Examples

Formation of Calais

Formation of Duinkerke

Formation of Gorkum

In 2003 TNO-NITG changed its lithographic division, where this formation is not present anymore.

Formation of Tiel

In 2003 TNO-NITG changed its lithographic division, where this formation is not present anymore.

Airborne sand

This formation belongs to the aeolian deposits. These are sediments (mainly sand) which are transported and deposited by air forming for example dunes. The so called donks, hills consisting of cover-sand originating from the dried-up lower river areas, peaking above the later deposited sediments. The sand in these donks is average to fine grained. The donks and fluvial clay layers are simultaneously deposited and irregularly cover the area varying from a few decimeters to 10 meter in thickness. Locally the can even reach until the ground level.

Allerod-layer

The Bølling–Allerød interstadial was an abrupt warm and moist interstadial period that occurred during the final stages of the last glacial period. It began with the end of the cold period known as the Oldest Dryas, and ended abruptly with the onset of the Younger Dryas, a cold period that reduced temperatures back to near-glacial levels within a decade. This layer can be recognized by the presence of small parts of charcoal in a thin (~10cm) bleached soil layer. This bleached layer can be considered as a fossil ground layer from that time. Moreover are very small diamonds and the relative high amount of iridium characteristic for this layer.

Base peat

The Basisveen Laag was formed due to rise of the sea-level which on his turn created a rise in the groundwater-table. The resulting seepage in the coversand area is the reason for the existing peat.

Beach

A beach is a narrow, gently sloping strip of land that lies along the edge of an ocean, lake, or river. Materials such as sand, pebbles, rocks, and seashell fragments cover beaches. Most beach materials are the products of weathering and erosion. Over many years, water and wind wear away at the land. The continual action of waves beating against a rocky cliff, for example, may cause some rocks to come loose. Huge boulders can be worn town to tiny grains of sand. Beach materials may travel long distances, carried by wind and waves. As the tide comes in, for example, it deposits ocean sediment. This sediment may contain sand, shells, seaweed, even marine organisms like crabs or sea anemones. When the tide goes out, it takes some sediment with it. Tides and ocean currents can carry sediment a few meters or hundreds of kilometres away. Tides and currents are the main way beaches are created, changed, and even destroyed, as the currents move sediment and debris from one place to another. Beaches are constantly changing. Tides and weather can alter beaches every day, bringing new materials and taking away others. Beaches also change seasonally. During the winter, storm winds toss sand into the air. This can sometimes erode beaches and create sandbars. Sandbars are narrow, exposed areas of sand and sediment just off the beach. During the summer, waves retrieve sand from sandbars and build the beach back up again. These seasonal changes cause beaches to be wider and have a gentle slope in the summer, and be narrower and steeper in the winter. For types of beaches take a look at shoreline.

Bowl deposit

Bowl shaped deposits are formed due to venting of hydrothermal solutions into submarine depressions and are a form of volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits. VMS deposits have an ideal form of a conical area of highly altered volcanic or volcanogenic sedimentary rock.

Ceramic clay

A ceramic clay layer is a layer where a mixture of a lot of clay and a little water are present and results in a mud that can be shaped and dried to form a relatively rigid solid. This layer can also be found in dried-up form.

Clay loam

Loam is soil composed mostly of sand, silt, and a smaller amount of clay. By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–silt–clay, respectively. These proportions can vary to a degree for example in clay loam, here the presence of clay is more than with a normal loam layer.

Clay sand

Sand with a large amount of clay present.

Colluvium

Colluvium is a general name for loose, unconsolidated sediments that have been deposited at the base of hillslopes by either rain-wash, sheet wash, slow continuous downslope creep, or a variable combination of these processes. Colluvium is typically composed of a heterogeneous range of rock types and sediments ranging from silt to rock fragments of various sizes with an angular form and mostly consolidated at the bottom of a hill. This term is also used to specifically refer to sediment deposited at the base of a hillslope by unconcentrated surface runoff or sheet erosion. These accumulations of colluvium can be several meters in thickness and often contain buried soils, crude bedding, and cut and fill sequences.

