Muschelkalk
![An outcrop of Muschelkalk cliffs forms the shore of the Wutach River, in the south of Baden-Württemberg.](/Images/godic/202501/28/Wutach_Muschelkalk-Aufschluss0902.jpg")
![The top of the hard limestone (Schaumkalk) bed forms the top of the Wellenkalk or Lower Muschelkalk and the base of the Orbicularismergel, part of the Karlstadt-Formation. Outcrop near Dörzbach, Baden-Württemberg.](/Images/godic/202501/28/Obere_Schaumkalkbank_2803080902.jpg")
![Fossils of Encrinus liliiforrnis from the Upper Muschelkalk at Kirchberg an der Jagst, Baden-Württemberg. Field of view approximately 20mm](/Images/godic/202501/28/Encrinus_liliiformis_1803080902.jpg")
The Muschelkalk (German:shellbearing limestone, French: calcaire coquillier) is a sequence of sedimentary rock strata (a lithostratigraphic unit) in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic (240 to 230 million years) age and forms the middle part of the tripartite Germanic Trias, that give the Triassic its name, lying above the older Buntsandstein and below the younger Keuper. The Muschelkalk ("mussel chalk") consists of a sequence of limestone and dolostone beds.