Neogene uplift and erosion in the Alpine Foreland Basin (Upper Austria and Salzburg)
Open Access
- 1 August 2012
- journal article
- Published by Central Library of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Geologica Carpathica
- Vol. 63 (4), 295-305
- https://doi.org/10.2478/v10096-012-0023-5
Abstract
Neogene uplift and erosion in the Alpine Foreland Basin (Upper Austria and Salzburg): In the present paper we apply a multi-technique approach (shale compaction data, seismic stratigraphy, isopach maps, moisture content of lignite, fission track data) to assess timing and amount of uplift and erosion of the Alpine Foreland Basin. The combination of the different techniques allows us to discriminate the effects of two different erosion events during the Neogene: (1) Seismic stratigraphy and isopach maps indicate a Karpatian (Early Miocene) regional tilting of the basin to the west (slope of about 0.5 %) and a minor erosion phase. (2) Moisture content of lignite combined with fission track data provides evidence for extensive regional uplift after deposition of Late Miocene fluvial deposits. It is estimated that sediments, 500 to 900 m thick, have been eroded. Shale compaction data derived from sonic logs indicates additional uplift of the eastern part of the basin (near the river Enns). Here, 300 to 1000 m of sediments were additionally eroded (giving a total erosion of about 1000 to 1900 m!), with a general increase of erosion thickness towards the northeast. While the regional uplift is probably related to isostatic rebound of the Alps after termination of thrusting, the local uplift in the east could be affected by Late Neogene E-W compressional events within the Alpine-Pannonian system. Both, tilting and erosion influence the hydrocarbon habitat in the Molasse Basin (tilting of oil-water contacts, PVT conditions, biodegradation).Keywords
This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
- Rapid extensive erosion of the North Alpine foreland basin at 5-4 MaBasin Research, 2011
- Late orogenic rebound and oblique Alpine convergence: New constraints from subsidence analysis of the Austrian Molasse basinGlobal and Planetary Change, 2007
- Seismic facies and reservoir characteristics of a deep-marine channel belt in the Molasse foreland basin, Puchkirchen Formation, AustriaAAPG Bulletin, 2006
- Climate-induced rebound and exhumation of the European AlpsGeology, 2004
- (U-Th)/He Dating: Techniques, Calibrations, and ApplicationsReviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, 2002
- Variability of apatite fission-track annealing kinetics; II, Crystallographic orientation effectsAmerican Mineralogist: Journal of Earth and Planetary Materials, 1999
- Palinspastic reconstruction and topographic evolution of the Eastern Alps during late Tertiary tectonic extrusionTectonophysics, 1998
- A new computer-automated microscope stage system for fission-track analysisNuclear Tracks and Radiation Measurements, 1993
- Evolution of the Molasse Basin (Germany, Switzerland)Tectonophysics, 1987
- A natural long-term track annealing experiment for apatiteNuclear Tracks, 1981