1. The sea-way (Muschelkalk Sea) that extended across north-western Europe during the Triassic, from the present-day UK in the west to northern Germany and Poland in the east. It was bordered to the south by the Bohemian Massif and in the north by the Baltic Shield (see baltica).

2. The mid-Triassic, when using the European tripartite divisions of the Triassic system: Bunter, Muschelkalk, and Keuper. The German word Muschelkalk means ‘shelly limestone’.