Rhinegraben and the Alpine system

Fluids in the Continental Crust

“…There are many examples from within and around mountainous regions today of flow systems that involve the movement of surface water through crystalline rocks before returning, heated to the surface. The flow system in the Rhine graben, driven by the hydraulic head of the western Alps ( Illies and Greiner, 1978;Person and Garven, 1989) is of this type and has been investigated at depth through geothermal drilling at Soultz-sous-Forets, north of Strasbourg (Smith et al, 1998). Hot springs in high mountain valleys are similarly the result of deep-penetration of meteoric waters circulating under the influence of large topographic variations.…”

Present-day stress orientation in the Molasse Basin

“…Betz and Wendt (1983) and Brink et al (1992) describe broad anticlines in the Swiss Molasse Basin, which are very rare in the German part, probably because of the absence of preferred decollement horizons like the Muschelkalk evaporites in Switzerland. Compressive stresses resulting in these folds are believed to result form the northward propagation of Alpine nappes and the topography of the orogen (Illies and Greiner, 1978).…”

“…The majority of stress regimes inferred from earthquake focal mechanisms, recent structural styles in the region, and observations of thrust deformation in the lignite mine of Peissenberg (Heissbauer, 1975;Illies and Greiner, 1978) indicate that a strike-slip or thrust faulting stress regime is most likely present in the Molasse Basin (Fig. 4).…”

“…However, the Alpine orogen has had a dominant and widespread far-field influence on the Cenozoic tectonics in Western Europe (Cloetingh, 1986;Ziegler, 1987). Illies and Greiner (1978) postulate that the orientations are approximately perpendicular to the isobases of Holocene uplift in the Rhine Graben. Stresses generated by the Alpine orogen are hypothesised to have been transmitted over 1500 km from the Alps, resulting in uplift and inversion in numerous areas such as the UK and southern North Sea (Cloetingh, 1986;Ziegler, 1990;Hillis et al, 2008).…”

Active Structures in Central Upper Rhine Graben, SW Germany: New Data from Landau Area using Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) Technique and Cerescope

“…Rotation of the S H from NW-SE to NNW-SSE was observed with increasing depth [58]. Based on 2D seismic profile interpretations, neotectonic fault activity is assigned mainly to 170˚-180˚ striking faults, which are defined by Illies and Greiner as Riedel Shears with a left-lateral sense of movement [59]. Recent seismological studies confirmed the seismic activity of 020˚ striking faults located in the southern and central URG, which are associated with important historical earthquakes that could be well consistent with the maximum horizontal stress direction and suggesting N to NNE direction of σ 1 .…”