| Maastricht Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: | |
 Old stone quarry at Kunrade, where the Kunrade Member of the Maastricht Formation outcrops | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Sub-units | Meerssen Member, Nekum Member, Emael Member, Schiepersberg Member, Gronsveld Member, Valkenburg Member and Kunrade Member |
| Underlies | Houthem Formation |
| Overlies | Gulpen Formation |
| Thickness | 30–90 m (98–295 ft) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Chalk |
| Other | Marl, flint |
| Location | |
| Region | Europe |
| Country | Netherlands Belgium |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Maastricht |
| Named by | Dumont |
| Year defined | 1849 |
The Maastricht Formation (Dutch: Formatie van Maastricht; abbreviation: MMa), named after the city of Maastricht in the Netherlands, is a geological formation in the Netherlands and Belgium whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous, within 500,000 years of the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary,[1] now dated at 66 million years ago. The formation is part of the Chalk Group and is between 30 and 90 metres (98 and 295 ft) thick. It crops out in southern parts of Dutch and Belgian Limburg and adjacent areas in Germany. It can be found in the subsurface of northern Belgium and southeastern Netherlands, especially in the Campine Basin and Roer Valley Graben. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.[2]
- ^ Longrich, N.R.; Tokaryk, T.; Field, D.J. (2011). "Mass extinction of birds at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108 (37): 15253–15257. Bibcode:2011PNAS..10815253L. doi:10.1073/pnas.1110395108. PMC 3174646. PMID 21914849.
- ^ Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, Europe)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 588-593. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.