The Lede Formation is a geologic formation in the subsurface

Subsurface

Subsurface is the seventh studio album by British progressive metal band Threshold. The album was released in August 2004, and received an Album of the Month award in several European music magazines....

 of Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. The formation is named after the town of Lede

Lede

Lede is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek, nearby cities are Gent, Aalst and Dendermonde. The municipality comprises the towns of Impe, Lede proper, Oordegem, Smetlede, Wanzele and Papegem. In 2011, Lede has a total population of 17,882 . The total...

 in East Flanders

East Flanders

East Flanders is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Netherlands and in Belgium on the provinces of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant , of Hainaut and of West Flanders...

. It consists of shallow-marine limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 and sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

, deposited in the former sea that covered Belgium during the Eocene

Eocene

The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...

.

The Lede Formation crops out

Outcrop

An outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. -Features:Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial deposits are covered by a mantle of soil and vegetation and cannot be...

 in East Flanders, Flemish Brabant

Flemish Brabant

Flemish Brabant is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also completely surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region. Its capital is Leuven...

, Antwerpen and parts of Hainaut, Walloon Brabant

Walloon Brabant

Walloon Brabant is a province of Wallonia in Belgium. It borders on the province of Flemish Brabant and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut . Its capital is Wavre...

 and West-Flanders. It forms a laterally continuous unit of calcareous and glauconiferous

Glauconite

Glauconite is an iron potassium phyllosilicate mineral of characteristic green color with very low weathering resistance and very friable.It crystallizes with a monoclinic geometry...

 sandstone, sandy limestone and calcareous sandstone, which reaches a thickness of up to 15 meters. The formation is characterized by fossils of the nummulite

Nummulite

thumb|left|250px|Fossil Nummulites in [[Urbasa]], [[Basque Country |Basque Country]]A nummulite is a large lenticular fossil, characterized by its numerous coils, subdivided by septa into chambers. They are the shells of the fossil and present-day marine protozoan Nummulites, a type of foraminiferan...

 Nummulites variolarius. It is not subdivided into members.

The age of the Lede Formation is middle Lutetian

Lutetian

The Lutetian is, in the geologic timescale, a stage or age in the Eocene. It spans the time between and . The Lutetian is preceded by the Ypresian and is followed by the Bartonian. Together with the Bartonian it is sometimes referred to as the Middle Eocene subepoch...

 (about 44 million years old) and it is part of the Zenne Group

Zenne Group

The Zenne Group is a group of rock strata in the subsurface of central and northwest Belgium. The group consists of three formations, all from the Ypresian and Lutetian ages...

. On top of the Lede Formation is normally the younger Maldegem Formation

Maldegem Formation

The Maldegem Formation is a geologic formation in the Belgian subsurface. The formation consists of alternating marine clay and sand strata, deposited during the late Eocene....

 (marine clays and sands of Bartonian

Bartonian

The Bartonian is, in the ICS's geological timescale, a stage or age in the middle Eocene epoch or series. The Bartonian age spans the time between and . It is preceded by the Lutetian and is followed by the Priabonian age.-Stratigraphic definition:...

 age). Below the Lede Formation are the Brussel Formation

Brussel Formation

The Brussel Formation is a geologic formation in the subsurface of central Belgium. The formation is named after the Belgian capital, Brussels. It consists of shallow marine sandstone and calcareous sands, deposited in the sea that covered Belgium 45 million years ago, in the Eocene.The Brussel...

 and Aalter Formation

Aalter Formation

The Aalter Formation is a geologic formation in the subsurface of northwest Belgium. The formation consists of marine clay and sand, deposited in the shallow sea thet covered northern and central Belgium in the Eocene epoch....

, both also part of the Zenne Group.
(eds.); 2001: Paleogene and Neogene lithostratigraphic units (Belgium), Geologica Belgica 4(1-2), p. 135-152.