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Molasse basin is one of the best-preserved pieces of evidence of the Alpine orogeny. Molasse and flysch sequences deposited during the convergence between the Adriatic and the European continents recorded various geological processes. However, detailed provenance analysis of the foreland basin in the Western Alps is still in need of precise data for molasse strata. This paper provides new detrital zircon U–Pb geochronology results from five sandstone samples to constrain the provenance of the Molasse Basin in the Western Alps. The main populations in zircon age spectra correspond to the four tectonothermal events defined in the Alpine domain: the late Neoproterozoic to early Cambrian magmatic event, the pre-Variscan rifting event, the Variscan orogeny, and the Permian extensional event, respectively. Two magmatic zircons (100 ± 2 Ma and 130 ± 5 Ma) and one metamorphic zircon grain (116 ± 3 Ma) yield Cretaceous age. The metamorphic one was probably originated in the Internal zone. A contribution of the Valaisan unit as part of the source terrane is possible to account for the Cretaceous magmatic zircons. Comparing our results with published detrital zircon age data using multidimensional scaling, we infer that the Austroalpine unit was an essential provenance of the Western Alps Molasse Basin during the late Oligocene and the middle Miocene. During the middle Miocene, the deposition of the Molasse Basin was strongly influenced by the exhumation of the External Massifs and the propagation of the subalpine fold-and-thrust belt. Meanwhile, the French Massif Central was also possible to provide a limited proportion of the material for the basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sand diapir strongly resembles those of the "Chöpfi" and occurs within sands that show soft-sediment deformation. 1 Diapir-like sandstone pinnacles in Switzerland and Southern Germany. a The "Chöpfi" in ~ 15 million year-old Upper Freshwater Molasse sandstone near Winterthur, Switzerland. The Chöpfi pinnacles near Winterthur, Switzerland: long-distance effects of the Ries impact-earthquake?. [Extracted from the article]

Precise age data are a basic prerequisite for the correlation of a sedimentary succession with the Global Time Scale, which in turn allows one to place its biotic and other data in a global context. In the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB), a patchy distribution of outcrops and uncertainties in the correlation of strata have led to conflicting age models, in particular for deposits of lower Miocene (Burdigalian) age. Here, we present a new three-dimensional geological model of the SE German sector of the NAFB, covering an area of 13,200 km2, which helps to resolve the discrepancies. The dataset comprises lithostratigraphic information from 150 boreholes, supplemented by magnetostratigraphic data from six outcrops. Computer-based 3D modeling was conducted with the open source software QGIS for a 500-m-thick succession comprising units of the Upper Marine Molasse, the brackish Oncophora Fm and the Upper Freshwater Molasse. The results provide new insights pertaining to (1) the isochrony of strata, (2) subsidence, and (3) synsedimentary tectonics. The new data permit us to reliably place the outcrops within the regional lithostratigraphic scheme, thus enabling a new correlation of their magnetic polarities with the Global Time Scale. On this basis, we propose a revised age model for the middle and upper Burdigalian strata in the eastern part of the NAFB, which is supported by previously reported 87Sr/86Sr age data. The model indicates that the succession is substantially—up to 0.8 Ma—younger than earlier publications have suggested. Furthermore, it implies that the two synsedimentary tectonic events discerned may both be related to the large-scale tectonic movements that affected the NAFB during the late Burdigalian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Middle Miocene Upper Freshwater Molasse sediments represent the last cycle of clastic sedimentation during the evolution of the North Alpine Foreland Basin. They are characterized by small-scale lateral and temporal facies changes that make intra-basin stratigraphic correlations at regional scale difficult. This study provides new U–Pb zircon ages as well as revised 40Ar/39Ar data of volcanic ash horizons in the Upper Freshwater Molasse sediments from southern Germany and Switzerland. In a first and preliminary attempt, we propose their possible correlation to other European tephra deposits. The U–Pb zircon data of one Swiss (Bischofszell) and seven southern German (Zahling, Hachelstuhl, Laimering, Unterneul, Krumbad, Ponholz) tuff horizons indicate eruption ages between roughly 13.0 and 15.5 Ma. The stratigraphic position of the Unterneul and Laimering tuffs, bracketing the ejecta of the Ries impact (Brockhorizon), suggests that the Ries impact occurred between 