The Reinterpretation of Claudius Ptolemy’s Germania Magna by Sven Mildner
DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.23689/fidgeo-5907 Sven Mildner https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8248-4866 In his draft for the Reinterpretation of Claudius Ptolemy’s Germania Magna – using computer-aided distortion analysis of a medieval map representation by Donnus Nicolaus Germanus – and considerations of post-glacial geodynamics of Europe, the author describes his assumption that Germania Magna underwent a far more extensive landscape transformation in geologically recent times than previously assumed. This transformation may have been caused by post-glacial land uplift in the Holocene or potentially by a reactivation of the Caledonian Deformation Front (CDF) during a late activity phase of the Alpine orogeny, accompanied by tectonic activities in the upper Earth’s crust. Additionally, the possibility that a cosmic impact event triggered such a reactivation of the CDF is not excluded. The conditions expected to justify the described process likely align with hitherto misattributed or incorrectly dated large-scale fracturing events, which might have led to significant earthquakes in Central Europe over … Read moreThe Reinterpretation of Claudius Ptolemy’s Germania Magna by Sven Mildner