View source for Geology of the Netherlands

{{Short description|none}} {{Multiple issues|
{{No footnotes|date=May 2024}}
{{One source|date=February 2025}}
}}
<!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->

The '''geology of the Netherlands''' describes the [[geologic timescale|geological sequence]] of the [[Netherlands]]. Large parts of the Netherlands today are below [[sea level]] and have in the past been covered by the sea or flooded at regular intervals. The modern Netherlands formed as a result of the interplay of the four main rivers ([[Rhine]], [[Meuse]], [[Schelde]] and [[IJssel]]) and the influence of the [[North Sea]] and glaciers during ice-ages. The Netherlands is mostly composed of [[river delta|deltaic]], [[coast]]al and [[Aeolian processes|eolian]] derived sediments during the [[Pleistocene]] [[glacial]] and [[interglacial]] periods.

Fairly all of the west Netherlands is composed of the [[Rhine]]-[[Meuse]] river [[estuary]], but [[civilisation|human intervention]] greatly modified the natural processes at work. Most of the western Netherlands is below sea level due to the human watermanagement, lowering the waterlevel by windmills leading to (mostly peaty) soil-subsidence leading to lowering the waterlevel.{{Dubious|date=July 2022}}

In the east of the Netherlands, remains are found of the [[Saale glaciation]], which ended approximately 130,000 years ago. As the continental [[ice sheet]] moved in from the north, it pushed [[moraine]] forward. The ice sheet halted as it covered the eastern half of the Netherlands. After the ice age ended, the [[moraine]] remained in the form a long hill-line. The cities of [[Arnhem]] and [[Nijmegen]] are built upon these hills.

==Sedimentary succession==
[[File:Map provinces Netherlands-en.svg|thumb|250px|Map of the Netherlands]]

===Paleozoic Era===
[[Rock (geology)|Rock]]s from the [[Carboniferous]] period (360 - 299 [[Mya (unit)|mya]]) [[outcrop]] in the southeastern province of [[Limburg (Netherlands)|Limburg]], e.g. in the Heimans quarry. Younger sediments ([[Permian]] in age) are not exposed at surface. The [[Subsurface (geology)|subsurface]] of the Netherlands (including the Dutch sectors of the North Sea) is geologically far more significant, especially with respect to the occurrence of [[oil]] and [[Natural gas|gas]] resources. The [[Slochteren]] reservoir rock in [[Groningen (province)|Groningen]] is an eolian [[sandstone]] from the [[Rotliegend]] (lower Permian). This reservoir has excellent [[porosity]] and [[Permeability (fluid)|permeability]] characteristics and supplies the vast majority of the Dutch natural gas reserves. The lateral equivalent of this reservoir comes at surface near the [[Germany|German]] town of [[Bad Bentheim]].

The latest Permian deposits in the area of northwestern [[Europe]] was characterised by the laying down of thick successions of [[rocksalt]] and [[anhydrite]]. This [[Zechstein]] stage also comprises [[Dolomite (rock)|dolomite]]s and [[limestone]]s. The salt is mined in the east of the Netherlands (in villages as [[Boekelo]]) and forms an excellent seal over the deeper North Sea reservoirs.

===Mesozoic Era===
[[Mesozoic Era|Mesozoic]] rocks are exposed in the Netherlands in the [[quarry]] near [[Winterswijk]] ([[Triassic]] ''[[Muschelkalk]]'' [[limestone]]s). The Jurassic [[Posidonia Shale]] is well developed but is buried deep in the West and under the North Sea. It acts as source rock for oil fields in the [[West Netherlands Basin]]. During late Jurassic times the [[Zuidwal volcano]] was active in a now submerged part of the Netherlands known as the [[Wadden Sea]].

During [[Cretaceous]] times, most of the Netherlands was covered by a warm shallow (inland) sea in which thick successions of [[chalk]] were deposited. This is in places [[chert]]-bearing; chalk is mined near the southern city of [[Maastricht]] and the [[Maastrichtian]] stage was named after this locality. Here a number of [[mosasaur]]-[[fossil]]s have been excavated as well. The [[Schoonebeek]] oil-bearing sandstones are Early [[Cretaceous]] in age and underlain by  [[hydrocarbon]]-rich Lower Cretaceous lacustrine Coevorden Formation which forms the [[source rock]] for the east Netherlands oil.

===Cenozoic Era===
The [[Cenozoic]] is characterised by a further shallowing and erosion of earlier sediments. In places a reasonable thickness of [[Paleocene]] and [[Eocene]] sediments is reached, but most of the subsurface of the Netherlands lack deposits of this age.

The recent Netherlands is formed by [[Pleistocene]] and [[Holocene]] age sediments as result of ([[ice|glacio]])-[[fluvial]], [[Aeolian processes|eolian]] and [[Marine (ocean)|marine]] sedimentation. Eolian dunes characterise the [[North Sea]] coast, a horseshoe-shaped [[moraine]] forms the [[Utrecht Hill Ridge]] (Dutch: Utrechtse Heuvelrug) and the river influence is still visible all over the Netherlands.

==Tectonics and orogeny==
Although the Netherlands seems to be a [[tectonics|tectonically]] quiet area, a number of fault activities have been shown in the past. The latest strong [[earthquake]], the [[1992 Roermond earthquake]] (5.4 on [[Richter scale]]), had its [[epicenter]] close to the Limburg city of [[Roermond]]. The south of the Netherlands is topographically higher and is linked to the geology of the [[Ardennes]] and the [[London-Brabant Massif]]. The Lower Rhine Graben, part of the [[European Cenozoic Rift System]], which has been tectonically active since the Oligocene, affects the southwestern part of the Netherlands.

==See also==
*[[Geology of southern North Sea]]

==References==
{{aut|Wong, Th.E.; Batjes, D.A.J. & Jager, J. de}}; '''2007''': ''Geology of the Netherlands'', [[Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen|KNAW]], {{ISBN|90-6984-481-8}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/100510 Geology of the Netherlands]
*[http://www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/jpg/eurogy.jpg Geology map of Europe]

{{Geology of Europe}}

[[Category:Geology of the Netherlands| ]]