14.93 and 15.00 Ma, thus assigning the event to the reversed chron C5Bn1r (15.032–14.870 Ma) which is in accordance with paleomagnetic evidence. We combine our data with published ages of tuff horizons from Italy, Switzerland, Bavaria, Styria, Hungary, and Romania to derive a preliminary tephrochronological scheme for the Middle Miocene in Central Europe in the age window from 13.2 to 15.5 Ma. The scheme is based on the current state of knowledge that the Carpathian–Pannonian volcanic field was the only area in the region producing explosive calc-alkaline felsic volcanism. This preliminary scheme will require verification by more high-quality ages complemented by isotopic, geochemical and paleomagnetic data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural evolution of faults in foreland basins is linked to a complex basin history ranging from extension to contraction and inversion tectonics. Faults in the Upper Jurassic of the German Molasse Basin, a Cenozoic Alpine foreland basin, play a significant role for geothermal exploration and are therefore imaged, interpreted and studied by 3D seismic reflection data. Beyond this applied aspect, the analysis of these seismic data help to better understand the temporal evolution of faults and respective stress fields. In 2009, a 27 km2 3D seismic reflection survey was conducted around the Unterhaching Gt 2 well, south of Munich. The main focus of this study is an in-depth analysis of a prominent v-shaped fault block structure located at the center of the 3D seismic survey. Two methods were used to study the periodic fault activity and its relative age of the detected faults: (1) horizon flattening and (2) analysis of incremental fault throws. Slip and dilation tendency analyses were conducted afterwards to determine the stresses resolved on the faults in the current stress field. Two possible kinematic models explain the structural evolution: One model assumes a left-lateral strike slip fault in a transpressional regime resulting in a positive flower structure. The other model incorporates crossing conjugate normal faults within a transtensional regime. The interpreted successive fault formation prefers the latter model. The episodic fault activity may enhance fault zone permeability hence reservoir productivity implying that the analysis of periodically active faults represents an important part in successfully targeting geothermal wells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Permocarboniferous siliciclastic formations represent the largest hydrothermal reservoir in the northern Upper Rhine Graben in SW Germany and have so far been investigated in large-scale studies only. The Cenozoic Upper Rhine Graben crosses the Permocarboniferous Saar-Nahe Basin, a Variscan intramontane molasse basin. Due to the subsidence in this graben structure, the top of the up to 2-km-thick Permocarboniferous is located at a depth of 600-2900 m and is overlain by Tertiary and Quaternary sediments. At this depth, the reservoir temperatures exceed 150 °C, which are sufficient for geothermal electricity generation with binary power plants. To further assess the potential of this geothermal reservoir, detailed information on thermophysical and hydraulic properties of the different lithostratigraphical units and their depositional environment is essential. Here, we present an integrated study of outcrop analogues and drill core material. In total, 850 outcrop samples were analyzed, measuring porosity, permeability, thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity. Furthermore, 62 plugs were taken from drillings that encountered or intersected the Permocarboniferous at depths between 1800 and 2900 m. Petrographic analysis of 155 thin sections of outcrop samples and samples taken from reservoir depth was conducted to quantify the mineral composition, sorting and rounding of grains and the kind of cementation. Its influence on porosity, permeability, the degree of compaction and illitization was quantified. Three parameters influencing the reservoir properties of the Permocarboniferous were detected. The strongest and most destructive influence on reservoir quality is related to late diagenetic processes. An illitic and kaolinitic cementation and impregnation of bitumina document CO- and CH-rich acidic pore water conditions, which are interpreted as fluids that migrated along a hydraulic contact from an underlying Carboniferous hydrocarbon source rock. Migrating oil and acidic waters led to the dissolution of haematite cements in the lower Permocarboniferous formations. During the Eocene, subsidence of the Upper Rhine Graben porosities and permeabilities of the sandstones of these formations were strongly reduced to 2.5 % and 3.2 × 10 m. The second important influence on reservoir quality is the distinct depositional environment and its influence on early diagenetic processes. In early stage diagenesis, the best influence on reservoir properties