Evolving late Triassic–Jurassic environments of western Europe: the Schwäbisch Gmünd geological path in southwest Germany compared to the ‘Jurassic Coast’ of Dorset, southern England

Abstract

The geology of southwest Germany is dominated by continental to marine sedimentary rocks deposited within Mesozoic sedimentary basins which have yielded economic hydrocarbon deposits. This stratigraphy has formed the focus of geological and stratigraphical research for centuries, with world-famous exposures becoming type sections and lending their name to some stages of the Jurassic. Studying geological transects in southwest Germany is not only interesting from a palaeontological and hydrocarbon perspective, but also allows us to reconstruct the evolution of depositional environments over time. One such transect is the ‘Geological Path’ curated by the Geological Association of Schwäbisch Gmünd, which guides the public through the local Late Triassic to Jurassic stratigraphy. In this feature, we provide an overview of this transect, contextualize the dominant changes in depositional environments and fossil assemblages, and compare these to coeval stratigraphy exposed in coastal cliffs on the ‘Jurassic Coast’ in southern England.