Fossils revealed by a landslide in German during the construction of a canal 170 years ago have finally been analysed and the results published this week and reveal new details about the local ground conditions.
The Journal of the German Society for Geosciences has just published the results from samples of rock strata and fossils found during construction of the Ludwig-Danube-Main Canal in Bavaria 170 years ago. The channel incision that caused a landslip at Dörlbach, about 20km south-east of Nuremberg, was made during the construction of the canal between from 1836 to 1845.
Palaeontologists of the 19th century, and in particular Friedrich August Quenstedt, attempted to accurately document and date the finds with little success. In 2010 science finally caught up with the discovery and researchers from the universities of Göttingen, Erlangen and Tübingen and the Bavarian state office for the environment have dated the old marine deposits and the rich fossil fauna.
The finds - which included a 1.6m long skull of the ichthyosaur genus Temnodontosaurus, now preserved in Ansbach, Margrave Museum - have been dated from the Black Jura era, around 178 to 200M years ago.
The layers also suggest a new interpretation of the flow system in the north-west European Jurassic sea, as erosion submarine canyons are especially visible in the field of Ludwig canal, according to the scientists.
You might also like...
Ramboll wins design contract for £1.6bn India sea bridge
Ramboll has won the design and construction support contract for a $2.2bn (£1.6bn), 22km long six-lane Mumbai Trans-Harbour road bridge in India.
Keller admits 2018 will be 'challenging' but expects profit growth
Ground engineering specialist Keller has admitted 2018 will be a “challenging year” for its UK business as it revealed reduced margin in its 2017 financial results.
Network Rail told to spend extra £1bn including 'forgotten' Crossrail funds
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has told Network Rail to spend an additional £1bn on rail infrastructure, including £300M of Crossrail funds that Network Rail ‘forgot’ to include in its Strategic Business Plan.
Hinkley to dump dredged material into Welsh waters
Dredged sediment at Hinkley Point C site will be dumped into Welsh waters after the project obtained a marine licence for the disposal.
Have your say
You must sign in to make a comment
Please remember that the submission of any material is governed by our Terms and Conditions and by submitting material you confirm your agreement to these Terms and Conditions. Please note comments made online may also be published in the print edition of New Civil Engineer. Links may be included in your comments but HTML is not permitted.