The Upper Muschelkalk is an unusual reservoir in NW Europe, producing only in the Coevorden Muschelkalk field, onshore the Netherlands. Origin and nature of the gas producing intervals were poorly known. The objective of the paper is to provide a comprehensive description of facies, cyclicity and petrophysical characteristics. From this description a depositional and sequence stratigraphic model is proposed, which explains why there is gas production only from certain intervals of the sequence. Our investigation is based on seismic, core and open hole log data. It indicates that the reservoir consists of dolomites, which are either muddy lagoonal to sabkha, or grainy backshoal deposits. The best reservoir quality is encountered in peloidal-oolitic packstones to grainstones. These represent storm-dominated backshoal deposits and constitute the inner part of a homoclinal carbonate ramp. The succession shows a conspicuous hierarchical cyclicity. Porous backshoal deposits form during maximum transgression and early regression. However permeable, gas producing backshoal deposits only occur in the upper 15 to 20 m, which forms the large-scale regressive hemi-cycle of the Upper Muschelkalk. Better reservoir quality in the upper hemi-cycle is due to changes in grain type and early diagenesis. The investigation might serve as calibration point for further exploring the Upper Muschelkalk reservoir and its facies pattern in the NW European basin.

Two unusual bumps occur on the internal surface of a rib of the marine reptile Prognathodon saturator from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Maastricht, The Netherlands. These bumps are interpreted as stress fractures, possibly related to agonistic behaviour.

The Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic sedimentary record in the Campine Basin along the southern border of the North Sea Basin is analysed in terms of sequence stratigraphy. All available biostratigraphic, and in some cases, magnetostratigraphic data are used to constrain the sequence chronostratigraphy. The relative geographic extent of the strata is used as an indication of the relative sea level. Tectonic and eustatic components could be distinguished in several cases using regional geological information. Generally, sequences consist of transgressive and highstand systems tracts only and have flat, abrasion-type lower boundaries. Lowstand deposits are only identified as infill of erosional space, which generally implies marked tectonic uplift. Several eustatic and tectonic events can be correlated with similar events known elsewhere in the North Sea Basin. The time intervals spanned by the different sequences vary considerably, pointing out different control mechanisms.

Until now hemispherical astylospongiid sponges were invariably referred to as Caryospongia juglans var. basiplana Rauff. Renewed investigations have now shown that part of the material should be assigned to a new genus and species, Tympanospongia vankempeni, which is characterised by a system of very irregular canals. These flat-based sponges originate from the Baltic region and occur in two assemblages of silicified Late Ordovician sponges known exclusively as erratics from The Netherlands and northern Germany. These fossils were transported by the River Eridanos, a former drainage system from the Baltic region that filled the North European Basin during the Miocene to Early Pleistocene. Specimens of Tympanospongia vankempeni gen. et sp. nov. also occur in the Upper Pleistocene of Gotland, Sweden. The new sponge described herein principally differs from other genera of the Astylospongiidae found frequently in the erratic sponge assemblages by its irregular system of apochetes which ramify and anastomose commonly.

Based on recent vegetation distribution and an integration of macropalaeobotanical and palynological information, a palaeocommunity model is explored that may permit detailed interpretations of quantitative sporomorph distribution patterns in the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of NW-Europe in terms of changes in palaeoenvironment (sea-level, climate). The conceptual model is based on the recognition of Sporomorph Ecogroups (SEGs) that reflect broad co-existing plant communities, viz. upland, lowland, river, pioneer, coastal, and tidally-influenced SEGs. In successive palynological assemblages, shifts in the relative abundance of SEGs are thought to be indicators of sea-level changes. Climatic changes may be recognised through significant shifts within the quantitative composition of individual SEGs.

The literature suggests that the Asquempont fault, a supposedly important reverse fault forming the limit between the Lower to lower Middle Cambrian and the Ordovician in the Sennette valley, is poorly understood. Nevertheless, this fault is commonly equated with a pronounced NW-SE-trending aeromagnetic lineament, the Asquempont lineament, and both the geometry of the Asquempont lineament and the supposed reverse movement of the Asquempont fault are used to develop large-scale tectonic models of the Brabant Massif. New outcrop observations in the Asquempont area, the “type locality” of the Asquempont fault, in combination with outcrop and borehole data from surrounding areas, show that the Asquempont fault is not an important reverse fault, but instead represents a pre-cleavage, low-angle extensional detachment. This detachment formed between the Caradoc and the timing of folding and cleavage development and is not related to the aeromagnetic Asquempont lineament. The Asquempont area also contains several relatively important, steep, post-cleavage normal faults. Apparently, these occur in a WNW-ESE-trending zone between Asquempont and Fauquez, extending westward over Quenast towards Bierghes. This zone coincides with the eastern part of the WNW-ESE-trending Nieuwpoort-Asquempont fault zone, for which, on the basis of indirect observations, previously a strike-slip movement has been proposed. Our outcrop observations question this presumed strike-slip movement. The Asquempont fault may be related to the progressive unroofing of the core of the Brabant Massif from the Silurian onwards. Possibly, other low-angle extensional detachments similar to the Asquempont fault occur in other parts of the massif. Possible candidates are the paraconformity-like contacts depicted on the most recent geological map of the Brabant Massif.

