Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T08:53:08.572Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Syn-kinematic palaeogeographic evolution of the West European Platform: correlation with Alpine plate collision and foreland deformation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2017

W. Sissingh
W. Sissingh*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD Utrecht, The Netherlands. Email: w.sissingh@geo.uu.nl
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Sequence stratigraphic correlations indicate that intermittent changes of the kinematic far-field stress-field regimes, and the associated geodynamic re-organisations at the plate-tectonic contacts of the African, Apulian, Iberian and European plates, affected the Tertiary palaeogeographic evolution of the West European Platform through a combination of intra-plate tectonics and fluctuations of relative sea level. A temporal sequence of first-order stages in structural, palaeotopographic and palaeohydrographic development of the platform can be distinguished from the Paleocene onwards. These formative stages are closely linked to major plate-boundary events involving the development of the Pyrenean and Alpine orogens, and can be traced throughout the West European Platform.

Keywords

Alpine Foreland BasinAquitaine BasinEuropean Cenozoic Rift Systempalaeogeographyplate-kinematicsParis BasinWest European Platform
Type
Research Article
Information
Netherlands Journal of Geosciences , Volume 85 , Issue 2 , June 2006 , pp. 131 - 180
Copyright
Copyright © Stichting Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 2006

References

Allen, P.A. & Bass, J.P., 1993. Sedimentology of the Upper Marine Molasse of the Rhône-Alp region, eastern France: implications for basin evolution. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 86: 121–172.Google Scholar
Allen, P.A., Mange-Rajetzky, M.A., Matter, A. & Homewood, P., 1985. Dynamic palaeogeography of the open Burdigalian seaway, Swiss Molasse Basin. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 78: 351–381.Google Scholar
Allen, P.A., Crampton, S.L. & Sinclair, H.D., 1991. The inception and early evolution of the North Alpine Foreland Basin, Switzerland. Basin Research 3: 143–163.Google Scholar
Amitrov, O.V., 1996. Paleogeography and climatic zonation of Early Oligocene seas west of Eurasia based on gastropods. Paleontological Journal 30: 1–10.Google Scholar
Andeweg, B. & Cloetingh, S., 1998. Flexure and ‘unflexure’ of the North Alpine German-Austrian Molasse Basin: constraints from forward tectonic modelling. Geological Society Special Publication (London) 134: 404–422.Google Scholar
Arthaud, F. & Laurent, P., 1995. Contraintes, déformation et déplacement dans l'avant-pays Nord-pyrénéen du Languedoc méditerranéen. Geodinamica Acta 8: 142–157.Google Scholar
Arthaud, F. & Séguret, M., 1981. Les structures pyrénéenes du Languedoc et du Golfe du Lion (Sud de la France). Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, ser. 7, 23: 51–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Autran, A. & Peterlongo, J.-M., 1980. Massif Central. Revue des Sciences Naturelles d'Auvergne 54: 3–123.Google Scholar
Bachmann, G.H. & Müller, M., 1991. The Molasse basin, Germany: evolution of a classic petroliferous foreland basin. European Association of Petroleum Geoscientists & Engineers Special Publication 1: 263–276.Google Scholar
Bachmann, G.H., Dohr, G., Müller, M., 1982. Exploration in a classic thrust belt and its foreland: Bavarian Alps, Germany. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 66: 2529–2542.Google Scholar
Bachmann, G.H., Müller, M., Weggen, K., 1987. Evolution of the Molasse Basin (Germany, Switzerland). Tectonophysics 137: 77–92.Google Scholar
Ballesio, R., 1972. Etude Stratigraphique du Pliocène Rhodanien. Documents des Laboratoires de Géologie de la Faculté des Sciences de Lyon 53: 333 pp.Google Scholar
Becker, A., 2000. The Jura Mountains - an active foreland fold-and-thrust belt? Tectonophysics 321: 381–406.Google Scholar
Berger, J.-P., 1985. La Transgression de la Molasse Marine Supérieure (OMM) en Suisse Occidentale. Münchener Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen 5: 207 pp.Google Scholar
Berger, J.-P., 1996. Cartes paléogéographiques-palinspastiques du bassin molassique suisse (Oligocène inferieur - Miocène moyen). Neues Jahrbuch fün Geologie und Paläontologie: Abhandlungen 202: 1–44.Google Scholar
Berger, J.-P., Seichenbacher, B., Becker, D., Grimm, M., Grimm, K., Picot, L., Storni, A., Pirkenseer, C., Derer, C. & Schaefer, A., 2005. Paleogeography of the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) and the Swiss Molasse Basin (SMB) from Eocene to Pliocene. International Journal of Earth Sciences 94: 697–710.Google Scholar
Bergerat, F., 1987. Paleochamps de contrainte tertiaires dans la plateform europeenne au front de l'orogène alpin. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, ser. 8, 3: 611–620.Google Scholar
Blanc-Valleron, M.-M. & Schuler, M., 1997. The salt basins of Alsace (southern Rhine Graben). In: Busson, G. & Schreiber, B.C. (ed.): Sedimentary Deposition in Rift and Foreland Basins in France and Spain Paleogene and Lower Neogene. Columbia University Press (New York): 95–135.Google Scholar
