Recent height changes in the central segment of the rhinegraben and its adjacent shoulders

Abstract

The height changes in the central segment of the Rhinegraben, its shoulders included, are computed from first order levelling data. The network for investigation with regard to recent vertical crustal movements extends the graben segment between Karlsruhe and Worms and overlaps the shoulders of the Pfälzer Wald in the west and the Kraichgau in the east. The investigated area is characterized by negative height changes (subsidence) in its eastern shoulder and by positive values (uplift) in its western one. In the graben positive height changes were found in its western part but in the eastern part negative values dominate over thick unconsolidated Pleistocene sediments. Tectonically controlled ground motions cannot be separated from atectonic processes like subsidence as caused by changing groundwater levels.