zechsteinhttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zechstein_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_useZechstein, n.
Revised 2018

Zechsteinnoun

Geology.
  1. 1798–
    Limestone of the Upper Permian period forming strata underlying parts of northern Germany, Poland, and north-eastern England; the series of sedimentary rocks containing such limestone.
    Zechstein Sea noun [after German Zechsteinmeer (1851 or earlier)] (the name of) a former sea on the bed of which these rocks were deposited.
    1. 1798
      Small cellular Limestone; (Zechstein [German Zechstein]) from Eisleben in Mansfeld.
      G. Mitchell, translation of D. L. G. Karsten, Descr. Minerals in Leskean Mus. vol. II. 403
    2. 1823
      The miners and geognosts of Germany..distinguish compact limestone (zechstein) from the copper-slate which it immediately covers, and the superposed gypsum and fetid limestone. I call by the term zechstein the entire group.
      translation of A. von Humboldt, Geognostical Essay on Superposition of Rocks 299
    3. 1855
      The zechstein and rauchwacke represent on a greater scale the yellow magnesian and upper laminated limestone of the north of England.
      J. Phillips, Manual of Geology viii. 251
    4. 1884
      When the Kupferschiefer was being deposited over the floor of the basin, the newly submerged faulted area must have been covered by the Zechstein sea.
      Mineral Magazine vol. 6 96
    5. 1960
      Part of the Zechstein Sea..covered northern Europe.
      R. Casanova, Fossil Collecting (1970) iv. 78
    6. 1979
      Beneath NE England, in the North Sea and in Germany, Zechstein deposits comprise five major sedimentary cycles, each commencing in shelf carbonates and grading up into evaporites.
      R. Anderton et al., Dynamic Stratigraphy of British Isles xiii. 185/1
    7. 2006
      Underneath the Buntsandstein lies a marine limestone known as the Zechstein, found across Europe and into England.
      D. H. Erwin, Extinction iii. 72

Zechstein, n. was revised in June 2018.

Zechstein, n. was last modified in September 2024.