A micropalaeontological analysis (foraminifera, ostracoda and bolboforma) has been undertaken for the interval between 299.7 and 201.5m of the Maaseik borehole. This interval includes marine glauconitic sands, which are generally not or not strongly decalcified. Independent from each other, the observed taxa of the different microfossil groups indicate a Late (range down to Middle) Miocene age for the interval. On the base of the biozonations of the various microfossil groups, some correlations can be presented with Late Miocene deposits of other areas in Belgium (Antwerp and Campine area), and of other places in NW Europe.

Jurassic shallow marine to non-marine depositional sequences are among the most important economic targets in the North Sea. Detailed, ‘high resolution’ stratigraphy of these sequences has become a necessity in both predictive geological exploration models as well as in production reservoir models. In these paralic sequences, palynomorphs are the most abundant (micro) fossil group. Palynology is increasingly challenged to improve the biostratigraphic control, and to support the sequence stratigraphical framework. Based on a recently developed, conceptual Sporomorph EcoGroup model, the quantitative distribution patterns of terrestrial palynomorphs are grouped in six Sporomorph EcoGroups (SEGs), viz. Upland, Lowland, River, Pioneer, Coastal, and Tidally-influenced SEG. Application of the SEG model to data from a marginal marine, uppermost Callovian - Middle Oxfordian section of NAM well F17-4 from the southern part of the Central North Sea Graben allows the recognition of sea-level fluctuations and climate changes. A marked palaeoclimatic shift occurred in the earliest Middle Oxfordian. The relatively cool-subtropical, humid climate changed into a warmer, subtropical-tropical, drier climate. The sea-level reconstructions based on the SEG model are validated against a latest Callovian - Earliest Oxfordian depositional sequence.

The Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic sedimentary record in the Campine Basin along the southern border of the North Sea Basin is analysed in terms of sequence stratigraphy. All available biostratigraphic, and in some cases, magnetostratigraphic data are used to constrain the sequence chronostratigraphy. The relative geographic extent of the strata is used as an indication of the relative sea level. Tectonic and eustatic components could be distinguished in several cases using regional geological information. Generally, sequences consist of transgressive and highstand systems tracts only and have flat, abrasion-type lower boundaries. Lowstand deposits are only identified as infill of erosional space, which generally implies marked tectonic uplift. Several eustatic and tectonic events can be correlated with similar events known elsewhere in the North Sea Basin. The time intervals spanned by the different sequences vary considerably, pointing out different control mechanisms.

An integrated stratigraphical analysis emphasizing organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst (dinocyst) distribution has been carried out on multiple boreholes penetrating the Miocene in the subsurface of the Netherlands (southern North Sea Basin). The bulk of the investigated successions is attributed to the Breda Formation, a regional lithostatigraphical unit most complete in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands. In concert with a first regional integrated bio (chrono) sequence-stratigraphical framework, fourteen informal dinocyst zones for the southern North Sea Miocene (SNSM), and three subzones are proposed for the Breda Formation. By also integrating (chrono)stratigraphic information from Mediterranean and North Atlantic dinocyst studies a first ever detailed age-model is here proposed for the Miocene in the subsurface of the Netherlands.

Assemblages of brackish and marine diatoms have been examined from Upper Paleocene-Lower Eocene strata of the Belgian Basin (Knokke well) and the Dieppe-Hampshire Basin (Saint-Josse borehole and Ailly sections). The diatoms observed are invariably preserved in pyrite as internal moulds and their siliceous skeletons are completely replaced by pyrite by epigenesis. Three major diatom assemblages have been observed which can be used to approximate the position of the recently defined Paleocene-Eocene boundary (defined by the Carbon Isotope Excursion). This isotope excursion occurs just below the strong increase in the abundance of Fenestrella antiqua and in the vicinity of the abundance peak of Coscinodiscus morsianus var. moelleri. They also allow correlations of the lithostratigraphic units of the Belgian Basin with the formations of the Dieppe-Hampshire and central North Sea Basins. For instance, investigations of diatoms recorded in the Knokke Clay Member of the Knokke well indicate that this unit corresponds to the lower units of the ‘Sparnacian facies’ of the Dieppe-Hampshire Basin and to the Sele Formation of the North Sea Basin.

87Sr/86Sr (Strontium) ratio analyses of shell material (mainly Arctica islandica) from 24 levels in the Maassluis Formation of boreholes Noordwijk, Zegveld and Terschelling suggest that the age of the formation ranges from 0.82 to 2.34 Ma (± 0.5 Ma), and that the Oosterhout Formation at Noordwijk could be as much as 2.5 Ma older than hitherto assumed.

