Structure and quantification of processes controlling the evolution of the inverted NE-German Basin

Abstract

A NE–SW reflection seismic transect crossing the entire NE-German Basin (NEGB) was investigated in detail to study the interaction between tectonics and sedimentation during the multiphase evolution of the region. By restoring a geological section across the post-Rotliegend, the kinematic evolution was reconstructed and rates of important geological processes such as erosion or basin shortening were quantified. The present day structural style of the NEGB is the result of several major deformation events: (1) regional subsidence accompanied by local thin-skinned E–W extension during the Permo-Triassic/Jurassic was followed by basin inversions at the (2) Jurassic/Cretaceous, and at the (3) Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary. Zechstein salt played an important role since mobile Zechstein evaporites decoupled the supra-salt from the sub-salt succession and allowed the transmission of deformation over a large distance. Of major significance to the Late Cretaceous structural development was the crustal-scale upthrusting of the Calfoerde Block along the Gardelegen Fault at the southern basin margin. The accompanying horizontal shortening has a minimum value of 9 km, and led to the development of thrusts and folds within the post-Zechstein succession.