266 The Upper Cretaceous Floras of the World 



the Erzgebirge and the study of its flora has, with the exception of 

 Gceppert's early work in Silesia, been prosecuted almost entirely in 

 Bohemia that its discussion falls naturally with that of the latter 

 country. 



Rhenish Prussia 



The small Cretaceous area around Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) on the 



Holland-Belgian frontier of the Bhein province and extending across the 



border into Limburg and Luttich, comprises littoral strand and dune 



sands overlain by the greensands, marls and calcareous beds (the so-called 



tuffs) of the advancing Upper Cretaceous sea. The deposits rest on 



Carboniferous or Upper Devonian rocks and show the following section : ' 



Maestrichtian z — Sandy glauconitic marls with a rich bryozan fauna, niosa- 

 saurs, chelonians, dinosaurs, echinoids and molluscs (zone 

 of Belemnitetta mucronata 2 ). 

 Marls with flints, carrying Gryphcea, Crania, Nautilus, etc. 

 Santonian or Campanian — Greensand with a rich marine fauna (zone of 

 Actinocamax quadratus). 

 Aachener sand with lenses of laminated plant- 

 bearing clay, and containing silicified wood 

 and a shallow-water marine fauna — Ostreideas* 

 (Exogyra laciniata, etc.), Inoceramus lohatus, 

 Actwonella, Pyrgulifera, etc. 



The fossil plants in the basal Campanian (or Santonian) come from 



in and around Aachen (sables a" Aix-la-Chapelle) , from the vicinity of 



Maestricht about 27 kilometers northwest of Aachen in the province of 



Limburg in Holland, and south and west of Aachen in Herve and Luttich 



in Belgium. Fossil plants have been known from these sands since the 



early days of paleobotany, Schlotheim having mentioned fossil-wood, 



cone-scales and dicotyledonous fruits from Aachen. (Petrefactenkunde, 



1820-1823.) 



x von Dechen, Erlauterungen zur Geol. Karte der Rheinprovinz und der 

 Provinz Westphalen, Bd. ii, 1872, pp. 424-442. 

 2 The younger Danian lacks Belemnitella. 

 "Holzapfel, Palsontographica, 1S87-1S89. 

 4 Referred by many students (e. g., de Lapparent) to the Santonian. 



