Research literature: intra-plate deformations

On this page, you will find a collection of links to scientific publications that are relevant to this project or that can contribute to a deeper exemplary understanding of the processes and circumstances that may be related to the Reinterpretation of Germania Magna presented here. These publications span different research areas.

The collection includes:

• Primary literature: Scientific publications presenting the results of new research.
• Secondary literature: Scientific publications summarizing, analyzing, or interpreting primary literature.
• Comparative literature: Publications that exemplify similar processes and circumstances in other contexts.
• Additional resources: Links to websites, databases, and other resources that may be relevant to the reinterpretation

The following publications are intended to help answer specific questions exemplarily, which may be related to the necessary processes and events required for extensive landscape transformation. These include considerations of tectonic fracture events and rift systems, with corresponding effects on maritime landslide events and the formation of new sedimentation basins.

Dynamics of Mid-Palaeocene North Atlantic rifting linked with European intra-plate deformations

19. August 20241. April 2024 by Sven Mildner

DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06379 Abstract The process of continental break-up provides a large-scale experiment that can be used to test causal relations between plate tectonics and the dynamics of the Earth’s deep mantle1,2. Detailed diagnostic information on the timing and dynamics of such events, which are not resolved by plate kinematic reconstructions, can be obtained from the response of the interior of adjacent continental plates to stress changes generated by plate boundary processes. Here we demonstrate a causal relationship between North Atlantic continental rifting at ∼62 Myr ago and an abrupt change of the intra-plate deformation style in the adjacent European continent. The rifting involved a left-lateral displacement between the North American-Greenland plate and Eurasia, which initiated the observed pause in the relative convergence of Europe and Africa3. The associated stress change in the European continent was significant and explains the sudden termination of a ∼20-Myr-long contractional intra-plate deformation within Europe4, during the late Cretaceous … Read moreDynamics of Mid-Palaeocene North Atlantic rifting linked with European intra-plate deformations

Rapid Quaternary subsidence in the northwestern German North Sea

19. August 20241. April 2024 by Sven Mildner

DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-29638-6 Abstract 3D and 2D seismic data reveal the base-reflection of the Quaternary in the northwestern German North Sea locally at depths of more than 1000 m. This indicates extremely fast subsidence, with a rate of up to 480 m/Ma during the Quaternary, resulting in a NNW-SSE oriented sedimentary depocentre. Distinct iceberg scour marks, identified in 3D seismic data are used to calibrate quantitative subsidence analysis and to document shallow marine conditions during the Quaternary interglacials. Previously, a number of mechanisms have been proposed to explain the Quaternary subsidence. Here we show that compaction and load-induced subsidence alone explain about 75% of the observed Quaternary subsidence. However, a certain portion of the subsidence needs additional processes to be invoked. The extensive seismic dataset interpreted here makes it possible to exclude a phase of renewed tectonic activity as the origin of the subsidence anomaly. From the orientation and extent of the depocentre, … Read moreRapid Quaternary subsidence in the northwestern German North Sea