Colluvium differs from alluvium in the way it was deposited and the soils present. Alluvium is sand, clay, or other similar detrital material deposited by running water. Alluvium consist of fine-grained material which can be taken by water and deposited on the end of its route. This makes alluvium very well sorted and colluvium is mostly very poor sorted.

Crevasse deposit

The deposit generated by a river crevasse event. This is an event where there is a breach in a levee along the bank of a river through which flood water may flow and produce crevasse splays. This crevasse splay is a large amount of water rapidly flooding the floodplain of the river. As the water spreads onto the flood plain sediments will start to fall out of suspension as the water loses energy. Breaches that form a crevasse splay deposits occur most commonly on the outside banks of meanders where the water has the highest energy. The formation is sheet-like in geometry, thinning away from the side of the breach in the river bank, and characterized by rapidly deposited sands, fining upwards to a muddy top, produced by the waning flow of a flood event. Crevasse splay deposits can range in size. Larger deposits can be 6 meter thick at the levee and spread 2 kilometers wide, while smaller deposits may only be 1 centimeter thick.

Drift sand

A sand drift is an accumulation of sand that drifts downwind in the lee of some obstruction and is usually smaller than a dune. Aeolian sand consists of particles, usually quartz, which has been transported by the wind this also counts for the sand drift. The low-nutrient soil translates into a lack of vascular plants. Older sand drifts primary contain mosses, such as rough maidenhair, and various lichens. Barren areas make up a large proportion of well-developed sand drifts. Mostly Europe and in particular The Netherlands have many drift sands. These are open area’s with small sand particles which can be transported by larger wind speeds. For sand drift to occur, a number of factors have to be present. Sandy material has to be available, together with a lack of vegetation cover and a good measure of wind to transport the sand.

Erosive base

The erosive base is the level until which a river or glacier will erode the earth. At this base level the river will chose to widen instead of deepen. The "ultimate base level" is the plane that results from projection of the sea level under landmasses. It is to this base level that topography tends to approach due to erosion, eventually forming a peneplain (a low-relief plain formed by protracted erosion) close to the end of a cycle of erosion. The stream gradient at an erosive base is nearly flat. The base layer often consist of a hard rock type.

False layer

Fluvioperiglacial deposit

These deposits are present in the Boxtel formation and originated from meltwater from a glacier or rain in a cold environment.

Formation of Boxtel, member of Delwijnen

The formation has fine to medium silty sand layers with light yellow to dark brown color. Moreover greyish brown tot dark grey sandy loam layers can be found and also thin peat and gyttja layers are common in this formation. The main component of the formation is partly detritic sand and locally fine to medium sand with granule lags. This formation is from aeolian origin.

A Delwijnen member has grey to brown fine to medium sand layers. These layers are moderately sorted, mostly consisting of non-calcareous materials only near the base some calcareous materials. Moreover some silt layers or granule laminae can be present.

Formation of Boxtel, member of Wierden

The formation has fine to medium silty sand layers with light yellow to dark brown color. Moreover greyish brown tot dark grey sandy loam layers can be found and also thin peat and gyttja layers are common in this formation. The main component of the formation is partly detritic sand and locally fine to medium sand with granule lags. This formation is from aeolian origin.

A Wierden member has light brown to yellowish brown very fine to medium sand layers which are well-sorted and rounded. It is deposited as coversand.

Formation of Echteld

The formation consist of heterogenous layers. The layers that are present are humic clay layers with thin discontinuous peat layers, silty and sandy clay intercalated with thin sand layers and very fine to very coarse sand layers. Locally gravel lags, mollusks, diatoms and ostracods could be present. This formation is decreasing in grain size and gravel content from its east to its west. This formation has a fluvial origin and originated from the Rhine.

Formation of Kreftenheye

The formation of Kreftenheye is a lacustrine deposited formation. It consist of yellowish grey to greyish brown medium to very coarse sand layers. The layers present are moderately to very gravelly. Locally even fine to coarse gravel in lags can be found. Moreover subordinate silty clay beds and clayey peat layers can be present in this formation. This formation has a fluvial origin and originated from the Rhine.

