scholarly journals Dawn and dusk of Late Cretaceous basin inversion in central Europe

Solid Earth ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1443-1471
Author(s):  
Thomas Voigt ◽  
Jonas Kley ◽  
Silke Voigt

Abstract. Central and western Europe were affected by a compressional tectonic event in the Late Cretaceous, caused by the convergence of Iberia and Europe. Basement uplifts, inverted graben structures, and newly formed marginal troughs are the main expressions of crustal shortening. Although the maximum activity occurred during a short period of time between 90 and 75 Ma, the exact timing of this event is still unclear. Dating of the start and end of Late Cretaceous basin inversion gives very different results depending on the method applied. On the basis of borehole data, facies, and thickness maps, the timing of basin reorganization was reconstructed for several basins in central Europe. The obtained data point to a synchronous start of basin inversion at 95 Ma (Cenomanian), 5 Myr earlier than commonly assumed. The end of the Late Cretaceous compressional event is difficult to pinpoint in central Europe, because regional uplift and salt migration disturb the signal of shifting marginal troughs. Late Campanian to Paleogene strata deposited unconformably on inverted structures indicate slowly declining uplift rates during the latest Cretaceous. The differentiation of separate Paleogene inversion phases in central Europe does not appear possible at present.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Voigt ◽  
Jonas Kley ◽  
Silke Voigt

Abstract. Central Europe was affected by a compressional tectonic event in the Late Cretaceous, caused by the convergence of Iberia and Europe. Basement uplifts, inverted graben structures and newly formed marginal troughs are the main expressions of crustal shortening. Although the maximum activity occurred in a short period between 90 and 75 Ma, the exact timing of this event is still unclear. Dating of start and end of basin inversion is very different depending on the applied method. On the basis of borehole data, facies and thickness maps, the timing of basin re-organisation was reconstructed for several basins in Central Europe. The obtained data point to a synchronous start of basin inversion already at 95 Ma (Cenomanian), 5 Million years earlier than commonly assumed. The end of the Late Cretaceous compressional event is more difficult to pinpoint, because regional uplift and salt migration disturb the signal of shifting marginal troughs. Unconformities of Late Campanian to Paleogene age on inverted structures indicate slowly declining uplift rates.


2021 ◽  
pp. SP495-2021-72
Author(s):  
Domenico Chiarella ◽  
Daniel Joel

AbstractDeep-marine gravity-driven deposits represent one of the more investigated depositional systems due to their potential interest as target for exploration and carbon capture and storage activities, as well as an important record of the depositional history of a basin through time. Although the Halten Terrace (Norwegian Sea) is one of the main successful exploration areas, we still have poor understanding of the post-rift Cretaceous interval. Here, 3D seismic reflection and borehole data are integrated to investigate the stratigraphic distribution and sedimentological characteristics of the Cenomanian-Turonian intra Lange Sandstones in the Gimsan Basin and Grinda Graben. The Lange Formation records the deposition in a deep-marine environment of a thousand meter thick shale unit punctuated by tens of meters thick gravity-driven coarse-grained sandstone intervals sourced from the Norwegian mainland. The presence of gravity-driven deposits and the deep-marine setting is supported by seismic interpretation, architectural elements and the facies analysis of cored material acquired within the studied stratigraphic interval. Borehole data indicate the presence of both turbidites and hybrid-event beds rich in mud content. The results of this study have implications for the understanding of the distribution and reservoir potentiality of the Late Cretaceous Lange Formation in the Halten Terrace.