Blès, J.I. & Gros, Y., 1991. Stress field changes in the Rhone Valley from the Miocene to the present. Tectonophysics 194: 265–277.Google Scholar
Blès, J.L., Bonijoly, D., Castaing, C. & Gros, Y., 1989. Successive post-Variscan stress fields in the French Massif Central and its borders (Western European plate): comparison with geodynamic data. Tectonophysics 169: 79–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bodergat, A.-M., Briot, D., Hugueney, M., Poidevin, J.-L., Picot, L., Giraud, F., Berger, J.-P., Levy, A., Poignant, A., 1999. Incursions marines dans 1'environnement lacustre du rift oligocène de Limagne (Massif central): apport des organismes halophiles et des isotopes du strontium; datation par les mammifères. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 170: 499–511.Google Scholar
Bois, C., 1993. Orogenic belts and sedimentary basins. Thoughts on crustal evolution suggested by deep seismic reflection images. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 164: 327–342.Google Scholar
Bonvalot, J., Courel, L., Sénac, P., 1984. Étude sédimentologique du remplissage plio-pléistocène de la Bresse. Géologie de la France 3: 197–220.Google Scholar
Bourrouilh, R., Richert, J.-P. & Zolnaï, G., 1995. The North Pyrenean Aquitaine basin, France: evolution and hydrocarbons. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 79: 831–853.Google Scholar
Büchi, U.P. & Schlanke, S., 1977. Zur Paläogeographie der schweizerischen Molasse. Erdöl-Erdgas-Zeitschrift 93: 51–69.Google Scholar
Cahuzac, B., 1980. Stratigraphie et Paléogéographie de l'Oligocène au Miocène en Aquitaine Sud-Occidentale. Ph.D. Thesis Univ. Bordeaux: 586 pp.Google Scholar
Cahuzac, B., Janin, M.-C. & Steurbaut, É., 1995. Biostratigraphie de l'Oligo-Miocène du bassin d'Aquitaine fondée sur les nannofossiles calcaires. Implications paléogéographiques. Géologie de la France 2: 57–79.Google Scholar
Capdeville, J.P., 1989. Synthèse Paléogéographique et Structurale des Dépôts Fluvio-lacustres Tertiaires du Nord du Bassin Aquitain entre Lot et Dordogne. Documents du Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières 175: 295 pp.Google Scholar
Cathles, L.M. & Hallam, A., 1991. Stress-induced changes in plate density. Vail sequences, epeirogeny, and short-lived global sea level fluctuations. Tectonics 10: 659–671.Google Scholar
Cavelier, C. (Coord.), 1984. Paléocène. Mémoires du Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières 125: 389–468.Google Scholar
Cavelier, C. & Pomerol, C., 1979. Chronologie et interprétation des événements tectoniques cénozoiques dans le Bassin de Paris. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, ser. 7, 21: 33–48.Google Scholar
Cloetingh, S., 1986. Intra-plate stresses: a new tectonic mechanism for fluctuations of relative sea level. Geology 14: 617–620.Google Scholar
Cloetingh, S. & Kooi, H., 1992. Tectonics and global change - inferences from Late Cenozoic subsidence and uplift pattern in the Atlantic/Mediterranean region. Terra Nova 4: 340–350.Google Scholar
Cloetingh, S., McQueen, H. & Lambeck, K., 1985. On a tectonic mechanism for regional sea-level variations. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 75: 157–166.Google Scholar
Cloetingh, S., Lambeck, K. & McQueen, H., 1987. Apparent sea-level fluctuations and a palaeostress field for the North Sea region. In: Brooks, J. & Glennie, K. (ed.): Petroleum Geology of North West Europe. Graham & Trotman (London): 49–57.Google Scholar
Coulon, M., 1992. La distension oligocène dans le nord-est du bassin de Paris (perturbation des direction d'extension et distribution des stylolites. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 163: 531–540.Google Scholar
Crampton, S.L. & Allen, P.A., 1995. Recognition of forebulge unconformities associated with early stage foreland basin development: example from the North Alpine Foreland Basin. Geological Society of America Bulletin 79: 1495–1514.Google Scholar
Crochet, B., 1991. Molasses Syntectoniques du Versant Nord des Pyrénées: la Série de Palassou. Documents du Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières 199: 387 pp.Google Scholar
Curial, A. & Moretto, R., 1997. The salt basin of Bresse: southern Saône Graben. In: Busson, G. & Schreiber, B.C. (ed.): Sedimentary Deposition in Rift and Foreland Basins in France and Spain (Paleogene and Lower Neogene). Columbia University Press (New York): 136–194.Google Scholar
Debrand-Passard, S., 1995. Histoire géologique résumée. Bulletin d'Information des Géologues du Bassin de Paris 32(3): 15–25.Google Scholar
Debrand-Passard, S., Gros, Y., Lablanche, G. & Menot, J.-C., 1992. Age, genèse et évolution du fossé de la Loire: nouvelle approche stratigraphique, morphologique et structural. Bulletin d'Information des Géologues du Bassin de Paris 29(4): 63–74.Google Scholar
De Gracianski, P.C., Dardeau, G., Lemoine, M. & Tricart, P., 1989. The inverted margin of the French Alps and basin inversion. Geological Society Special Publication (London) 44: 87–104.Google Scholar
Demarcq, G., 1984. Étude Stratigraphique du Miocène Rhodanien. Mémoires du Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières 61: 257 pp.Google Scholar
Demarcq, G. & Perriaux, J. (Coords), 1984. Néogène. Mémoires du Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières 125: 469–519.Google Scholar