Formation of Kreftenheye, member of Wijchen

This layer is found at the top of the formation of Kreftenheye and consist of the following layers and characteristics. It is made up of typically stiff reddish brown to grey silty clay, silty and locally even fine sandy. Moreover it is humic and non-calcareous especially at the organic-rich top, which may be marked by a paleosol. This formation has a fluvial origin and originated from the Rhine.

Formation of Naaldwijk, member of Schoorl

The formation of Naaldwijk consist of highly variable layers. Generally it consist of grey fine to medium calcareous sand layers. In these sand layers are shells present. Moreover grey to blue organic silt and clay layers are present. This layers also have shells present. Common in this formation are coarse lags, clayey fills and thin discontinuous peat layers. This formation has a marine origin.

A Schoorl member has light yellow to grey very fine to fine calcareous sand layers, calcareous. These layers also consist of small shell particles. Also thin intercalated paleosols or peat layers at different levels are present. Common with this member are its large-scale cross-beddings.

Formation of Naaldwijk, member of Walcheren

The formation of Naaldwijk consist of highly variable layers. Generally it consist of grey fine to medium calcareous sand layers. In these sand layers are shells present. Moreover grey to blue organic silt and clay layers are present. This layers also have shells present. Common in this formation are coarse lags, clayey fills and thin discontinuous peat layers. This formation has a marine origin.

A Walcheren member has grey moderately fine calcareous sand with traces of clay or silt. Moreover this member has shells present and is bioturbated. This member originates from estuaries arised as a result from breaching of a barrier coast.

Formation of Naaldwijk, member of Wormer

The formation of Naaldwijk consist of highly variable layers. Generally it consist of grey fine to medium calcareous sand layers. In these sand layers are shells present. Moreover grey to blue organic silt and clay layers are present. This layers also have shells present. Common in this formation are coarse lags, clayey fills and thin discontinuous peat layers. This formation has a marine origin.

A Wormer member has shell rich and calcareous sand layers and is present in tidal gully deposits. These sands alternate with thin silt and clay layers, where the layering is often disturbed by shells of mollusks and crustaceans.

Formation of Naaldwijk, member of Zandvoort

The formation of Naaldwijk consist of highly variable layers. Generally it consists of grey fine to medium calcareous sand layers. In these sand layers are shells present. Moreover grey to blue organic silt and clay layers are present. This layers also have shells present. Common in this formation are coarse lags, clayey fills and thin discontinuous peat layers. This formation has a marine origin.

A Zandvoort member has moderately fine to coarse shell rich sand layers. It often shows an upward coarsening trend. Fine grained sand layers alternate with thin clay layers in this member.

Formation of Nieuwkoop, Basisveen laag

The formation of Nieuwkoop consist of organic variable layers. Generally it consists of brown to black peat and other organic material and is locally clayey. Also common in this formation are yellow to greenbrown gyttja layers or detritus from eroded peat mixed with clastic sediment. The origin of this formation lies within a marsh and swamp in lowland subject to groundwater-table rise. The swamp could be nutrient-poor to nutrient-rich.

The Basisveen Laag was formed due to rise of the sea-level which on his turn created a rise in the groundwater-table. The resulting seepage in the coversand area is the reason for the existing peat.

Formation of Nieuwkoop, member of Hollandveen

The formation of Nieuwkoop consist of organic variable layers. Generally it consists of brown to black peat and other organic material and is locally clayey. Also common in this formation are yellow to green brown gyttja layers or detritus from eroded peat mixed with clastic sediment. The origin of this formation lies within a marsh and swamp in lowland subject to groundwater-table rise. The swamp could be nutrient-poor to nutrient-rich.

The member Hollandveen was formed due to the existing of lagoons behind beach ridges. These lagoons sweetened over time due to river- and rainwater. These sweetened waters made landfall possible and those lagoons were overgrown by swamplands. With time these plants died and formed a thick peat layer and this layer reaches from the river area to the beach ridges.