1966 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Burt

Some properties of the enzymes amylase, phosphorylase, and phosphoglucomutase in homogenates of cod muscle have been investigated. Amylase is activated by a short period of autolysis and by chloride ions; hydrolyses cod muscle glycogen at about half the rate it hydrolyses mussel glycogen; has an optimum temperature of 52 C for up to 5 hr incubation; and has a wide range of activity with maxima around pH 5.1 and between pH. 7.0 and 7.5. Using phloridzin, an estimate of the relative importance of hydrolytic and phosphorolytic cleavage of polysaccharide in cod muscle homogenates has been made. Phosphorylase shows two activity maxima at pH 5.5 and 6.7. The properties of phosphoglucomutase, with the exception of its pH activity, in cod muscle are similar to those reported for this enzyme in other tissues. Cod muscle phosphoglucomutase has maximum activity between pH 8 and 9.


2015 ◽  
pp. 145-164
Author(s):  
Maria Tomczak

This study aims to show the forms of political involvement of Western European intellectuals. In doing so, the paper attempts to answer the question about the role they played in Western and Central Europe in the discussed period. The paper also demonstrates the cultural and political causes of their decline.streszczenieFor the intellectuals of Western and Central Europe, World War 2 was an extremely difficult period. The genocidal policies of the totalitarian states induced them to take a position, while at the same time depriving them of the ability to express their views publicly. This engendered a sense of helplessness; also, apart for a few exceptions, only emigrants could actually perform the function of intellectuals. Among those, an important role to play fell to two groups: German emigrants who distanced themselves from their nation, and Jewish emigrants, who addressed the subject of the Holocaust. After the war, the Iron Curtain also restricted the actions of intellectuals. It soon turned out that the tenor of spiritual life was set by left-wing authors, fascinated with the USSR. The fascination petered out after the disclosure of Stalin’s crimes in 1956. It was terminated definitively by the ruthless suppression of the Prague Spring. It was at that time that conservatism and right-wing intellectuals returned to Europe. Their aim was to reverse the trend and prevent Western Europe from drifting leftward. The change of the paradigm served to settle the scores with the leftist intellectuals. They were accused of subversive activities against the state and nation or treason. Also, in the intellectual circles there emerged a conviction that the previous formula had been exhausted. A new formula of activities of intellectuals was considered particularly in France, by authors of such eminence as R. Aron, M. Foucault, or P. Bourdieu. The deconstruction of the figure of the intellectual was completed by J.-F. Lyotard, who pronounced the death of intellectuals. Involvement of intellectuals remained a valid notion only in the countries of the Eastern bloc. In post-Cold War Europe, the decline of intellectuals became even more discernible. This was occasioned by a number of political and cultural factors. In this respect, particular role should be attributed to postmodernism which, by disproving the Enlightenment understanding of culture, undermined the role played by intellectuals.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-64
Author(s):  
Oussama Abidi ◽  
Kawthar Sebei ◽  
Adnen Amiri ◽  
Haifa Boussiga ◽  
Imen Hamdi Nasr ◽  
...  

The Middle to Upper Eocene series are characterized by multiple hiatuses related to erosion, non-deposition or condensed series in the Cap Bon and Gulf of Hammamet provinces. We performed an integrated study taking advantage from surface and subsurface geology, faunal content, borehole logs, electrical well logs, vertical seismic profiles and surface seismic sections. Calibrated seismic profiles together with borehole data analysis reveal unconformities with deep erosion, pinchouts, normal faulting and basin inversion which are dated Campanian, intra-Lutetian and Priabonian compressive phases; these events were also described at the regional scale in Tunisia. Tectonics, sea level fluctuations and climate changes closely controlled the depositional process during the Middle to Upper Eocene time. The depositional environment ranges from internal to outer platform separated by an inherited paleo-high. We determine eight third order sequences characterizing the interaction between tectonic pulsations, sea level changes and the developed accommodation space within the Middle to Upper Eocene interval. We correlate the obtained results of the Cap Bon-Gulf of Hammamet provinces with the published global charts of sea-level changes and we find a good correspondence across third order cycles. Model-based 3D inversion proved to be a solution to model the lateral and vertical lithological distribution of the Middle to Upper Eocene series.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilmar von Eynatten ◽  
Jonas Kley ◽  
István Dunkl