exhibits a haematite cementation. It typically occurs in eolian sandstones of the Kreuznach Formation (Upper Permocarboniferous) and is characterized by grain covering haematite coatings, which are interpreted to inhibit cementation, compaction and illitization of pore space during burial. Eolian sandstones taken from outcrops and reservoir depths exhibit the highest porosities (16.4; 12.3 %) and permeabilities (2.0 × 10; 8.4 × 10 m). A third important influence on reservoir quality is the general mineral composition and the quartz content which is the highest in the Kreuznach Formation with 73.8 %. Based on the integrated study of depositional environments and diagenetic processes, reservoir properties of the different Permocarboniferous formations within the northern Upper Rhine Graben and their changes with burial depth can be predicted with satisfactory accuracy. This leads to a better understanding of the reservoir quality and enables an appropriate well design for exploration and exploitation of these geothermal resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frontal part of the westernmost Eastern Alps comprises from top to bottom of the Austroalpine and Penninic nappes, Ultrahelvetic slices, and two Helvetic thrust sheets, thrust upon the northern Alpine Molasse Basin. The thermal evolution of the Penninic Rhenodanubian Flysch nappes, the Helvetic nappes, and the allochthonous part of the Alpine Molasse Basin is constrained by vitrinite reflectance measurements and apatite fission track dating and implemented in a tectonic evolution scheme. Within the Helvetic nappes, vitrinite reflectance increases regionally from north to south and stratigraphically from the Campanian-Maastrichtian Wang Formation to the Toarcian Mols Member. Apatite fission track ages from Penninic and Subalpine Molasse units are consistently younger than the deposition age. They indicate therefore a post-depositional thermal overprint exceeding approximately 120 °C, the upper temperature limit of the apatite partial annealing zone. 1D thermal modelling suggests that the Penninic nappes attained deepest burial between the latest Cretaceous and Early Palaeocene with the Penninic basal thrust being located at approximately 8 km in the north compared to approximately 12 km in the south. Deepest burial of the upper Helvetic nappe occurred between the latest Eocene and Early Miocene. Its base was buried down to approximately 10.5 km in the north compared to 11.5 km in the south. Exhumation of the entire nappe stack started in the Early to Middle Miocene. For both Penninic and Helvetic models, a heatflow minimum during the Cenozoic deformation (max. 27-32 mW/m), followed by an increase from the Middle Miocene onwards (up to 60 mW/m), was assumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on an N-S-oriented crustal-scale cross section running east of the Rhine Valley in Vorarlberg, western Austria, we address the Alpine nappe stack and discuss the boundary between Central and Eastern Alps. For our cross section, we used surface geology, drillings and reinterpreted seismic lines, together with published sections. The general architecture of the examined area can be described as a typical foreland fold-and-thrust belt, comprising the tectonic units of the Subalpine Molasse, (Ultra-)Helvetic, Penninic and Austroalpine nappes. These units overthrusted the autochthonous Molasse along the south-dipping listric Alpine basal thrust. The European Basement, together with its autochthonous cover, dips gently towards the south and is dissected by normal faults and trough structures. The seismic data clearly show an offset not only of the top of the European Basement, but also of the Mesozoic cover and the Lower Marine Molasse. This indicates an activity of the structures as normal faults after the sedimentation of the Lower Marine Molasse. The Subalpine Molasse is multiply stacked, forming a triangle zone at the boundary with the foreland Molasse. The shortening within the Subalpine Molasse amounts to approximately 45 km (~67 %), as deduced from our cross section with the Lower Marine Molasse as a reference. The hinterland-dipping duplex structure of the Helvetic nappes is deduced from surface and borehole data. There are at least two Helvetic nappes needed to fill the available space between the Molasse below and the Northpenninic above. This is in line with the westerly located NRP20-East transect (Schmid et al., Tectonics 15(5):1047-1048, ; Schmid et al., The TRANSMED Atlas: the Mediterranean Region from Crust to Mantle, ), where the two Helvetic nappes are separated by the Säntis thrust. Yet in contrast to the Helvetic nappes in the NRP20-East transect, both of our Helvetic nappes comprise Cretaceous and Jurassic strata. This change is explained by an eastward down-stepping of the Säntis thrust along a pre-existing, approximately N-S striking lateral ramp bounding an inverted Jurassic graben structure below the Rhine