Sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of the Aalenian from southern Germany

Aalenian sedimentary deposits in southern Germany have accumulated in a shallow-marine shelf environment and are typically dominated by thick claystones and argillaceous siltstones, with increasing percentages of sand towards the top. The sedimentary evolution and paleoclimatic significance of these often poorly exposed deposits remain largely unexplored. Here we present a suite of high-resolution x-ray fluorescence (XRF) core scanning data from southern Germany to identify Transgressive-Regressive cycles during the Aalenian stage. Results are based on three scientific drill cores that have been analyzed with an Avaatech XRF Core Scanner at a 10 mm sampling interval, an energy of 10 keV and a current of 500 µA to measure element intensities ranging from aluminum through iron. Resulting trends in elemental ratios that are indicative for subtle grain-size variations have been used to reconstruct shoreline trajectories and establish a sequence stratigraphic framework for the thick and largely homogenous, lower Aalenian Opalinuston Formation.