Subsidence, heat and mass transfer in the Central European Basin system: A regional 2D basin modelling study

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Ralf Littke
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2004 to 2010
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5427469

A detailed study is planned to obtain a comprehensive overview on subsidence and sedimentation, uplift and erosion, temperature and maturity evolution and hydrocarbon generation and transport along long regional transects through the Central European Basin system (CEBS). The southernmost line will extend from the West Netherlands Basin close to the London-Brabant High in the southwest towards the Lower Saxony Basin in the northeast crossing the major structural elements. The second line will be a transect from Brandenburg area in eastern Germany towards NE to Poland. It will cross important tectonic elements including the Variscan Front and the inverted Mid-Polish Trough superimposed on the Trans-European Suture Zone.The third line will be directed from the Lower Saxony Basin northwards towards the Norwegian-Danish Basin and will thus cross several important tectonic elements such as the Aller and Elbe Line, the Variscan and Caledonian deformation front and the Ringkøbing-Fyn High. It will allow a comparison of the northern and southern Permian Basin as part of the CEBS. The CEBS has a complex basin evolution reaching maximum burial and hence thermal maturation partly during Mesozoic (e.g. Jurassic, Cretaceous) times and partly during the Tertiary. Furthermore, it is characterized by a highly variable basin fill strongly affecting permeability distribution and heat transfer. This study should provide insight into the complex basin history. The approach will use newest versions of existing basin modelling software and take advantage of an international co-operation of several partner institutes.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1135: Dynamics of Sedimentary Systems under Varying Stress Regimes: The Example of the Central European Basin System
• International Connection: Netherlands, Poland
• Participating Persons: Privatdozent Dr. Marek Narkiewicz; Dr. Henk J.M. Pagnier