Greater Alpine river network evolution, interpretations based on novel drainage analysis

Abstract

The Central European drainage system is dominated by four major rivers (the Danube, Rhine, Rhône and Po). The geometry of these drainage basins has evolved through the history of Alpine and Carpathian orogeny. Analysis of the modern river geometry reveals the geometric stability or instability of the drainage network and enables interpretation of the erosion and exhumation pattern. We characterize the river basin geometry and inter-basin relief through metrics including the quantity v that relates to the catchment area, and a catchment restricted minimum elevation (CRM) metric. The interpretations from the maps are in agreement with known river captures and morphological features. The v-map reveals additional systematic, large-scale transients, consistent with ongoing basin changes, mainly manifesting in the Danube losing catchment area. We postulate that the changes are related to the longitudinal initiation of the Danube River in the Alpine foreland, augmented by the formation of the Carpathians and the filling of the Pannonian Basin, which resulted in an elongation of the Danube river basin. We conclude that the Danube has lacked erosional power throughout its history and therefore been victim to capture and area loss.

Clinoforms as paleogeographic tools: Development of the Danube catchment above the deep Paratethyan basins in Central and Southeast Europe

“…About 17 million years ago, however, the tectonic uplift of the Amstetten Swell some 100 km west of Vienna forced the drainage direction to reverse, and the basin had a westward drainage until ca. 11 Ma (Kuhlemann & Kempf, ; Winterberg & Willett, ). The river system that built the Eggenburgian shelf and buried the deep NAFB thus cannot be considered proto‐Danube because it has no temporal continuity with the modern Danube system (Figure b).…”

“…Kováč et al, ; Lee & Wagreich, ). As (much of) the NAFB was drained towards the west during the Middle Miocene (Kuhlemann & Kempf, ), the Badenian river (or river system) that fed into the Vienna basin through the Zaya Graben (Jiřiček & Seifert, ) was either very short, covering only the easternmost tip of the NAFB east of the Amstettem Swell (Figure b), or it existed parallel with, and south of, the west‐directed drainage system (Winterberg & Willett, ). If the Danube is defined as the orogen‐parallel, longitudinal river of the Alpine foreland which elongated to the east following the retreating shoreline of the Paratethys (Winterberg & Willett, ), then the Badenian river of the Vienna basin can be identified with the proto‐Danube only in the latter – yet unproven – case.…”

“…The well‐developed and wide clinoform sets of the Danube (Kisalföld) basin are the product of the proto‐Danube beyond any doubt (Magyar et al, ; Figure c). After 11 Ma, the thrusting of the Jura blocked the westward drainage of the NAFB and thus created the current eastward drainage system (Kuhlemann & Kempf, ; Winterberg & Willett, ). The eastward‐directed proto‐Danube built only delta scale clinoforms into the shallow‐water Vienna basin.…”

“…For a detailed interpretation of this section, see Krézsek et al (2016). Ages of the Paratethyan regional stages are given in Figure 3, location of the seismic profile in Figure 1 of the Paratethys (Winterberg & Willett, 2019), then the Badenian river of the Vienna basin can be identified with the proto-Danube only in the latter -yet unproven -case.…”

“…The well-developed and wide clinoform sets of the Danube (Kisalföld) basin are the product of the proto-Danube beyond any doubt Figure 11c thrusting of the Jura blocked the westward drainage of the NAFB and thus created the current eastward drainage system (Kuhlemann & Kempf, 2002;Winterberg & Willett, 2019 ; Figure 11d). The Dacian basin is an "outlier" in the consecutively younging basin-fill pattern.…”