<p>Large parts of Central Europe have experienced exhumation in Late Cretaceous to Paleogene time. Previous studies mainly focused on thrusted basement uplifts to unravel magnitude, processes and timing of exhumation. In this study we present a comprehensive thermochronological dataset from mostly Permo-Triassic strata exposed adjacent to and between the major basement uplifts in central Germany, comprising an area of at least some 250-300 km across. Results of apatite fission track and (U-Th)/He analyses from >100 new samples reveal that (i) km-scale exhumation affected the entire region, suggesting long-wavelength domal uplift, (ii) thrusting of basement blocks like the Harz Mountains and the Thuringian Forest focused in the Late Cretaceous (about 90-70 Ma) while superimposed domal uplift of central Germany appears slightly younger (about 75-55 Ma), and (iii) large parts of the domal uplift experienced removal of 3 to 4 km of Mesozoic strata. Using spatial extent, magnitude and timing as constraints we find that thrusting and crustal thickening alone can account for no more than half of the domal uplift. Most likely, dynamic topography caused by upwelling asthenosphere has contributed significantly to the observed pattern of exhumation in central Germany.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saskia Köhler ◽  
Daniel Koehn

<p>The importance of paleostress analysis is dramatically increasing due to its application in diverse fields, such as sustainable exploration of resources, reservoir potential or storage sites. A good understanding of the subsurface geology, the geological stress-history and associated fracture and fault networks is essentially for these applications. Understanding of the complete paleostress history is not only of interest for applied research, but also for an understanding of the dynamics of geological processes in general. In recent years a diverse toolbox of stress inversion methods has been developed including stress inversion from tectonic stylolites (and slikolites). The pressure solution structures not only preserve the direction of the largest principle stress – they are an archive for the complete stress tensor and the absolute stress magnitude at the moment of their development. Here we present the first results of a systematic study of this upcoming method. For comparison we preformed roughness analysis of tectonic stylolites from Mesozoic limestone from SE Germany. In late Cretaceous the area was affected by shortening in a NE-SW direction, which is clearly illustrated by fault-slip analysis and the orientation of tectonic stylolites. During this tectonic event the stress regime changed from thrusting to strike-slip, with the sampled stylolites persevering the transition between these two stress events. With our preliminarily results we show that roughness analysis of tectonic stylolites enables us to record short time intervals during phases of contraction, and therefore offers crucial insights into stress history and tectonic processes with pulsating stress fields.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 191 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Danièle Gaspard ◽  
Sylvain Charbonnier

Many Cretaceous asymmetrical rhynchonellid brachiopods (Brachiopoda, Rhynchonellida) have long been considered as Rhynchonella difformis (Valenciennes in Lamarck, 1819). After a revision, Owen (1962) included the Cenomanian specimens from Europe in Cyclothyris M’Coy, 1844. Later, Manceñido et al. (2002) confirmed this decision and critically mentioned the name of another asymmetrical rhynchonellid genus from Spain, Owenirhynchia Calzada in Calzada and Pocovi, 1980. Specimens with an asymmetrical anterior margin (non particularly ecophenotypical), from the Late Coniacian and the Santonian of Les Corbières (Aude, France) and Basse-Provence (SE France) are here compared to specimens of the original Cenomanian species C. difformis. They are also compared to new material from the Northern Castilian Platform (Coniacian-Santonian, N Spain) and to Rhynchonella globata Arnaud, 1877 (Campanian, Les Charentes, Dordogne, SW France) and Rh. vesicularis Coquand, 1860 (Campanian, Charente, SW France). These observations document the great morphological diversity among all these species and lead us to erect a new species: Cyclothyris grimargina nov. sp. from the type material of Arnaud, and two new genera: Contortithyris nov. gen. including Contortithyris thermae nov. sp., Beaussetithyris nov. gen. including Beaussetithyris asymmetrica nov. sp. All of these brachiopods fundamentally present an asymmetrical state which origin is discussed.


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