Formation of Singraven, Stream deposits

The formation of Singraven consist of a variety of layers. Mainly clastic layers are present. The formation consist of grey to yellow very fine to medium sand, grey loam and grey humic sandy clay. Subordinate peat and gyttja layers are present.

Stream deposits consist of three main deposit environments namely, alluvial fans, deltas and floodplains. First in line are the alluvial fans where the stream drops very fast in height and larger clast are deposited on its sides or the bottom of the stream. Floodplains are formed due to the overload of water in a stream which leads to overflowing into the neighboring planes and leaving sediments on this plane. The last deposit environment is a delta. These are small ramification of the streams originating from the fact that if a stream loses it’s speed very fast it drops its sediments and the water needs to find another road to flow to the sea. Resulting in deposition of many sediments with small particles close to the sea.

Formation of Sterksel

The formation of Sterksel consist of a variety of layers. Mainly clastic layers are present. The formation consist of greyish brown medium to very coarse gravelly sand and micaceous, pink and multi-colored sand and gravel components. Present in these layers are unstable heavy minerals and the layers are fining northwestward. Moreover grey to bluish grey silty clay and local sand laminations are present. Subordinate lags of greyish brown to reddish multi-colored granules and pebbles can be found. This formation has its origin in braided meandering fluvial rivers. Moreover the following river components are included in this formation: channel, bar, cut-off meander, oxbow lake and crevasse.

Formation of Twente

This formation is renamed to the Boxtel Formation.

Groove deposit

Hellevoeterzand

Hellevoeterzand is an unique layer of old sea clay and fine sand. This layer is about a meter in thickness and can be found in the area around Hellevoetsluis. This sediment is provided by a stream in the area.

Holland peat

This member of the Nieuwkoop Formation consist of brown to black reed, sedge, woody and moss peat. This peat is varying from fibric to amorphous and is deposited in situ and detrital. Subordinate yellow to greenish brown gyttja is present. The condition in which is was formed are eutrophic to mesotrophic for the reed, sedge and woody peat. For the moss peat the conditions were eutrophic. The area in which is was formed was marshy and swampy and for the gyttja it was a lacustrine environment.

Levee

A levee is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall that regulates water levels. It is usually earthen and often parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines. Natural levees commonly form around lowland rivers and creeks without human intervention. They are elongate ridges of mud and/or silt that form on the river floodplains immediately adjacent to the cut banks. Like artificial levees, they act to reduce the likelihood of floodplain inundation.

Loess

Loess is an aeolian sediment being an accumulation of: twenty percent or less clay and the balance mainly equal parts sand and silt typically from 20 to 50 micrometers per particle often loosely cemented by calcium carbonate. It is usually homogeneous and highly porous and is traversed by vertical capillaries that permit the sediment to fracture and form vertical bluffs. Its color is pale yellow or buff. The grains of the material are angular with little rounding due to the transportation with wind.

Mud clay

Clay with a large amount of mud present.

Pleistocene

The Pleistocene covers the period from 2.6 million years ago to the Holocene, 11.700 years ago. It's the time of ice ages and interglacials. During this time in the Netherlands, many moraines starts to appear and are still recognizable in the landscape. Due to heavy climate change during this time, the sea level fluctuates heavily. This causes many rivers to overflow and a big change in depositional environment. Also many peat is formed due to these changes.

This time consist of two main depositional environments: fluvial and aeolian. The fluvial deposits consist mainly of coarse to medium coarse sand layers and locally mixed with gravel. Moving to the top of these fluvial deposits they become finer until reaching clay- and loam layers. The aeolian deposits consist mainly of fine to medium coarse sand and find their origin in dried up riverbeds

Ridge

A ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from narrow top on either side. The lines along the crest formed by the highest points, with the terrain dropping down on either side, are called the ridgelines.