Déramond, J., Souquet, P., Fondecave-Wallez, M.-J. & Specht, M., 1993. Relationships between thrust tectonics and sequence stratigraphy surfaces in foredeeps: models and examples from the Pyrenees (Cretaceous-Eocene, France, Spain). Geological Society Special Publication (London) 71: 193–219.Google Scholar
Dercourt, J., Geatani, M., Vrielinck, B., Barrier, E., Biju-Duval, B., Brunet, M.-F., Cadet, J.-P., Crasquin, S. & Sandulescu, M. (ed.), 2000. Atlas Peri-Tethys: Palaeogeographical Maps. CCGM/CGMW, Paris, 24 maps and explanatory notes: XX + 269 pp.Google Scholar
Derer, C., Kosinowski, M., Luterbacher, H.P., Schafer, A. & Süss, M.P., 2003. Sedimentary response to tectonics in extensional basins: the Pechelbronn Beds (Late Eocene to early Oligocene) in the northern Upper Rhine Graben, Germany. Geological Society Special Publication (London) 208: 55–69.Google Scholar
Desegaulx, P. & Brunet, M.-F., 1990. Tectonic subsidence of the Aquitaine basin since the Cretaceous time. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, ser. 8, 6: 295–306.Google Scholar
Desegaulx, P., Kooi, H. & Cloetingh, S., 1991. Consequences of foreland basin development on thinned continental lithosphere: application to the Aquitaine basin. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 106: 116–132.Google Scholar
Dewey, J.F., Helman, M.L., Turco, E., Hutton, D.H.W. & Knott, S.D., 1989. Kinematics of the western Mediterranean. Geological Society Special Publication (London) 45: 265–283.Google Scholar
Dèzes, P., Schmid, S.M. & Ziegler, P.A., 2004. Evolution of the European Cenozoic Rift System: interaction of the Alpine and Pyrenean orogens with their foreland lithosphere. Tectonophysics 389: 1–33.Google Scholar
Diem, B., 1986. Die Untere Meeresmolasse zwischen der Saane (Westschweiz) und der Ammer (Oberbayern). Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 79: 493–559.Google Scholar
Doebl, F., 1969. Ein Oberflächen-Aufschluss in den Pechelbronner Schichten (Sannois) bei Nackenheim (westliches Mainzer Becken). Oberrheinische Geologische Abhandlungen 18: 47–51.Google Scholar
Doppler, G., 1989. Zur Stratigraphie der nördlichen Vorlandmolasse in Bayerisch-Swaben. Geologica Bavarica 94: 83–133.Google Scholar
Dromart, G. & Dumas, D., 1997. The salt basin of Valence (France). In: Busson, G. & Schreiber, B.C. (ed.): Sedimentary Deposition in Rift and Foreland Basins in France and Spain (Paleogene and Lower Neogene). Columbia University Press (New York): 195–239.Google Scholar
Dubreuihl, J., 1989. Synthèse Paléogéographique et Structurale des Dépôts Fluviatiles Tertiaires du Nord du Bassin Aquitain, Passage aux Formations Palustres, Lacustres et Marines. Documents du Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières 172: 462 pp.Google Scholar
Dubreuilh, J., Capdeville, J.-P., Farjanel, G., Karnay, G., Platel, J.-P. & Simon-Coinçon, R., 1995. Dynamique d'un comblement continental néogène et quaternaire: l'exemple du bassin d'Aquitaine. Géologie de la France 4: 3–26.Google Scholar
Dumas, D., 1986. La sédimentation paléocène dans le fosse salifère de Valence: géometrie des dépôts et aperçu des mécanismes sédimentaires. Géologie de la France 4: 399–416.Google Scholar
Ebner, F. & Sachsenhofer, R.F., 1995. Palaeogeography, subsidence and thermal history of the Neogene Styrian Basin (Pannonian basin system, Austria). Tectonophysics 242: 133–150.Google Scholar
Evans, M.J. & Mange-Rajetzky, M.A., 1991. The provenance of sediments in the Barrême thrust-top basin, Haute-Provence, France. Geological Society Special Publication (London) 57: 323–342.Google Scholar
Fontes, J.-C., Gaudant, J., Mélières, F., Filly, A. & Schlund, J.-M., 1996. Origine continentale des évaporites paléogènes du fossé de Valence (Drôme): données minéralogiques, isotopiques et paléoécologiques. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 167: 475–481.Google Scholar
Ford, M., Lickorish, W.H. & Kusznir, N.J., 1999. Tertiary foreland sedimentation in the Southern Subalpine Chains, SE France: a geodynamic appraisal. Basin Research 11: 315–336.Google Scholar
Frisch, W., Kuhlemann, J., Dunkl, I. & Brügel, A., 1998. Palinspastic reconstruction and topographic evolution of the Eastern Alps during late Tertiary tectonic extrusion. Tectonophysics 297: 1–15.Google Scholar
Gaudant, J., 1977. Nouvelles observations sur l'ichthyofaune stampienne d'Oberdorf (Canton de Soleure). Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 70: 789–809.Google Scholar
Gaudant, J., 1981. Nouvelles recherches sur l'ichthyofaune des zones salifères moyenne et supérieure (Oligocène inférieur) du bassin potassique alsacien. Sciences Géologiques Bulletin 34: 209–218.Google Scholar
Gayet, J., 1985. L'Ensemble des Environnements Oligocènes Nord-Aquitains: un Modèle de Plateforme Marine Stable à Sédimentation Carbonatée. Mémoires de l'lnstitut de Géologie du Bassin d'Aquitaine, Special Publication 1: 294 pp.; 2: 234 pp.Google Scholar
Geluk, M.C., Duin, E.J.T., Dusar, M., Rijkers, R.H.B., van den Berg, M.W. & van Rooijen, P., 1994. Stratigraphy and tectonics of the Roer Valley Graben. Geologie en Mijnbouw 73: 129–141.Google Scholar
Gély, J.-P. & Lorenz, C., 1991. Analyse séquentielle de l'Éocene et de l'Oligocène du Bassin parisien (France). Revue de l'Institut Français du Pétrole 46: 713–747.Google Scholar
