EarthRef.org Reference Database (ERR)
Development and Maintenance by the EarthRef.org Database Team

Detailed Reference Information
Schumacher 2002
Schumacher, M.E. (2002). Upper Rhine Graben: Role of preexisting structures during rift evolution. Tectonics 21: doi: 10.1029/2001TC900022. issn: 0278-7407.

The evolution of the Cenozoic Upper Rhine Grabenwas controlled by a repeatedly changing stress field and the reactivationof a complex set of crustal discontinuities that had come into evidence duringPermo-Carboniferous times. A comparison of the spatial and temporal thicknessdistribution of synrift deposits with preexisting fault patterns permits toinfer a sequence of distinct basin subsidence phases that can be related tochanges in the ambient stress field. Reactivation of a system of late Palaeozoicfault systems, outlining troughs and highs, controlled the nucleation of initiallyseparated middle and late Eocene basins, the depocenters of which coincidedwith a preexisting WSW-ENE trend. During Oligocene crustal extension the individualbasins coalesced, resulting in the development of the SSW-NNE striking UpperRhine Graben. During the late Oligocene (Chattian) change in stress field,the Upper Rhine Graben was probably reactivated as a dextral strike-slip systemwith the central graben segment forming a releasing bend. During the earlyMiocene (Aquitanian), a major reorientation of the regional stress field isheld responsible for the main subsidence phase of the northern parts of theUpper Rhine Graben. This is reflected by a counterclockwise rotation and northeastwardshift of the depocenter axis and later by the middle Miocene uplift and erosionof the southern parts of the Upper Rhine Graben. During the Plio-Quaternary,the Upper Rhine Graben was reactivated as a sinistral strike-slip system withthe central graben segment forming a restraining bend.

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

Abstract

Keywords
Tectonophysics, Continental margins and sedimentary basins, Tectonophysics, Continental tectonics--extensional, Tectonophysics, Continental tectonics--general, Tectonophysics, Stresses--crust and lithosphere
Journal
Tectonics
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
2000 Florida Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20009-1277
USA
1-202-462-6900
1-202-328-0566
service@agu.org
Click to clear formClick to return to previous pageClick to submit