De kalksteengroeve van de cementfabriek Ciments Portland Liégeois bij Hallembaye, gem. Visé, prov. Luik, België

A section composed of Upper-Cretaceous limestones, Tertiary sands, and Quaternary löss deposits is exposed in a quarry near Halembaye, municipality of Visé, Belgium (fig. 1). The Vaals Formation, being part of the Campanian (fig. 2; table 1) is represented by a glauconite and limebearing silt. In this silt the fossils Gyrolithes davreuxi, Goniotheutis quadrata (BLAINVILLE), Belemnitella mucronata (LINK), and some bivalve shells can be found. The Gulpen Formation of the Halembaye quarry can be divided in six lithological units (fig. 2). The Zeven-Wegen Limestone mainly consists of chalk, with locally some black flint nodules. The glauconite-bearing base of this limestone contains at some places many fossils, for instance: Porosphera globularis (PHILIPS), Echinocorys sp. sp., Cardiaster herberi (COTTEAU), and several belemnites. The Vylen Limestone is composed of a grey to white chalky rock with, at its top and more or less continuously, a layer of black flint nodules. The Vylen Limestone is rich in macrofossils. Examples are: Echinocorys limburgicus (LAMBERT), Terebratulatina gracilis (VON SCHLOTHEIM), and Belemnitella junior junior (NOWAK). The Lixhe Limestone is, on the basis of its flint content, divided in three units (fig. 2). They are of Maastrichtian age. The Lixhe Limestone 1 (fig. 6) is white to light grey coloured and very fine-grained; it contains many irregularly shaped flint nodules. The top-layer of the limestone is characterized by the presence of many specimens of Echinocorys sp. sp.. The Lixhe Limestone 2, closely resembles the Lixhe Limestone 1 (fig. 7); however, macrofossils are less abundant in this unit. The chalky rock of the Lixhe Limestone 3 contains many dark-grey to black flint nodules, occurring in 15 characteristic levels (fig. 8). The Lanaye Limestone also belongs to the Maastrichtian. The rock is white to light-grey coloured and is very fine-grained (fig. 9). Macrofossils are very common, for instance: Hepteris regia REGENHARDT, Hemiaster prunella (DESOR), Crania hagenowi (DE KONING), Terebratula (Carneithyris) carnea (SOWERBY), Ostrea sp. sp., and locally several belemnites. The Upper-Cretaceous limestones are covered by a residual clay rich in flint (vuursteen-eluvium; fig. 10 and 11), with locally some concentrations of silicified specimens of Catopygus, Olopygus, and Cardiaster. The Tertiary is mainly represented by sands of the Tongeren Formation (fig. 11) with a basal conglomerate, mainly consisting of flint pebbles, at its base. At the top of the section of the Halembaye quarry some Pleistocene löss deposits are found.