There are several main types of ridges:

1. Dendritic ridge: In typical dissected plateau terrain, the stream drainage valleys will leave intervening ridges. These are by far the most common ridges. These ridges usually represent slightly more erosion resistant rock, but not always – they often remain because there were more joints where the valleys formed or other chance occurrences. This type of ridge is generally somewhat random in orientation, often changing direction frequently, often with knobs at intervals on the ridge top.
2. Stratigraphic ridge: This straight long and even ridges are formed because they are the uneroded remaining edges of the more resistant dipping strata that were folded laterally. Similar are ridges which form concentric circles around the igneous core.
3. Oceanic spreading ridge: In tectonic spreading zones the volcanic activity forms new land between tectonic boundaries creating volcanic ridges at the spreading zone. Isostatic settling and erosion gradually reduces the elevations moving away from the zone.
4. Crater ridges: Large meteorite strikes typically form large impact craters bordered by circular ridges.
5. Volcanic crater/caldera ridges: large volcanoes leave behind a central crater/caldera bordered by circular ridges.
6. Fault ridges: Faults often form escarpments. Sometimes the tops of the escarpments form slop back so that the edges of the escarpments form ridges.
7. Dune ridges: In areas of large-scale dune activity, certain types of dunes result in sand ridges.
8. Moraines and eskers: Glacial activity leaves ridges in the form of moraines and eskers. An arête is a thin ridge of rock that is formed by glacial erosion.
9. Volcanic subglacial ridges: Subglacial volcanoes create ridge-like formations when lava erupts through a thick glacier or ice sheet.
10. Shutter ridges: A shutter ridge is a ridge that has moved along a fault line, blocking or diverting drainage. A shutter ridge creates a valley corresponding to the alignment of the fault that produces it.
11. Pressure ridges/tumuli: Develops in a lava flow especially when slow-moving lava beneath a solidified crust wells upward. The brittle crust usually buckles to accommodate the inflating core of the flow, thus creating a central crack along the length of the tumulus. An Ice pressure ridge develops in an ice cover as a result of a stress regime established within the plane of the ice.

River dune/lunettes

Lunettes are crescent-shaped, fixed dunes along the edges of playas and river valleys in arid and semi-arid lands. Lunettes are looking similar to barchans, but whereas barchans are mobile, lunettes are fixed. Another difference between these 2 sand structures is that the horns of a barchan point downwind, those of a lunette point upwind. And the horns of a lunette are close to the margin of the lake basin. Barchans are steeper on the downwind slope, lunettes are steeper on the upwind slope, with the crest close to the lake edge. Over the formation of lunettes is no concluding theory only some global ideas.

Sample not seen

Sand deposits

Deposit of sand. For more information on sand look on the page of sand.

Shore line

A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past and present, while the beach is at the edge of the shore, representing the intertidal zone where there is one. In contrast to a coast, a shore can border any body of water, while the coast must border an ocean; in that sense a coast is a type of shore; however, coast often refers to an area far wider than the shore, often stretching miles into the interior.

Shores are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape, as well as by water induced erosion, such as waves. The geological composition of rock and soil dictates the type of shore which is created. There are four types of shore:

1. Sandy shores are covered in sand. Sand is made up of fine grains of rock, coral and shells. Razor clams and surf clams thrive in exposed sandy beaches whereas lugworms and cockles thrive in more sheltered sandy beaches.
2. Muddy shores are found in very sheltered areas where the wave action is fairly gentle. Mud itself often contains large amounts of organic matter which is a source of food for burrowing animals, particularly worms. It is also easy to dig into, and is therefore often home to vast numbers of worms and shellfish, particularly bivalves.
3. Rocky shores have large rocks and rocky cliffs. These shores are mostly covered with life.
4. Shingle shores are very violent places where everything is churned up by the waves and severely battered by large stones or pebbles. Very little life is capable of living under these conditions.

Wadden deposit

Mudflats are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries; they are also seen in freshwater lakes and salty lakes alike, wherein many rivers and creeks end. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of estuarine silts, clays and aquatic animal detritus. Most of the sediment within a mudflat is within the intertidal zone, and thus the flat is submerged and exposed approximately twice daily.

References

• https://www.dinoloket.nl/