Valley. This causes the Säntis thrust to detach the base Cretaceous west of the Rhine Valley and the base Jurassic units east of it. This graben-controlled change in detachment level leads to the formation of quite different nappe stacks on either side of the Rhine Valley and a 'fault-controlled' appearance of the boundary between the Central and Eastern Alps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Precambrian basement of Egypt is part of the Red Sea Mountains and represents the north-western part of the Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS). Five volcanic sections are exposed in the Egyptian basement complex, namely El Kharaza, Monqul, Abu Had, Mellaha and Abu Marwa. They are located in the north Eastern Desert (ED) of Egypt and were selected for petrological and geochemical studies as they represent the Dokhan volcanics. The volcanics divide into two main pulses, and each pulse was frequently accompanied by deposition of immature molasse type sediments, which represent a thick sequence of the Hammamat group in the north ED. Compositionally, the rocks form a continuum from basaltic andesite, andesite, dacite (lower succession) to rhyodacite and rhyolite (upper succession), with no apparent compositional gaps. These high-K calc-alkaline rocks have strong affinities to subduction-related rocks with enriched LILEs (Rb, Ba, K, Th, Ce) relative to high field strength elements (Nb, Zr, P, Ti) and negative Nb anomalies relative to NMORB. The lower succession displays geochemical characteristics of adakitic rocks with SiO >53 wt%, AlO >15 wt%, MgO >2.5 wt%, Mg# >49, Sr >650 ppm, Y <17 ppm, Yb <2 ppm, Ni >25 ppm, Cr >50 ppm and Sr/Y >42.4. They also have low Nb, Rb and Zr compared to the coexisting calc-alkaline rhyodacites and rhyolites. The highly fractionated rhyolitic rocks have strong negative Eu anomalies and possess the geochemical characteristics of A-type suites. Trace element geochemical signatures indicate a magma source consistent with post-collisional suites that retain destructive plate signatures associated with subduction zones. The adakitic rocks in the northern ANS are generated through partial melting of delaminated mafic lower crust interacting with overlying mantle-derived magma. The Dokhan volcanics were likely generated by a combination of processes, including partial melting, crystal fractionation and assimilation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-collisional Upper Visean molasse sediments and magmatic rocks of the Badenweiler-Lenzkirch Zone reveal by microscopy of thin sections different degrees of hydrothermal illitization of feldspar and mica particles, and XRD, IR and XRF data of the <2 µm fractions show illitic material as the dominant clay mineral consisting of a mixture of 1M and 2M polytypes. Moreover, small amounts of illite/smectite mixed-layer minerals of R1-ordering are proved in the granites. In the separates, two illite mixing lines with different Fe + Mg contents are verified between authigenic illite from feldspar alteration and detrital illite in the molasse sediments, as well as between authigenic illite from feldspar alteration and altered mica flakes in the granites. Fe-rich detrital chlorite is present within the molasse sediments, while mixtures of high aluminous Fe-poor dioctahedral/di-trioctahedral chlorite with randomly interstratified chlorite/smectite mixed-layer minerals are formed from feldspar alteration in the granites. Illite K-Ar dating of the <2 and <0.63 µm fractions yields hydrothermal illitization of feldspar and partial resetting of the K-Ar system of detrital illite and mica flakes in the molasse sediments at ≥200 °C during Upper Permian to Middle Triassic times, while the granites in the eastern part of the study area were not altered contemporaneously. In contrast, hydrothermal activity at ≤200 °C during Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous times occurred in the granites, whereas these temperatures were too low for resetting the older 'Permo-Triassic' illite K-Ar ages in the molasse rocks. Within both K-Ar age clusters, the data are seen to decrease with grain size and portion of illite 2M polytype. The alteration phenomena indicate multiple hydrothermal episodes in the study area, and they match those from the Central and Western European crust as fluid supply was controlled geodynamically by episodic break up of Pangea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors discuss the dextral transpression and late-Eocene magmatism in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh Batholin in North India and the tectono-magmatic evolution of the Indo-Eurasian collisional arc. The authors say that Ladakh Batholin is significant in granitoid chemistry and tectonic processes, such as continental collision.They tell that the Indus Molasse that was deposited after the exhumation of the batholin underwent deformation to produce of folds in the matrix and clasts of molasse.

