Research literature: Tectonics

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.

A new tectonic model for the Laurentia-Avalonia-Baltica sutures in the North Sea: A case study along MONA LISA profile 3

19. August 202417. August 2024 by Sven Mildner

DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2006.09.017 Abstract We present a new model for the lithospheric structure of the transitions between Laurentia, Avalonia and Baltica in the North Sea, northwestern Europe based on 2¾D potential field modelling of MONA LISA profile 3 across the Central Graben, with constraints from seismic P-wave velocity models and the crustal normal incidence reflection section along the profile. The model shows evidence for the presence of upper-and lower Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks as well as differences in crustal structure between the palaeo-continents Laurentia, Avalonia and Baltica. Our new model, together with previous results from transformations of the gravity and magnetic fields, demonstrates correlation between crustal magnetic domains along the profile and the terrane affinity of the crust. This integrated interpretation indicates that a 150 km wide zone, characterized by low-grade metamorphosis and oblique thrusting of Avalonia crust over Baltica lower crust, is characteristic for the central North Sea area. The magnetic … Read moreA new tectonic model for the Laurentia-Avalonia-Baltica sutures in the North Sea: A case study along MONA LISA profile 3

Seismic velocity structure of crustal intrusions in the Danish Basin

19. August 20246. April 2024 by Sven Mildner

DOI 10.1016/j.tecto.2011.11.019 We image the east- and westward extent of a crustal high-velocity body, the thickness of a layered sequence around the Moho at the flank of the body, and the uppermost mantle velocity along the 320 km long refraction and wide-angle reflection seismic profile ESTRID 2007 in the Danish Basin. Ray-tracing modelling of the seismic data reveals a high-velocity body (6.7-7.7 km/s between 10 and 30 km depth) with a lateral extent of at least 110 km. It is interpreted as an intrusive body of gabbroic composition. Moho depth is variable between 30 and 35 km along the profile. The crust is thin in a similar to 180 km wide zone approximately below the western part of the intrusive body and further westward in the basin area. The Pn velocity in the uppermost mantle is relatively low (similar to 7.8 km/s) beneath the thin crust whereas higher Pn velocities … Read moreSeismic velocity structure of crustal intrusions in the Danish Basin

Mechanism for the Uplift of Gongga Shan in the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau Constrained by 3D Magnetotelluric Data

19. August 20241. April 2024 by Sven Mildner

DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2021GL097394 Abstract Plain Language Summary Continent‐continent collisions are an important tectonic process and have controlled the formation of the modern continents. The India‐Asia collision is the best modern example and has produced both a high elevation plateau and the world’s highest mountain belts. A range of tectonic processes occurs during these collisions as the crust deforms including extrusion and perhaps crustal flow. Within these collision zones, there are locations of especially rapid uplift that have not been explained with existing geodynamic models. This paper investigates this process through a study of Gongga Shan—a mountain on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, where uplift continues at a rate of 2–3 mm per year and has formed peaks greater than 7,500 m in elevation. 3D inversion of an array of magnetotelluric data has produced a well‐constrained crustal resistivity model for the GGS area. It reveals that the GGS crust is … Read moreMechanism for the Uplift of Gongga Shan in the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau Constrained by 3D Magnetotelluric Data

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

Sea-level change, glacial rebound and mantle viscosity for northern Europe

19. August 20241. April 2024 by Sven Mildner

DOI https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-246x.1998.00541.x Abstract Northwestern Europe remains a key region for testing models of glacial isostasy because of the good geological record of crustal response to the glacial unloading since the time of the Last Glacial Maximum. Models for this rebound and associated sea-level change require a detailed knowledge of the ice-sheet geometry, including the ice thickness through time. Existing ice-sheet reconstructions are strongly model-dependent, and inversions of sea-level data for the mantle response may be a function of the model assumptions. Thus inverse solutions for the sea-level data are sought that include both ice- and earth-model parameters as unknowns. Sea-level data from Fennoscandia, the North Sea, the British Isles and the Atlantic and English Channel coasts have been evaluated and incorporated into the solutions. The starting ice sheet for Fennoscandia is based on a reconstruction of a model by Denton & Hughes (1981) that is characterized by quasi-parabolic cross-sections and … Read moreSea-level change, glacial rebound and mantle viscosity for northern Europe

Continuous record of Holocene sea-level changes and coastal development of the Kattegat island Læsø (4900 years BP to present)

