Historical Geology and Facies

Collection

Scientific collections

  • Conodont collection (mainly Palaeozoic conodonts)
  • Microfacies/Sedimentology (preferably thin sections)
  • Mesozoic collection (rocks from different areas in Germany: Solnhofener Plattenkalk, Rhön)
  • Mineralogical Collection. This collection is actually older as the foundation of the society ifself. Johann Christian Senckenberg (1707-1772) was extremely interested in minerals and rocks. His collection – together with the private mineral collection of Eduard Rüppel (1794-1884) formed the basic of the Senckenberg Mineral Collection especially as cultural documentation of old and not anymore existing localities (approx. 15.000 counting units). 
    Stratigraphic
  • Middle Devonian Collection: This collection essentially consists of stratigraphic and/or facial indicative rock samples, which were taken during the last century in the Eifel Mountains, Germany. This collection conserves important rock documents from the type area of the Eifelian Stage, which is internationally used as the first respectively oldest of two stages of the Middle Devonian (see German GSSP in the Eifel hills).
  • Trilobite collection: With its approx. 120,000 specimens of approximately 3,000 species the Trilobite collection is one of the largest in the world. The true significance of the trilobite collection is to be measured by the proportion of originals of published specimens, and these are about 6,000 trilobites from approximately 300 publications. Recently, an exact catalogue of 1.015 types was published.
  • Non-trilobite arthropod collection: Although much smaller than the collection of trilobites (c. 1820 specimens), the collection of non-trilobite arthropods has a major scientific significance. Indeed, it comprises specimens from famous Lagerstätten like Burgess (Canada), Chengjiang (China), or Alken and Solnhofen (Germany) along with rarities, such as specimens of the poorly known Ordovician Tariccoia arrusensis (Sardinia). These rare fossils allow key events in the history of arthropods (e.g. Cambrian explosion, land colonization) to be investigated, and they offer a rare opportunity to explore various modes of soft-tissue preservation. A preliminary version of this catalogue can be downloaded HERE (excel file).