Depositional environment and weathering phenomena of the white Miocene sands of Southern Limburg (The Netherlands)

Abstract

White Miocene sands occur in a block-faulted area near the southern limitation of the marine Miocene deposits in The Netherlands. Sedimentary structures, granulometric parameters, and the occurrence of fossil shells and burrows, point to shallow-marine tidal and littoral depositional environments. The mode of occurrence of silicifications in sand and lignite, the occurrence of red-yellow podzolic soils, and the absence of any unstable components among the heavy minerals point to a post-depositional strong chemical weathering in Tertiary times. The white colour of the sands should not be considered as an effect of bleaching by the lignites.