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The Upper Rhine Graben, and the Heidelberg Basin in particular, play an important role in the investigation of climate change and tectonic activity during the Tertiary and Quaternary periods. Several research boreholes were recently drilled to acquire data for a new interpretation of the geology of the northern Upper Rhine Graben. This paper investigates in detail the boreholes at Heidelberg, Viernheim and Ludwigshafen-Parkinsel, as well as the shallower boreholes at Pfungstadt, Stadtwerke Viernheim and Hüttenfeld, in terms of their geophysical parameters. The physical properties of the lithologies described in the cores are characterised on the basis of borehole logging data. A hole-to-hole correlation between adjacent boreholes is then conducted, using the characteristic changes in the ‘natural radioactivity’ parameter to acquire information on changes in sediment provenance (Rhine, Neckar, Pfälzerwald and Odenwald). An interpretation applying the statistical method of cluster analysis allows identifi cation of sections with homogenous physical properties from downhole measurements and thus the determination of possible sediment provenance.