Gély, J.-P. & Sztràkos, K., 2000. L'évolution paléogéographique et géodynamique du bassin Aquitain au Paléogène: enregistrement et datation de la tectonique pyrénéenne. Géologie de la France 2000 (2): 31–57.Google Scholar
Giamboni, M., Wetzel, A., Nivière, B. & Schumacher, M., 2004. Plio-Pleistocene folding in the southern Rhinegraben recorded by the evolution of the drainage network (Sundgau area; northwestern Switzerland and France. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 97: 17–31.Google Scholar
Gillcrist, R., Coward, M. & Mugnier, J.-L., 1987. Structural inversion and its controls: examples from the Alpine foreland and the French Alps. Geodinamica Acta 1: 5–34.Google Scholar
Gillet, S., 1944. La faune oligocène de Péchelbronn. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, ser. 5, 14: 233–246.Google Scholar
Goes, S., Spakman, W. & Bijwaard, H., 1999. A lower mantle source for central European volcanism. Science 286: 1928–1931.Google Scholar
Gölke, M. & Coblentz, D., 1996. Origins of the European regional stress field. Tectonophysics 266: 11–24.Google Scholar
Guillocheau, F. & many others, 1999. Évolution géodynamique du bassin de Paris: apport d'une base de données stratigraphiques 3D. Bulletin d'Information des Géologues du Bassin de Paris 36(4): 3–35.Google Scholar
Gupta, S. & Allen, P.A., 2000. Implications of foreland paleotopography for stratigraphic development in the Eocene distal Alpine foreland basin. Geological Society of America Bulletin 112: 515–530.Google Scholar
Hager, H. & Prüfert, J., 1988. Tertiär. In: Geologische Landesamt Nordrhein-Westfalen (ed.): Geologie am Niederrhein. van Acken (Krefeld): 32–40.Google Scholar
Hantke, R., 1993. Flussgeschichte Mitteleuropas: Skizzen zu einer Erd-, Vegetations- und Klimageschichte der Letzten 40 Millionen Jahre. Enke Verlag (Stuttgart): 460 pp.Google Scholar
Harland, W.B., Armstrong, R.L., Cox, A.V., Craig, L.E., Smith, A.G., Smith, D.G., 1990. A Geologic Time Scale 1989. Cambridge University Press (Cambridge): XVI + 263 pp.Google Scholar
Haq, B.U., Hardenbol, J. & Vail, P.R., 1988. Mesozoic and Cenozoic stratigraphy and cycles of sea-level change. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Special Publication 42: 71–108.Google Scholar
Herb, R., 1988. Eocaene Paläogeographie und Paläotektonik des Helvetikums. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 81: 611–657.Google Scholar
Herb, R., 1992. The basal Tertiary unconformity in the Helvetic realm. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 85: 773–774.Google Scholar
Hoernle, K., Zhang, Y.-S. & Graham, D., 1995. Seismic and geochemical evidence for large-scale mantle upwelling beneath the eastern Atlantic and western and central Europe. Nature 374: 34–39.Google Scholar
Hoffmann, F., 1996. Zur plio-pleistozänen Landschaftsgeschichte im Gebiet Hochrhein-Wutach-Randen-Donau: geomorphologische überlegungen und sedimentpetrographische Befunde. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 89: 1023–1041.Google Scholar
Homewood, P., 1986. Geodynamics and palaeogeography of the Western Molasse Basin: a review. Giornale di Geologia, ser. 3, 48: 274–284.Google Scholar
Homewood, P. Keller, B., Schoepfer, P., Yang, C.S., 1989. Faciès, processus de sédimentation et reconstruction des conditions paléomarines dans la Molasse marine supérieure suisse. Geological Society of America Bulletin 71: 577–610.Google Scholar
Huckriede, R. & Urban, B., 1998. Ein landschafts- und flussgeschichtlich wichtiges Pannon - bis Altquatär-Profil bei Fritzlar/Hessen. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geowissenschaften 149: 105–126.Google Scholar
Illies, J.H., Baumann, H. & Hoffers, B., 1981. Stress pattern and stress release in the Alpine foreland. Tectonophysics 71: 157–172.Google Scholar
Kadolsky, D., 1975. Zur Paläontologie und Biostratigraphie des Tertiärs im Neuwied Becken. I. Taxonomie und stratigraphische Bedeutung von Mollusken. Decheniana 128: 113–137.Google Scholar
Kälin, D., 2000. Stratigraphie und Säugetierfaunen der Oberen Süsswassermolasse der Nordwestschweiz. Ph.D. Thesis ETH Zurich: 239 pp.Google Scholar
Kasiñski, J.R., 1991. Tertiary lignite-bearing lacustrine facies of the Zittau Basin: Ohre rift system (Poland, Germany and Czechoslovakia). Special Publication of the International Association of Sedimentologists 13: 93–107.Google Scholar
Kempf, O. & Pfiffner, O.A., 2004. Early Tertiary evolution of the North Alpine Foreland Basin of the Swiss Alps and adjoining areas. Basin Research 16: 549–567.Google Scholar
Kerckhove, C., 1980. Panorama des séries synorogéniques des Alpes occidentales. Mémoires du Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières 107: 234–255.Google Scholar
Kronberg, P., 1991. Crustal fracturing and intraplate tectonics in the area between the North Sea and the Alps: A comparison of Landsat-derived fractures with existing map data. Tectonophysics 195: 261–269.Google Scholar
Kuhlemann, J. & Kempf, O., 2002. Post-Eocene evolution of the North Alpine Foreland Basin and its response to Alpine tectonics. Sedimentary Geology 152: 45–78.Google Scholar
Lacombe, O., Angelier, J., Byrne, D. & Dupin, J.M., 1993. Eocene-Oligocene tectonics and kinematics of the Rhine-Saône continental transform zone (eastern France). Tectonics 12: 874–888.Google Scholar