19. August 20241. April 2024 by Sven Mildner

DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.37570/bgsd-2016-64-01 Læsø is the largest island of the Kattegat–Skagerrak region and exposes a vast array of relative sealevel (RSL) indicators, mainly raised beach ridges, swales, lagoons and saltmarshes. The physical environment of continuous glacial rebound, excessive supply of sediment, shallow surrounding waters, low amplitudes of near-shore waves, and micro-tidal conditions produced numerous sealevel proxies of both barrier coasts and saltmarshes. About 1200 RSL/age index points reflect not only short-term sea-level highstands as in most other parts of Europe, but also short-term sea-level lowstands, which in less regressive environments have normally been removed by coastal erosion or obscured by berms from subsequent highstands. Based on a high-precision lidar digital terrain model, the beach ridges have been mapped, typified, levelled and correlated relative to their order of appearance. Transformation of this relative chronology to a robust absolute age model of the RSL changes has been made on the basis of 119 … Read moreContinuous record of Holocene sea-level changes and coastal development of the Kattegat island Læsø (4900 years BP to present)

Holocene Relative Sea-Level Changes from Near-, Intermediate-, and Far-Field Locations

19. August 20241. April 2024 by Sven Mildner

DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40641-015-0029-z Abstract Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) records exhibit spatial and temporal variability that arises mainly from the interaction of eustatic (land ice volume and thermal expansion) and isostatic (glacio- and hydro-) factors. We fit RSL histories from near-, intermediate-, and far-field locations with noisy-input Gaussian process models to assess rates of RSL change. Records from near-field regions (e.g., Antarctica, Greenland, Canada, Sweden, and Scotland) reveal a complex pattern of RSL fall from a maximum marine limit due to the net effect of eustatic sea-level rise and glacio-isostatic uplift with rates of RSL fall as great as −69 ± 9 m/ka. Intermediate-field regions (e.g., mid-Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the USA, Netherlands, Southern France, St. Croix) display variable rates of RSL rise from the cumulative effect of eustatic and isostatic factors. Fast rates of RSL rise (up to 10 ± 1 m/ka) are found in the early Holocene in regions … Read moreHolocene Relative Sea-Level Changes from Near-, Intermediate-, and Far-Field Locations

The catastrophic final flooding of Doggerland by the Storegga Slide tsunami

19. August 20241. April 2024 by Sven Mildner

DOI https://doi.org/10.4312/dp.35.1 Abstract Around 8200 calBP, large parts of the now submerged North Sea continental shelf (‘Doggerland’) were catastrophically flooded by the Storegga Slide tsunami, one of the largest tsunamis known for the Holocene, which was generated on the Norwegian coastal margin by a submarine landslide. In the present paper, we derive a precise calendric date for the Storegga Slide tsunami, use this date for reconstruction of contemporary coastlines in the North Sea in relation to rapidly rising sea-levels, and discuss the potential effects of the tsunami on the contemporaneous Mesolithic population. One main result of this study is an unexpectedly high tsunami impact assigned to the western regions of Jutland. Weninger, B., Schulting, R., Bradtmöller, M., Clare, L., Collard, M., Edinborough, K., Hilpert, J., Jöris, O., Niekus, M., Rohling, E. J., & Wagner, B. (2008). The catastrophic final flooding of Doggerland by the Storegga Slide tsunami. Documenta Praehistorica, 35, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.4312/dp.35.1

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

The Thor suture zone: From subduction to intraplate basin setting

19. August 20241. April 2024 by Sven Mildner

DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G37958.1 Abstract The crustal seismic velocity structure of northwestern Europe shows a low P-wave velocity zone (LVZ) in the lower crust along the Caledonian Thor suture zone (TSZ) that cannot be easily attributed to Avalonia or Baltica plates abutting the TSZ. The LVZ appears to correspond to a hitherto unrecognized crustal segment (accretionary complex) that separates Avalonia from Baltica, explaining well the absence of Avalonia further east. Consequently, the northern boundary of Avalonia is shifted ∼150 km southward. Our interpretation, based on analysis of deep seismic profiles, places the LVZ in a consistent crustal domain interpretation. A comparison with present-day examples of the Kuril and Cascadia subduction zones suggests that the LVZ separating Avalonia from Baltica is composed of remnants of the Caledonian accretionary complex. If so, the present-day geometry probably originates from pre-Variscan extension and eduction during Devonian–Carboniferous backarc extension. The reinterpretation of deep crustal zonation provides a … Read moreThe Thor suture zone: From subduction to intraplate basin setting