The marine pleistocene sediments in the Flandrian ara: a 'mise au point' on the nomenclature and stratotypes

A review of the Pleistocene marine stratigraphy of the Belgian coastal plain is given, including a critical discussion of the formerly used nomenclature. A stratigraphical revision of formations introduced in the first edition of the legend of the Geological Map of Belgium is made. Hence the Oostende Formation (type locality Oostende) stands for marine deposits of Eemian age, the Herzeele Formation (type locality Herzeele in France) stands for marine deposits of both Holsteinian and 'Cromerian' age. In the Flemish Valley as well as in the eastern part of the coastal plain both formations are found to exist generally superposed. Here the Zeebrugge Member of the Herzeele Formation is introduced to indicate marine deposits with Corbicula fluminalis and Tapes senescens var. eemiensis . Neither fossils are therefore considered as solely belonging to the Eemian stage.