Larue, J.-P. & Étienne, R., 1998. Les formations detritiques miocènes, pliocènes et quaternaires entre le Massif central et la Sologne. Nouveau éléments d'interprétations. Géologie de la France 1: 39–56.Google Scholar
Laubscher, H., 1992. Jura kinematics and the Molasse Basin. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 85: 653–675,Google Scholar
Lefort, J.-P. & Agarwal, B.N.P., 1996. Gravity evidence for an Alpine buckling of the crust beneath the Paris Basin. Tectonophysics 258: 1–14.Google Scholar
Lemcke, K., 1974. Vertikalbewegungen des vormesozoischen Sockets im nördlichen Alpenvorland vom Perm bis zur Gegenwart. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 67: 121–133.Google Scholar
Lemcke, K., 1983. Indications of a large eustatic sea-level fall at the Rupelian/Chattian boundary in the German Molasse Basin. Bulletin der Vereinigung Schweizerisches Petroleum-Geologen und Ingenieur 49, 117: 57–60.Google Scholar
Le Pichon, X., Bergerat, F. & Roulet, M.-J., 1988. Plate kinematics and tectonics leading to the Alpine belt formation: A new analysis. Geologica Society of America Special Paper 218: 111–131.Google Scholar
Lihou, J.C., 1995. A new look at the Blattengrat unit of eastern Switzerland: Early Tertiary foreland basin sediments from the South Helvetic realm. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 88: 91–114.Google Scholar
Lihou, J.C., 1996a. Structure and deformational history of the Infrahelvetic flysch units, Glarus Alps, eastern Switzerland. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 89: 439–460.Google Scholar
Lihou, J.C., 1996b. Stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Sardona unit, Glarus Alps: Upper Cretaceous/middle Eocene deep-marine flysch sediments from the Ultrahelvetic realm. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 89: 721–752.Google Scholar
Lihou, J.C. & Allen, P.A., 1996. Importance of inherited rift margin structures in the early North Alpine Foreland Basin. Basin Research 8: 425–442.Google Scholar
Malkovsky, M., 1987. The Mesozoic and Tertiary basins of the Bohemian Massif and their evolution. Tectonophysics 137: 31–42.Google Scholar
Marchant, R., 1993. The Underground of the Western Alps. Mém. Géol. (Lausanne) 15: VI + 137 pp.Google Scholar
Martini, E., 1990. The Rhinegraben system, a connection between northern and southern seas in the European Tertiary. Veröffentlichungen aus dem Übersee-Museum Bremen, ser. A, 10: 83–98.Google Scholar
Mattauer, M., 1968. Les traits structuraux essentiels de la chaine pyrénéenne. Revue de Géographie et de Géologie Dynamique 10: 3–12.Google Scholar
Mégnien, C. & Megnien, F. (Coords), 1980. Synthèse Géologique du Bassin de Paris. Mémoires Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières 101: 466 pp.Google Scholar
Meiburg, P. & Kaever, M., 1986. Das Tertiär zwischen Egge und Weser. In: Tobien, H. (ed.): Nordwest-deutschland im Tertiär. (Berlin): 39–86.Google Scholar
Meissner, R., Wever, T. & Flüh, E.R., 1987. The Moho in Europe - implications for crustal development. Annals of Geophysics, ser. 5b, 4: 357–364.Google Scholar
Menkveld-Gfeller, U., 1995. Stratigraphie, Fazies und Palaeogeographie des Eocaens der helvetischen Decken der Westschweiz (Diablerets- und Wildhorn-Decke). Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 88: 115–134.Google Scholar
Meulenkamp, J.E. & Sissingh, W., 2003. Tertiary palaeogeographie and tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Northern and Southern Peri-Tethys platforms and the intermediate domains of the African-Eurasian convergent plate boundary zone. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 196: 209–228.Google Scholar
Meulenkamp, J.E. & Sissingh, W. and many others, 2000a. Early to Middle Ypresian, late Lutetian, Late Rupelian, Early Burdigalian, Early Langhian, Late Tortonian, Piacenzian-Gelasian. In: Atlas Peri-Tethys: Palaeogeographical Maps (Ed. by Dercourt, J. et al.), maps 17-23. CCGM/CGMW, Paris.Google Scholar
Meulenkamp, J.E. & Sissingh, W. and many others, 2000b. Early to Middle Ypresian, Late Lutetian, Late Rupelian, Early Burdigalian, Early Langhian, Late Tortonian, Piacenzian-Gelasian. In: Crasquin, S. (coord): Atlas Peri-Tethys: Explanatory Notes. CCGM/CGMW (Paris): 153–208.Google Scholar
Meyer, W., 1994. Geologie der Eifel. Schweizerbart (Stuttgart): 614 pp.Google Scholar
Meyer, W. & Stets, J., 1996. Das Rheintal zwischen Bingen und Bonn. Sammlung Geologische Führer 89: 386 pp.Google Scholar
Michard, A. & Martinotti, G., 2002. The Eocene unconformity of the Briaçonnais domain in the French-Italian Alps, revisited (Marguareis massif, Cuneo); a hint for Late Cretaceous-Middle Eocene frontal bulge setting. Geodinamica Acta 15: 289–301.Google Scholar
Michon, L., 2001. Dynamique de l'extension continentale: application au Rift Ouest Européen par l'étude de la province de Massif central. Mémoires de Géoscience Rennes 99: 266 pp.Google Scholar
Michon, L., Balen, R.T. van, Merle, O. & Pagnier, H., 2003. The Cenozoic evolution of the Roer Valley Rift System integrated at a European scale. Tectonophysics 367: 101–126.Google Scholar
Müller, B., Wehrle, V., Zeyen, H. & Fuchs, K., 1997. Short-scale variations of tectonic regimes in the western European stress province north of the Alps and Pyrenees. Tectonophysics 275: 199–219.Google Scholar
