The St. Veit Klippen Unit in Vienna (Austria) – Jurassic to Cretaceous biostratigraphy and facies based on historical fossil collections

Abstract

Abstract Historical fossil assemblages from the Lower Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous of the Sankt Veit Klippen Unit (SVK) on the western outskirts of Vienna were re-evaluated. Collections of the material from the St. Veit Klippen Unit comprise 3497 specimens. An appropriate nomenclature was used, and the taxonomy was partly revised. Historical collections from Franz Toula (1845–1920) and Friedrich Trauth (1883–1967) were investigated in the collections of the Natural History Museum Vienna, the Geological Survey Vienna, the Department of Geology and the Department of Palaeontology (both University Vienna). Additional collections were studied in the district museums Hietzing (13th district Vienna) and Liesing (23rd district Vienna), in the district municipal office of Hietzing and in the Wienerwald Museum (Eichgraben, Lower Austria). The study area is situated in the easternmost part of the St. Veit Klippen Unit in the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods), part of the 13th Viennese district Hietzing. New data allowed a revision of the biostratigraphy of several lithological units of the SVK. Two main fossil complexes could be distinguished: 1) the Hohenauer Wiese assemblage from the wildlife park Lainz (= “Lainzer Tiergarten”) and 2) the Glasauer quarry assemblage from St. Veit.