The Western Kunlun Orogen occupies a key tectonic position at the junction between the Tarim block and the Tethyan domain. However, the late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic, especially the middle to late Triassic tectonic evolution history of the Western Kunlun Orogen remains controversial. This study reports SHRIMP zircon U-Pb ages and geochemical as well as Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic data for middle to late Triassic Taer pluton in Western Kunlun Orogen, Northwest China. The Taer pluton shows a strong bimodal distribution of compositions, with the felsic rocks dominant and the mafic rocks subordinate. Zircon U-Pb dating reveals that the coexisting mafic and felsic rocks are coeval, both emplacing in a period between 234 and 225 Ma. Most of the studied rocks are potassium rich and can be classified into high-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic series. They are also strongly enriched in LREE, LILE and depleted in HFSE with strong negative Ti and Nb anomalies, and characterized by enriched Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic signatures. Detailed geochemical and isotopic studies indicate that the Taer pluton was emplaced in a post-collisional extensional setting, with the mafic rocks derived from partial melting of the enriched continental lithospheric mantle in the spinel facies field, and the felsic rocks formed by anatexis of newly underplated basaltic rocks. The existence of middle to late Triassic post-collisional magmas in Western Kunlun region suggests that the final closure of Paleo-Tethys and the initial collision between the Western Kunlun and the Qiangtang terranes may have happened before ~234 Ma, most probably in late Permian, rather than in late Triassic or early Jurassic. In assistance with other geological evidences, such as the presence of early Triassic to late Triassic/early Jurassic S-type magmatism, terrestrial molasse depositions, regional unconformities, and strong deformation, we propose that the Western Kunlun Orogen may have undergone a long post-collisional intracontinental process from early Triassic to late Triassic/early Jurassic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a synoptic overview of the Miocene-present development of the northern Alpine foreland basin (Molasse Basin), with special attention to the pattern of surface erosion and sediment discharge in the Alps. Erosion of the Molasse Basin started at the same time that the rivers originating in the Central Alps were deflected toward the Bresse Graben, which formed part of the European Cenozoic rift system. This change in the drainage direction decreased the distance to the marine base level by approximately 1,000 km, which in turn decreased the average topographic elevation in the Molasse Basin by at least 200 m. Isostatic adjustment to erosional unloading required ca. 1,000 m of erosion to account for this inferred topographic lowering. A further inference is that the resulting increase in the sediment discharge at the Miocene-Pliocene boundary reflects the recycling of Molasse units. We consider that erosion of the Molasse Basin occurred in response to a shift in the drainage direction rather than because of a change in paleoclimate. Climate left an imprint on the Alpine landscape, but presumably not before the beginning of glaciation at the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary. Similar to the northern Alpine foreland, we do not see a strong climatic fingerprint on the pattern or rates of exhumation of the External Massifs. In particular, the initiation and acceleration of imbrication and antiformal stacking of the foreland crust can be considered solely as a response to the convergence of Adria and Europe, irrespective of erosion rates. However, the recycling of the Molasse deposits since 5 Ma and the associated reduction of the loads in the foreland could have activated basement thrusts beneath the Molasse Basin in order to restore a critical wedge. In conclusion, we see the need for a more careful consideration of both tectonic and climatic forcing on the development of the Alps and the adjacent Molasse Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

detailed integrated stratigraphic study (biostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy) was carried out on five sections from the western part of the Bavarian Upper Freshwater Molasse of the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB), greatly improving the chronostratigraphy of these sediments. The sections belong to the lithostratigraphic units Limnische Untere Serie (UL) and Fluviatile Untere Serie (UF) and contain 19 (mostly new) small-mammal bearing levels, significantly refining the local biostratigraphy. Radiometric ages obtained from glass shards from tuff horizons are used together with the biostratigraphic information for constructing and confirming the magnetostratigraphic correlation of the studied sections to the Astronomical Tuned Time Scale (ANTS04; Lourens et al. in Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press, 2004). This correlation implies that the UL lithostratigraphic unit corresponds to the latest Ottnangian and the Early Karpatian, whereas the UF corresponds to the Karpatian and the Early Badenian. This indicates that the Brackish- to Freshwater Molasse transition already occurred during the late