Muratet, B. & Cavelier, C., 1992. Caractère séquentiel discontinu des molasses oligocènes à la bordure orientale du Bassin aquitain; signification des conglomérats bordiers (Tarn, Tarnet-Gardonne, sud-ouest de la France). Géologie de la France 1: 3–14.Google Scholar
Nachtmann, W. & Wagner, L., 1987. Mesozoic and Early Tertiary evolution of the Alpine foreland in Upper Austria and Salzburg, Austria. Tectonophysics 137: 61–76.Google Scholar
Nickel, B., 1996. Palynofacies und Palynostratigraphie der Pechelbronn Schichten im nördlichen Oberrheinlalgraben. Paleontograpliica, ser. B, 240: 1–151.Google Scholar
Nury, D. & Schreiber, B.C., 1997. The Paleogene basins of southern Provence. In: Busson, G. & Schreiber, B.C. (ed.): Sedimentary Deposition in Rift and Foreland Basins in France and Spain (Paleogene and Lower Neogene). Columbia University Press (New York): 240–300.Google Scholar
Oberhauser, R., 1995. Zur Kenntnis der Tektonik und der Paläogeographie des Ostalpenraumes zur Kreide-, Paleozän- und Eozänzeit. Jahrbuch der Geologischen Bundesanstalt 136: 369–432.Google Scholar
Officer, C.B. & Drake, C.L., 1985. Epeirogeny on a short geologic time scale. Tectonics 4: 603.Google Scholar
Oyarzun, R., Doblas, M., López-Ruiz, J. & Cebriá, J.M., 1997. Opening of the central Atlantic and asymmetric mantle upwelling phenomena: Implications for long-lived magmatism in western North Africa and Europe. Geology 25: 727–730,Google Scholar
Peresson, H. & Decker, K., 1997. The Tertiary dynamics of the northern Eastern Alps (Austria): changing palaeostresses in a collisional plate boundary. Tectonophysics 272: 125–157.Google Scholar
Perrodon, A. & Zabek, J., 1990. Paris Basin. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 51: 633–679.Google Scholar
Petit, C., Campy, M., Chaline, J. & Bonvalot, J., 1996. Major palaeohydrographic changes in Alpine foreland during the Pliocene-Pleistocene. Boreas 25: 131–141.Google Scholar
Pfiffner, O.A., Lehner, P., Heitzmann, P., Mueller, S. & Steck, A. (ed.), 1997. Deep Structure of the Swiss Alps: Results of NRP 20. Birkhäuser Verlag (Basel): XII + 280 pp.Google Scholar
Pfiffner, O.A., Schlunegger, F. & Buiter, S.J.H., 2002. The Swiss Alps and their peripheral foreland basin: stratigraphic response to deep crustal processes. Tectonics 21: 3.1–3.16.Google Scholar
Pharisat, A., 1991. La paleoichthyofaune du Rupelien marin de Froidefontaine (Territoire de Belfort). Annales Scientifiques de Franche-Comté: Géologie 4: 13–97.Google Scholar
Platt, J.P., Behrmann, J.H., Cunningham, P.C., Dewey, J.F., Helman, M., Parish, M., Shepley, M.G., Wallis, S. & Weston, P.J., 1989. Kinematics of the Alpine arc and the motion history of Adria. Nature 337: 158–161.Google Scholar
Plaziat, J.-C., 1981. Late Cretaceous to Late Eocene palaeogeographie evolution of southwestern Europe. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 36: 263–320.Google Scholar
Plaziat, J.-C., 1984. Le Domaine Pyrénéen de la Fin du Crétacée à la Fin de l'Éocène. Stratigraphie, Paléoenvironments et Évolution Paléogéographique. Ph.D. Thesis Univ. Paris: 1362 pp.Google Scholar
Pomerol, C., 1982. The Cenozoic Era: Tertiary and Quaternary. Ellis Horwood (Chicester): 272 pp.Google Scholar
Prodehl, C., Mueller, S., Glahn, A., Gutscher, M., Haak, V., 1992. Lithospheric cross sections of the European Cenozoic rift system. Tectonophysics 208: 113–138.Google Scholar
Prodehl, C., Mueller, S. & Haak, V., 1995. The European Cenozoic rift system. Developments in Geotectonics 25: 133–211.Google Scholar
Rat, P., 1984. Une approche de l'environnement structurale et morphologique du Pliocène et du Quatemaire bressans. Géologie de la France 3: 185–196.Google Scholar
Regenauer-Lieb, K. & Petit, J.-P., 1997. Cutting the European continental lithosphere: Plasticity theory aplied to the present Alpine collision. Journal of Geophysical Research 102 B4: 7731–7746.Google Scholar
Reichenbacher, B., 1993. Mikrofaunen, Paläogeographie und Biostratigraphie der miozänen Brack- und Süsswassermolasse in der westlichen Paratethys unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Fisch-Otolithen. Senckenbergiana. Lethaea 73: 277–374.Google Scholar
Reichenbacher, B., 1995. Unteroligozäne Fische (Otolithen) aus dera Neuwieder Becken (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, West-Deutschland). Paläontologische Zeitschrift 69: 241–255.Google Scholar
Reichenbacher, B., 2000. Das brackisch-lacustrine Oligozän und Ober-Miozän im Mainzer Becken und Hanauer Becken: Fischfaunen, Paläoökologie, Biostratigraphie und Paläogeographie. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 222: 143 pp.Google Scholar
Reichenbacher, B. & Philippe, M., 1997. Les otolithes de Téléostéens oligocènes du bassin d'Apt (Vaucluse, France). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie: Abhandlungen 203: 391–423.Google Scholar
Rey, R., 1971. Biostratigraphie des bassins tertiaires du Massif Central. In: Symposium J. Jung: Géologie, Géomorphologie et Structure Profonde du Massif Central Français. Plein Air Service (Clermont-Ferrand): 309-330.Google Scholar
Robin, C., Guillocheau, F., Allemand, P., Bourquin, S., Dromart, G., Gaulier, J.-M. & Prijac, C., 2000. Echelles de temps et d'espace du contrôle tectonique d'un basin flexural intracratonique: le bassin de Paris. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 171: 181–196.Google Scholar
