Origin of the regional stress in the North German basin: results from numerical modelling

Abstract

We use a thin sheet approach to investigate the effects induced by the Alpine collision on the deformation and regional stress in northern Europe, with special emphasis on the NE German Basin. Here new seismic crustal studies indicate a flexural-type basin, which may have been induced by compressive forces transmitted from the south, due to the Alpine orogeny. Finite-element techniques are used to solve the equations for the deformation of a continuum described by a linear creep rheology and a spatial resolution of about 0.5°. The model has been constrained by stress and seismic data. We show that a relatively strong lithosphere below the northern margin of the German Basin, at the transition with the Baltic Shield, may explain the characteristic regional stress field, in particular the fan-like pattern which is observed within the region. Furthermore, the predicted strain rate pattern resembles the seismically recognizable undeformed area of the North German Basin.