Ottnangian. The pre-Riesian hiatus occurred in the latest Karpatian and lower Early Badenian in Eastern Bavaria and Bohemia and in the Late Karpatian and earliest Badenian in Western Bavaria. The geochemical and Ar-Ar data of volcanic ashes suggest that highly evolved silicic magmas from a single volcano or volcanic center, characterized by a uniform Nd isotopic composition, erupted repetitively over the course of at least 1.6 Myr. Three phases of eruptive activity were identified at 16.1 ± 0.2 Ma (Zahling-2), 15.6 ± 0.4 Ma (Krumbad), and 14.5 ± 0.2 Ma (Heilsberg, Hegau). The correlation of the local biostratigraphic zonation to the ANTS04 enables further the characterization of both the Ottnangian-Karpatian and Karpatian-Badenian boundaries in the NAFB by small-mammal biostratigraphy. According to these results the Ottnangian-Karpatian boundary is contemporaneous with the first appearance datum of Megacricetodon bavaricus (in the size of the type population) and the first common occurrence of Keramidomys thaleri, whereas Ligerimys florancei, Melissiodon dominans and Prodeinotherium aff. bavaricum have been already disappeared during the late Ottnangian. The Karpatian-Badenian boundary is characterized by a significant size increase of the large Megacricetodon lineage and possibly a (re-)immigration of Prodeinotherium bavaricum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Early to Middle Miocene Fluviatile Untere Serie lithostratigraphic unit of the Upper Freshwater Molasse (UFM) in the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB) crops out in a 40 m long section at Untereichen-Altenstadt (central part of the NAFB). This section yields a unique superposition of two vertebrate assemblages belonging to different biostratigraphic units: early part OSM C + D (Karpatian) and OSM E (Early Badenian). Detailed taxonomic analyses reveal different diversity patterns in the two assemblages. Nine small mammal and six ectothermic vertebrate taxa occur in the older level UA 540 m, while 20 small mammal and 23 ectothermic vertebrate taxa are recorded for the younger level UA 565 m. From the latter locality comes a small-sized representative of the biostratigraphically significant Megacricetodon lappi lineage. This evolutionary level has not been documented previously for the eastern part of the NAFB. Bioclimatic analysis combined with lithofacies and architectural element analysis indicates that significant changes in the fluvial sedimentation style, surface-water runoff and tectonics occurred between the Early Karpatian and Early Badenian. A meandering fluvial system (marly unit) is erosively overlain by sandy braided river deposits (sandy unit). Overbank deposits of the marly unit revealed that the older vertebrate fossil assemblage (UA 540 m) is deposited in an animal burrow that was presumably produced by owls. Both reptilian and mammalian taxa are indicative of a relatively open environment and dry, probably semi-arid climate. Conversely, vertebrates from the sandy unit (UA 565 m), which are accumulated in channel fill deposits, suggest closed as well as open habitats with a subtropical humid climate and mean annual rainfall of about 1,000 mm. According to the sequence stratigraphic analysis the marly unit is interpreted as a highstand-system-tract of the TB 2.2 global 3rd order sequence. The new results add support to the hypothesis that the erosional unconformity between both sedimentary units spanning the Karpatian-Badenian transition corresponds to the pre-Riesian hiatus, which has been interpreted as part of the Styrian Tectonic Phase, and was previously identified only in the eastern and northeastern part of the NAFB. The biostratigraphic data further indicate that this hiatus lasted longer in the eastern than in the central part of the basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A detailed integrated stratigraphic study was carried out on middle Miocene fluvial successions of the Upper Freshwater Molasse (OSM) from the North Alpine Foreland Basin, in eastern Bavaria, Germany. The biostratigraphic investigations yielded six new localities thereby refining the OSM biostratigraphy for units C to E (sensu; Heissig, Actes du Congres BiochroM’97. Mem Trav EPHE, Inst Montpellier 21, ) and further improving biostratigraphic correlations between the different sections throughout eastern Bavaria. Radioisotopic ages of 14.55 ± 0.19 and 14.88 ± 0.11 Ma have been obtained for glass shards from the main bentonite horizon and the Ries impactite: two important stratigraphic marker beds used for confirming our magnetostratigraphic calibration to the Astronomical Tuned Neogene Time Scale (ATNTS04; Lourens et al. in Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press, ). Paleomagnetic analysis was performed using alternating field (AF) and thermal (TH) demagnetization methods. The AF method revealed both normal and reverse polarities but proofs to yield unreliable ChRM directions for the Puttenhausen section. Using the biostratigraphic information and radioisotopic ages, the magnetostratigraphic records of the different sections are tentatively correlated to the Astronomical Tuned Neogene Time Scale (ATNTS04; Lourens et al. in Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press, ). This correlation implies that the main bentonite horizon coincides to chron C5ADn, which is corroborated by its radioisotopic