigraphic-nomenclature/wijchen-bed-0.