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FAMENNIAN
Abstract
The name of the Famennian stage originated in the 19th century from the Famenne region in southern Belgium. After the pioneering work of Dumont, d'Omalius d'Halloy, Gosselet and Mourlon, a renewed interest in the 1960’s focused mainly on the lithological, sedimentological, paleontological and palynological characteristics of the Famennian. This resulted in a refined litho- and biostratigraphical framework for the Lower Famennian Famenne Shales and the Upper Famennian Condroz Sandstones in Belgium. The most obvious finding was the distinct diachronous character of the Condroz Group. The present review paper extends this stratigraphical framework into the neighbouring Avesnois (Northern France) and Aachen (Northwestern Germany) areas: it proposes a lithostratigraphical correlation between the units identified within the individual tectonic units. An overview is given of the main lithological-sedimentological characteristics, depositional environments (for both the siliciclastics and the carbonates) and prevailing paleogeographical-paloeclimatological conditions, during the Famennian stage in Belgium and adjacent areas.