Blankenberg quarry, Cadier en Keer, Eijsden-Margraten, Limburg, Netherlandsi

Regional Level Types
Blankenberg quarry	Quarry
Cadier en Keer	Town
Eijsden-Margraten	Municipality
Limburg	Province
Netherlands	Country

Quarry Blankenberg or quarry Wolfskop is a quarry and geological monument southeast of Cadier en Keer in the municipality of Eijsden-Margraten in the Dutch province of Limburg. The quarry is located south of provincial road 278 and about 600 meters to the east is Huis Blankenberg. The Cadierdal Quarry IV is located approximately 600 meters to the northwest and the Cadierdal Quarry III is located approximately 750 meters to the northwest.

Above the quarry there is a hill that can be accessed via a staircase and is part of the Margraten Plateau. From the hill there is a view over an asymmetrical dry valley, the Blankenberggrub, which ends 300 meters further west in the Termaardergrub.

Until 1946, flint was extracted in the Blankenberg quarry and used to manufacture paving stones.

The quarry now consists of a vertical wall in which various layers dating from the Cretaceous period are visible. At the top, the quarry begins with loess from the Schimmert Member from the Pleistocene, with yellow limestone from the Maastricht Formation underneath. The lower part of this formation is exposed: the Valkenburg Limestone. The Lichtenberg Horizon is visible between this formation and the formation below it. Below this horizon lies the Gulpen Formation, a limestone package that contains irregular black flints. Of this formation, the Lanaye Limestone is visible in the quarry and the limestone has a greyish white colour with clear black flint nodules. At the bottom of the wall there is a flint bench with a thickness of approximately 2.5 meters. This makes this flint bank known to be the thickest in the world and has an area of ​​more than eight square kilometers. This flint bank belongs to the Lanaye Limestone of the Gulpen Formation (Upper Cretaceous). This flint bank may be a combination of two or four flint banks.

The limestone visible in this quarry was deposited here about 65 to 70 million years ago, when a tropical sea was located here. Calcareous organisms lived in this sea, including sea urchins, shellfish and single-celled organisms, which after their death remained on the seabed with their limestone skeletons. The accumulation of these limestone skeletons has created thick layers of limestone.

Furthermore, a geological organ pipe can be seen in the layers that has been filled with Maas gravel. On top of the slope, sand, and Maas gravel from the St. Geertruid Member were deposited by the Westmaas.

The limestone from the quarry was used, among other things, in the Lady Chapel in Cadier en Keer.

Other Databases

Wikipedia:	https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groeve_Blankenberg
Wikidata ID:	Q18951503

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