Rocher, M., Lacombe, O., Angelier, J., Deffontaines, B. & Verdier, F., 2000. Cenozoic folding and faulting in the south Aquitaine Basin (France): insights from combined structural and paleostress analyses. Journal of Structural Geology 22: 627–645.Google Scholar
Roest, W.R. & Srivastava, S.P., 1991. Kinematics of the plate boundaries between Eurasia, Iberia, and Africa in the North Atlantic from the Late Cretaceous to the present. Geology 19: 613–616.Google Scholar
Rothausen, K. & Sonne, V., 1984. Mainzer Becken. Sammlung Geologische Führer 79: 203 pp.Google Scholar
Rouchy, J.-M., 1997. Paleogene continental rift system of Western Europe: locations of basins, paleogeographic and structural framework, and the distribution of evaporites. In: Busson, G. & Schreiber, B.C. (ed.): Sedimentary Deposition in Rift and Foreland Basins in France and Spain (Paleogene and Lower Neogene). Columbia University Press (New York): 45–94.Google Scholar
Roure, F. & Colletta, B., 1996. Cenozoic inversion structures in the foreland of the Pyrenees and Alps. Mémoires du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle 170: 173–209.Google Scholar
Ruffini, R., Polino, R., Callegari, E., Hunziker, J.C. & Pfeifer, H.R., 1997. Volcanic clast-rich turbidites of the Taveyanne sandstones from the Thônes syncline (Savoie, France): records for a Tertiary postcollisional volcanism. Schweizerische Mineralogische und Petrographische Mitteillungen 77: 161–174.Google Scholar
Sabadini, R., Doglioni, C. & Yuen, D.A., 1990. Eustatic sea level fluctuations induced by polar wander. Nature 345: 708–710.Google Scholar
Schafer, A., Utescher, T., & von der Hocht, F., 1997. Klastische Sediment-systeme im Tertiär der Niederrheinischen Bucht. Terra Nostra 97(3): 68–113.Google Scholar
Schäfer, A., Utescher, T. & Mörs, T., 2004. Stratigraphy of the Cenozoic Lower Rhine Basin, northwestern Germany. Newsletters on Stratigraphy 40: 73–110.Google Scholar
Schmid, S.M. & Kissling, E., 2000. The arc of the western Alps in the light of geophysical data on deep crustal structure. Tectonics 19: 62–85.Google Scholar
Schreiber, U. & Rotsch, S., 1998. Cenozoic block rotation according to a conjugate shear system in central Europe - indications from palaeomagnetic measurements. Tectonophysics 299: 111–142.Google Scholar
Schröder, B., 1987. Inversion tectonics along the western margin of the Bohemian Massif. Tectonophysics 137: 93–100.Google Scholar
Schröder, B., 1996. Zur känozoischen Morphotektonik des Stufenlandes auf der Süddeutschen Grossscholle. Zeitschrift für Geologische Wissenschaften 24: 55–64.Google Scholar
Schröder, B. & Peterek, A., 2002. Känozoische Hebungs- und Abtragungs- geschichte im Umfeld des westlichen Egergrabens. Zeitschift der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geowissenschaften 152: 387–403.Google Scholar
Schumacher, M., 2002. Upper Rhine Graben: role of preexisting structures during rift evolution. Tectonics 21(1): 10.1029/2001TC90022(6-l - 6-17).Google Scholar
Sénac, P., 1981. Le Remplissage Détrique Plio-Pleistocène de la Bresse du Nord, ses Rapports avec la Bresse du Sud (Sédimentologie, Paléogeographie). Thèse 3e cycle, Univ. Dijon: 235 pp.Google Scholar
Simon-Coinçon, R., 1993. Incidence du paléodrainage mio-pliocène et de la tectonique sur le réseau hydrographique actuel dans le sud-ouest du Massif central. Géologie de la France 1: 29–39.Google Scholar
Sinclair, H.D., 1992. Turbidite sedimentation during Alpine thrusting: the Taveyannaz sandstones of eastern Switzerland. Sedimentology 39: 837–856.Google Scholar
Sinclair, H.D., 1997a. Tectonostratigraphic model for underfilled peripheral foreland basins: An Alpine perspective. Geological Society of America Bulletin 109: 324–346.Google Scholar
Sinclair, H.D., 1997b. Flysch to molasse transition in peripheral foreland basins: The role of the passive margin versus slab breakoff. Geology 25: 1123–1126.Google Scholar
Sinclair, H.D., Coakley, B.J., Allen, P.A. & Watts, A.B., 1991. Simulation of foreland basin stratigraphy using a diffusion model of mountain belt uplift and erosion: an example from the Central Alps. Tectonics 10: 599–620.Google Scholar
Sissingh, W., 1997. Tectonostratigraphy of the North Alpine Foreland Basin: correlation of Tertiary depositional cycles and orogenic phases. Tectonophysics 282: 223–256.Google Scholar
Sissingh, W., 1998. Comparative Tertiary stratigraphy of the Rhine Graben, Bresse Graben and Molasse Basin: correlation of Alpine foreland events. Tectonophysics 300: 249–284.Google Scholar
Sissingh, W., 2001. Tectonostratigraphy of the West Alpine Foreland: correlation of Tertiary sedimentary sequences, changes in eustatic sea-level and stress regimes. Tectonophysics 333: 361–400.Google Scholar
Sissingh, W., 2003a. Tertiary palaeogeographic and tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Rhenish Triple Junction. Palaegeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 196: 229–263.Google Scholar
Sissingh, W., 2003b. Stratigraphic framework of the European Cenozoic Rift System: a visual overview. Geologica Ultraiectina Special Publication. 2: 4 pp. Internet: http://www.igitur.nl/sissingh/ Google Scholar
Sissingh, W., 2006. Kinematic sequence stratigraphy of the European Cenozoic Rift System and Alpine Foreland Basin: corelation with Mediterranean and Atlantic plate-boundary events. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, this issue.Google Scholar