The apparent electrical conductivity of the subsurface along the Dutch coast between ‘Wassenaarse Slag’ (beach post 92.250) and north of Noordwijk aan Zee (beach post 77.750) reflects the spatial distribution of Holocene coastal deposits. Using a Geonics EM-34 a threefold division based on the mean electrical conductivity could be made in the outlet area of the River Old Rhine. 1) A section showing a sequence of sandy deposits that resembles the Schoorl Member of the Naaldwijk Formation on top of the Zandvoort Member of the Naaldwijk Formation. 2) A section underlain by a shallow clay/peat layer of varying thickness belonging to the Naaldwijk Formation (Walcheren Member) / Nieuwkoop Formation (Hollandveen Member), intercalated within the Schoorl Member and Zandvoort Member of the Naaldwijk Formation. South of the Old Rhine locally Wormer Member deposits of the Naaldwijk Formation underlie these clay/peat layers. 3) A section characterized by channel fill deposits of the former Rhine reaching to -20 m below Normaal Amsterdam Peil (N.A.P.), and belonging to deposits of the Wormer Member of the Naaldwijk Formation, and to two facies of the Naaldwijk Formation (Walcheren Member). The geophysical transect was calibrated using existing nearby drill hole data, so that a continuous snapshot of the subsurface was gained. Therefore this research also contributes to the recent genesis of this part of the Dutch coast.

The geometry and depositional history of the Maassluis Formation is described from an East-West oriented transect located in the west-central Netherlands and P- and Q-blocks in the Dutch offshore area. The Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene Maassluis Formation was deposited under near coastal marine conditions. Two distinct facies are distinguished: (1) medium grained sands with a blocky GR/SP-log pattern that were deposited under intertidal and aeolian conditions and (2) medium to coarse grained sands deposited in a subtidal environment showing a clear coarsening upward trend. The lower part of the Maassluis Formation is laterally equivalent to the shallow marine Oosterhout Formation and gets progressively younger towards the West. The upper part is lateral equivalent to estuarine and mudflat deposits (Balk Member, c.q. Peize Formation) in the central part of The Netherlands and to river deposits (Peize Formation) further to the East.

The literature suggests that the Asquempont fault, a supposedly important reverse fault forming the limit between the Lower to lower Middle Cambrian and the Ordovician in the Sennette valley, is poorly understood. Nevertheless, this fault is commonly equated with a pronounced NW-SE-trending aeromagnetic lineament, the Asquempont lineament, and both the geometry of the Asquempont lineament and the supposed reverse movement of the Asquempont fault are used to develop large-scale tectonic models of the Brabant Massif. New outcrop observations in the Asquempont area, the “type locality” of the Asquempont fault, in combination with outcrop and borehole data from surrounding areas, show that the Asquempont fault is not an important reverse fault, but instead represents a pre-cleavage, low-angle extensional detachment. This detachment formed between the Caradoc and the timing of folding and cleavage development and is not related to the aeromagnetic Asquempont lineament. The Asquempont area also contains several relatively important, steep, post-cleavage normal faults. Apparently, these occur in a WNW-ESE-trending zone between Asquempont and Fauquez, extending westward over Quenast towards Bierghes. This zone coincides with the eastern part of the WNW-ESE-trending Nieuwpoort-Asquempont fault zone, for which, on the basis of indirect observations, previously a strike-slip movement has been proposed. Our outcrop observations question this presumed strike-slip movement. The Asquempont fault may be related to the progressive unroofing of the core of the Brabant Massif from the Silurian onwards. Possibly, other low-angle extensional detachments similar to the Asquempont fault occur in other parts of the massif. Possible candidates are the paraconformity-like contacts depicted on the most recent geological map of the Brabant Massif.

In the Eocene to Oligocene transitional strata in Belgium, clay mineral associations vary in response to the climatic evolution and to tectonic pulses. Decreasing smectite to illite ratios and the systematic occurrence of illite-smectite irregular interlayers are consequences of a cooling climate. A marked increase in kaolinite content occurs just after a major unconformity formed at the Bartonian/Priabonian boundary and consequently is interpreted as resulting from the breakdown of uplifted saprolites.

The risk of five pesticides (atrazine, simazine, bentazone, mecoprop and MCPA) contaminating a Quaternary phreatic aquifer (the water supply area of Sint-Jansteen, the Netherlands) is assessed based on laboratory experiments and solute transport modelling (MODFLOW-MT3D). Batch experiments either show long half-lives (at least 1500 days) or no degradation at all for bentazone, atrazine and simazine while mecoprop and especially MCPA degrade much faster (half-lives down to 4.1 days). Column experiments show significant sorption to the aquifer sediment only for atrazine and simazine under certain circumstances. A series of experiments were conducted during which the type of the sediment, the grain size, the content of the organic matter and the acidity of the groundwater were varied. These experimental results were subsequently incorporated in a solute transport model for the aquifer resulting in the following ranking of the contamination risk for the selected pesticides (from low to high): MCPA, mecoprop, simazine, atrazine, bentazone. This ranking was confirmed by observed pesticide concentrations in samples taken from piezometers and extraction wells from the aquifer.