The Tienen Formation (Dutch : Formatie van Tienen; French : Formation de Tienen; abbreviation: Ti) is a geologic formation in the subsurface of northern Belgium. The formation crops out in the province of Hainaut and the Hesbaye region in the province of Limburg. It has a late Thanetian (Paleocene) to early Ypresian (Eocene) age.
The Tienen Formation consists of clay with thin lignite layers and lithified wood, sand (sometimes with shells) and marl. It has a continental to lagoonal sedimentary facies. The formation is a lagerstätte for fossils of vertebrate animals.
The Tienen Formation forms together with the older marine clays and sands of the Hannut Formation the Landen Group. The Tienen Formation is subdivided into four members: the Erquelines Member, the Knokke Member, the Loksbergen Member and the Dormaal Member. Stratigraphically the formation is positioned in between the older Hannut Formation and the younger Kortrijk Formation (Ieper Group).
Tienen is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises Tienen itself and the towns of Bost, Goetsenhoven, Hakendover, Kumtich, Oorbeek, Oplinter, Sint-Margriete-Houtem and Vissenaken.
The Hesbaye, or Haspengouw, is a traditional cultural and geophysical region in eastern Belgium. It is a loamy plateau region which forms a watershed between the Meuse and Scheldt drainage basins. It has been one of the main agricultural regions in what is now Belgium since before Roman times, and specifically named in records since the Middle Ages, when it was an important Frankish pagus or gau, called Hasbania in medieval Latin.
The Duchy of Brabant, a state of the Holy Roman Empire, was established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant of 1085–1183, and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries. The Duchy comprised part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1482, until it was partitioned after the Dutch revolt of 1566–1648.
The Battle of Hannut was a Second World War battle fought during the Battle of Belgium which took place between 12 and 14 May 1940 at Hannut in Belgium. It was the largest tank battle in the campaign. It was also the largest clash of tanks in armoured warfare history at the time.
The Houthem Formation, named after the Dutch town of Houthem, is a geological formation that crops out in the south of Belgian and Dutch Limburg. It has also been found in borings in the northeastern part of the Campine Basin. The formation consists of calcareous sandstone and was formed about 60 million years ago, in the Paleocene epoch.
The Hesbaye Group is a stratigraphic group in the subsurface of northeastern Belgium. This group was deposited during the early Paleocene epoch and is subdivided into two formations: the Houthem Formation (lower) and the Opglabbeek Formation (upper). The group is named after the region of Hesbaye in the south of Limburg.
The Landen Formation is a lithostratigraphic unit in the subsurface of the Netherlands. This formation shares its name with the Belgian Landen Group, but the Belgian unit is thinner and has different definitions. The Landen Formation consists of shallow marine and lagoonal sediments from the late Paleocene to early Eocene. Dutch stratigraphers see the Landen Formation as part of the Lower North Sea Group.
The Hannut Formation is a geologic formation in the subsurface of northern Belgium. The formation consists of marine clay and silt, alternating with more sandy layers. On top of this the lithology changes to limestone, siltstone and sandstone and the top of the formation is formed by a layer of glauconite bearing sand. The Hannut Formation was formed during the early to middle Thanetian age.
The Heers Formation is a geologic formation in the subsurface of Belgium. The formation consists of sand and marl and was deposited in the shallow sea that covered Belgium during the middle to late Selandian age of the Paleocene epoch.
The Landen Group is a lithostratigraphic unit in the Belgian subsurface. The group consists of two formations of Thanetian to Ypresian age. The Landen Group is named after the town of Landen in Flemish Brabant.
The Ieper Group is a group of rock strata in the subsurface of northwest Belgium. The group is subdivided into three marine formations, all formed during the Ypresian, a single age of the geologic timescale. Both age and group are named after the West Flemish town of Ypres, for which the Dutch name is "Ieper".
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. These formation have their shallow marine facies in common.
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 that covered northern and central Belgium in the Eocene epoch.
The Gentbrugge Formation is a geologic formation in the west of Belgium. The formation crops out in East Flanders and West Flanders and also occurs in the subsurface of the Province of Antwerp. It consists of marine clay, silt and sand, deposited in the shallow sea that covered northern Belgium during the Ypresian age.
The Kortrijk Formation is a geologic formation in the Belgian subsurface. This formation crops out in northern Hainaut, southern West and East Flanders and in Walloon Brabant. The formation consists of marine clay from the Ypresian age.
The Voort Formation or Voort Member is a stratigraphic unit in the subsurface of north Belgium and the south of the Netherlands. The unit has the status of a formation in Belgium but is seen as a member of the Veldhoven Formation in the Netherlands. The Voort Formation consists of shallow marine sands with a late Oligocene age.
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.
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 Lede Formation is a geologic formation in the subsurface of Belgium. The formation is named after the town of Lede in East Flanders. It consists of shallow-marine limestone and sandstone, deposited in the former sea that covered Belgium during the Eocene.
The Lotto Cross Cup de Hannut is an annual cross country running competition that takes place in Hannut in the Belgian province of Liège. It holds permit meeting status from the European Athletic Association and attracts top athletes from Europe and Africa.