age of 14.55 Ma, whereas the new fossil locality Furth 460, belonging to OSM unit E, probably correlates to chron C5Bn.1r. The latter correlation agrees well with the Swiss Molasse locality Frohberg. Correlations of the older sections are not straightforward. The Brock horizon, which comprises limestone ejecta from the Ries impact, possibly correlates to C5ADr (14.581–14.784 Ma), implying that, although within error, the radioisotopic age of 14.88 ± 0.11 Ma is somewhat too old. The fossil localities in Puttenhausen, belonging to the older part of OSM unit C, probably coincide with chron C5Cn.2n or older, which is older than the correlations established for the Swiss Molasse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty paleogeographic maps are presented for Middle Eocene (Lutetian) to Late Pliocene times according to the stratigraphical data given in the companion paper by Berger et al. this volume. Following a first lacustrine-continental sedimentation during the Middle Eocene, two and locally three Rupelian transgressive events were identified with the first corresponding with the Early Rupelian Middle Pechelbronn beds and the second and third with the Late Rupelian ≪ Serie Grise ≫ (Fischschiefer and equivalents). During the Early Rupelian ( Middle Pechelbronn beds), a connection between North Sea and URG is clearly demonstrated, but a general connection between North Sea, URG and Paratethys, via the Alpine sea, is proposed, but not proved, during the late Rupelian. Whereas in the southern URG, a major hiatus spans Early Aquitanian to Pliocene times, Early and Middle Miocene marine, brackish and freshwater facies occur in the northern URG and in the Molasse Basin (OMM, OSM); however, no marine connections between these basins could be demonstrated during this time. After the deposition of the molasse series, a very complex drainage pattern developed during the Late Miocene and Pliocene, with a clear connection to the Bresse Graben during the Piacenzian (Sundgau gravels). During the Late Miocene, Pliocene and Quaternary sedimentation persisted in the northern URG with hardly any interruptions. The present drainage pattern of the Rhine river (from Alpine area to the lower Rhine Embayment) was not established before the Early Pleistocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a general stratigraphic synthesis for the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) and the Swiss Molasse Basin (SMB) from Eocene to Pliocene times. The stratigraphic data were compiled both from literature and from research carried out by the authors during the past 6 years ; an index of the stratigraphically most important localitites is provided. We distinguish 14 geographical areas from the Helvetic domain in the South to the Hanau Basin in the North. For each geographical area, we give a synthesis of the biostratigraphy, lithofacies, and chronostratigraphic ranges. The relationships between this stratigraphic record and the global sea-level changes are generally disturbed by the geodynamic (e.g., subsidence) evolution of the basins. However, global sea-level changes probably affected the dynamic of transgression–regression in the URG (e.g., Middle Pechelbronn Beds and Serie Grise corresponding with sea-level rise between Ru1/Ru2 and Ru2/Ru3 sequences, respectively) as well as in the Molasse basin (regression of the UMM corresponding with the sea-level drop at the Ch1 sequence). The URGENT-project (Upper Rhine Graben evolution and neotectonics) provided an unique opportunity to carry out and present this synthesis. Discussions with scientists addressing sedimentology, tectonics, geophysics and geochemistry permitted the comparison of the sedimentary history and stratigraphy of the basin with processes controlling its geodynamic evolution. Data presented here back up the palaeogeographic reconstructions presented in a companion paper by the same authors (see Berger et al. in Int J Earth Sci 2005). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This integrated study of the sedimentology, magnetostratigraphic chronology and petrography of the mostly continental clastics of the Oligocene to Miocene Swiss Molasse Basin underpins a reconstruction of facies architecture and delineates relationships between the depositional evolution of a foreland-basin margin and exhumation phases and orogenic events in the adjacent orogen. A biostratigraphically based high-resolution magnetostratigraphy provides a detailed temporal framework and covers nearly the whole stratigraphic record of the Molasse Basin (31.5-13 Ma). Three transverse alluvial fan systems evolved at the southern basin margin. They are characterized by distinct petrographic compositions and document the exhumation and denudation history of the growing eastern Swiss Alps. Enhanced northward propagation of the orogenic wedge is interpreted to have occurred between 31.5 and 26 Ma. During the period 24-19 Ma, intense in-sequence and out-of-sequence thrusting took place as Molasse strata were accreted to the orogenic wedge. A third active tectonic phase, possibly caused by backthrusting of the Plateau Molasse, probably occurred between ca. 15 and 13 Ma. Fan head migration between 31.5 and 13 Ma is probably controlled by the structural evolution of the thrust front due to Molasse accretion and backthrusting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]