Investigations at the south-western border of the Sparagmite Basin (Gausdal Vestfjell and Fåberg Vestfjell), Southern Norway.

Abstract

Descriptions are given of lithologies deposited in the original Sparagmite Basin. These rocks can be classified into a parauthochthonous older part and an allochthonous younger unit. Most of the formations of the Sparagmite Group can be traced from the lake Mjøsa, where they have their typical development, to the Gausdal area without any great changes of the lithology. The Biskopåsen Conglomerate (earlier Biri Conglomerate) is found in four separate bodies (three of them lens-shaped) indicating deposition in deltaes. The Biri Limestone in Gausdal is a facies variant of the Biri Limestone at Mjøsa. Among the carbonate deposits in Gausdal there are sandstones, conglomerates (with boulders of carbonate rocks, granites and quartzites), and beds with ooliths. The Moelv Tillite in Vestre Gausdal is developed as a shale conglomerate with a matrix consisting of graded bedded silt and clay. The boulders consist mostly of grey granite, light quartzites and the underlying carbonate rocks. In the Gausdal area the deposits within the Sparagmite Group indicate a transport of the material from a westerly point, and that most of the clastic material was weathered before deposition. Some of the formations display rapid changes of sedimentary facies.