EVOLUTION OF THE CARBONIFEROUS FORELAND BASIN OF NORTHERN GERMANY

EVOLUTION OF THE CARBONIFEROUS FORELAND BASIN OF NORTHERN GERMANY

The North German Basin is situated between the stable Precambrian shield area to the north and the Caledonian-, Variscan-influenced area to the south, thus straddling two different tectonic regimes. The main Variscan orogenic front was situated to the south, and while the evolving foreland basin was broadly asymmetric, the complexity of the region to the north led to the development of a pseudocomposite basin. Foreland basins develop in response to tectonic loading of a foreland plate by the emplacement of large thrust sheets on their margins. The evolution of the basin fill - in terms of the distribution of sedimentary environments and accomodation space variations - is strongly dependent on the degree of compressional tectonic activity. The focus of this study will be an investigation of the sedimentary basin fill and its evolution in the Carboniferous foreland basin of Northern Germany. The available database comprises industry seismics and well material, together with DEKORP deep-seismic profiles and research wells from eastern Germany. Interpreted profiles and core material will be integrated into a sequence stratigraphic model for the region which can be related to the controlling mechanisms on basin formation, namely, regional subsidence related to flexure of the lithospheric plate on which the basin is located, and secondary controls such as local lithology, climate and eustatic sea level.