Schaefer, Andreas1 (1)
The
Syngenetic SW-ward oblique transtension at its NW boundary fault initiated the basin
to develop as a strike-slip controlled half-graben.
This led to a NE-ward oriented travel of the basin's depocentres
in the Carboniferous and the Permian. The youngest stratigraphic
storey exposes shingled alluvial fans at the boundary fault in the ultimate NE
of the basin.
Cyclic fluvial environments of tropical Westphalian and Stephanian strata
show a wide range of coarse-grained braided and medium-grained meandering
environments, also lacustrine deltas and lake
deposits with rich vertebrate faunas. Continental wetland floras led to a rich
wealth of coal measures, industrially mined today.
In semiarid Rotliegend,
alluvial environments developed, and intense volcanism provided intermediate
lava flows, acidic ignimbrites and tuffs of about 500 m in thickness, also intrusives.
In late Cretaceous and early Tertiary,
the basin was lifted and part of its Meso-Cenozoic
overburden was removed, in places also the Rotliegend
and the Stephanian – a thickness of about 4000 m
totally. So, the
Well logs and seismic sections faciliate the reconstruction of the 3D structure of the
basin and also the set-up of sedimentological models
that reflect its development through time.
AAPG Search and Discover Article #90063©2007 AAPG Annual Convention, Long Beach, California