flysch

flysch, sequence of shales rhythmically interbedded with thin, hard, graywacke-like sandstones. The total thickness of such sequences is commonly many thousands of metres, but the individual beds are thin, only a few centimetres to a few metres thick. The presence of rare fossils indicates marine deposition. Flysch facies are now generally believed to have accumulated in moderate to deep (up to 2,000 m [6,500 feet]) marine waters. Coarse angular sands probably were deposited from turbidity currents (subaqueous sediment-laden flows); the extraordinary coarse conglomeratic mudstones in some flysch may be a product of submarine mudflows. The term originally was applied to a formation of the Tertiary Period (later subdivided into the Paleogene and Neogene; 65.5 to 2.6 million years ago) occurring in the northern Alpine region but now denotes similar deposits of other ages and other places.