Contributions to the Eocene palaeontology and stratigraphy of Beira Alta, Portugal. I -A Synoptical table

Abstract

The sedimentary units on the very extensive erosion platforms that cut nearly all relief of the hercynian basement in Beira Alta province, Portugal, were poorly known. This applies both to stratigraphy and age, since no detailed field studies were carried on and no fossils had been found. Facies similarities led to some hypotheses without adequate support. Correlations had sometimes been proposed between earlier deposits and late Cretaceous sediments close by (or within) the western meso-cenozoic basins, whereas younger beds were more or less classified according to geomorphological criteria. Classification has not yet been fully attained. However research is in progress since the first contribution concerning the Coja site (1953) and the first upper Eocene dating (1964). Near half a century of research seem to justify the presentation of a short synthesis as contained in the following Synoptical Table.