Sample collection and processing of cuttings from the currently running geothermal deep-drilling well BRUCK-GT-001 (Quaternary to Upper Jurassic, Eastern Melasse Basin, Bavaria)

• Applicant: Professorin Anke Friedrich, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2018 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 415709844

The immediate and urgent objective is the recovery of the largest possible amount of sample in the form of cuttings, which are produced in the context of groject (geothermal drilling pGT-Bruck-001 at Garching on the Alz). From May 4, 2018, cuttings will be delivered to the surface at a rate of 10 m / hour on average to a final depth of over 3 km. The drilling operation runs 24/7 and samples that can not be recovered in real time end up in the heap. Geologists of RAG (Vienna) offered us this option only on April 18th 2018.The need for densest sampling possible is based on our geological targets for dating hiatal surfaces over the entire 3-kilometer drill profile, which should include the entire Tertiary fill of the Molasse Basin, Cretaceous strata and the karstified target horizon of the Upper Jurassic (Malm).Subsequent to the sample recovery and subsequent initial description of the lithological profile, a DFG full proposal for biostratigraphic analysis based on microfossils (e.g., foraminifera) of the cuttings will be prepared, which should allow the hiatal surfaces in this area of ​​the molasse basin to be dated more accurately than before. The hiatal areas mark erosion and non-sedimentation time periods and therefore serve as proxies for relative vertical movements of the earth's crust on regional scales.The drillcuttings are to be long-term archived at the LMU Munich in order to be available for follow-up projects, e.g. in ​​provenance analysis and other studies.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Austria
• Co-Investigators: Dr. Dorothea Frieling; Privatdozent Dr. Simon Kübler
• Cooperation Partner: Dr. Hans-Gert Linzer