Stampfli, G.M., Mosar, J., Marquer, D., Marchant, R., Baudin, T. & Borel, G., 1998. Subduction and obduction processes in the Swiss Alps. Tectonophysics 296: 159–204.Google Scholar
Standke, G. & Suhr, P., 1998. Vulkane - Flüsse - Küstenmoore: Die fazielle Vielfalt am Südrand der Nordwest-Europäischen Tertiärsenke. Terra Nostra 98(4): 79–98.Google Scholar
Sztrèkos, K., Gély, J.-P., Blondeau, A. & Müller, C., 1997. Le Paléocène et l'Ilerdien (p.p.) du Bassin sud-aquitain: lithostratigraphie, biostratigraphie et analyse séquentielle. Géologie de la France 4: 27–54.Google Scholar
Sztràkos, K., Gély, J.-P., Blondeau, A. & Müller, C., 1998. L'Eocène du Bassin sud-aquitain: lithostratigraphie, biostratigraphie et analyse séquentielle. Géologie de la France 4: 57–105.Google Scholar
Szulc, J., Roger, P., Mouline, M.P. & Lenguin, M., 1991. Evolution of lacustrine systems in the Tertiary Narbonne Basin, northern Pyrenean foreland, southeast France. Special Publication of the International Association of Sedimentologists 13: 279–290.Google Scholar
Tempier, C., 1987. Modele nouveau de mise en place des structures provençales. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, ser. 8, 3: 533–540.Google Scholar
Thery, J.-M., 1996. Situation paléogéographique des nodules calcaires d'origine stromatolitique du Pechelbronn inférieur des mines de Merkwiller-Pechelbronn (Bas-Rhin, France): essai de mise au point dans le cadre tectonique oligocène inférieur à éocène supérieur du Fosse rhénan. Mémoires de la Société Géologique de France 169: 269–275.Google Scholar
Tourenq, J. & Pomerol, C., 1995. Mise en évidence, par la présence d'augite du Massif central, de l'existence d'une pré Loire-pré Seine coulant vers la Manche au Pléistocene. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences (Paris), ser. IIa, 320: 1163–1169.Google Scholar
Unger, H.J., 1989. Die Lithozonen der Oberen Süsswassermolasse Südostbayerns und ihre vermutlichen zeitlichen Äquivalente gegen Westen und Osten. Geologica Bavarica 94: 195–237.Google Scholar
Unger, H.J., 1999 Die Geisenfeld-Abfolge: gedanken zur Pliozänen Entwasserung der bayerischen Molasse. Documenta Naturae 125: 47–97.Google Scholar
Vialon, P., Rochette, P. & Menard, G., 1989. Indentation and rotation in the western Alpine arc. Geological Society Special Publication (London) 45: 329–338.Google Scholar
Villinger, E., 1998. Zur Flussgeschichte von Rhein und Donau in Süddeutschland. Jahresberichte und Mitteillungen des Oberrheinischen Geologischen Vereines, N.S., 80: 361–398.Google Scholar
Wagner, L.R., 1996. Stratigraphy and hydrocarbons in the Upper Austrian Molasse Foredeep. Special Publication of the European Association of Petroleum Geoscientists 5: 217–235.Google Scholar
Waibel, A.F., 1993. Nature and plate-tectonic significance of orogenic magmatism in the European Alps: a review. Schweizerische Mineralogische und Petrographische Mitteilungen 73: 391–405.Google Scholar
Wattinne, A., Vennin, E. & de Wever, P., 2003. Evolution d'un environment carbonaté lacustre à stromatolithes, par l'approche paléo-écoligique (carrière de Montaigue-le-Blin, bassin des Limagnes, Allier, France). Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 174: 243–260.Google Scholar
Wafts, A.R., Karner, G.D. & Steckler, M.S., 1982. Lithosphere flexure and the evolution of sedimentary basins. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, ser. S, 305: 249–281.Google Scholar
Zagwijn, W.H., 1989. The Netherlands during the Tertiary and Quaternary: a case history of coastal lowland evolution. Geologie en Mijnbouw 68: 107–120.Google Scholar
Zeyen, H., Volker, P., Wehrle, V., Fuchs, K., Sobolev, S.V. & Altherr, R., 1997. Styles of continental rifting: crust-mantle detachment and mantle plumes. Tectonophysics 278: 329–352.Google Scholar
Ziegler, P.A., 1987. Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic intra-plate compressional deformations in the Alpine foreland - a geodynamic model. Tectonophysics 137: 389–420.Google Scholar
Ziegler, P.A., 1990 Geological Atlas of Western and Central Europe, 2nd edn. Shell Int. Petrol. Mij. B.V., Geol. Soc. (London): 239 pp.Google Scholar
Ziegler, P.A., 1994. Cenozoic rift system of western and central Europe: an overview. Geologie en Mijnbouw 73: 99–127.Google Scholar
Ziegler, P.A., Cloetingh, S. & van Wees, J.-D., 1995. Dynamics of intra-plate compressional deformation: the Alpine foreland and other examples. Tectonophysics 252: 7–59.Google Scholar
Ziegler, P.A., Schmid, S.M., Pfiffiier, A. & Schönborn, G., 1996. Structure and evolution of the Central Alps and their northern and southern foreland basins. Mémoires du Muséum National d' Histoire Naturelle 170: 285–304.Google Scholar
Ziegler, P.A., van Wees, J.-D. & Cloetingh, S., 1998. Mechanical controls on collision-related compressional intraplate deformation. Tectonophysics 300: 103–129.Google Scholar
Ziegler, P.A., Bertotti, G. & Cloetingh, S., 2002. Dynamic processes controlling foreland development - the role of mechanical (de)coupling of orogenic wedges and fore lands. EGU Stephan-Mueller Special Publication Series 1: 17–56.Google Scholar
Zijerveld, L., Stephenson, R., Cloetingh, S., Duin, E., van den Berg, M.W., 1992. Subsidence analysis and modelling of the Roer Valley Graben (SE Netherlands). Tectonophysics 208: 159–171.Google Scholar