Stratigraphy
The Buntsandstein belongs to the Changhsingian to Anisian stages, meaning it is between 252 and 246 million years old. In German lithostratigraphy, it is seen as a group, in the Netherlands and North Sea the name has no official status (though that does not keep geologists from using it). In the official Dutch lithostratigraphy, the Buntsandstein is divided into the Lower and Upper Germanic Trias Groups. The British Bunter Formation is basically a continuation of the same unit.
In Germany the Buntsandstein is subdivided into three subgroups with seven formations (from top to base):
Upper Buntsandstein
- Röt Formation or Fährtensandstein
Middle Buntsandstein
- Solling Formation
- Hardegsen Formation
- Detfurth Formation
- Volpriehausen Formation
Lower Buntsandstein
- Bernburg Formation
- Calvörde Formation
All of these are reasonably good reservoir rocks for oil and gas. In the Dutch subdivision, the upper two formations are part of the Upper Germanic Trias and the others part of the Lower Germanic Trias.
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