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AAPG Bulletin
Abstract
AAPG Bulletin, V.
2003. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
Anatomy and kinematics of oblique continental rifting revealed: A three-dimensional case study of the southeast Upper Rhine graben (Germany)
Jan H. Behrmann,1 Oliver Hermann,2 Mathias Horstmann,3 David C. Tanner,4 Guillaume Bertrand5
1Geologisches Institut, Universit
t Freiburg, Albertstr. 23-B, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany; email: [email protected]
2Geologisches Institut, Universitt Freiburg, Albertstr. 23-B, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany
3Geologisches Institut, Universitt Freiburg, Albertstr. 23-B, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany
4GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Telegrafenberg, D-14478 Potsdam, Germany
5Geologisches Institut, Universitt Freiburg, Albertstr. 23-B, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany
AUTHORS
Jan Behrmann is a structural geologist and head of the department at the Geologisches Institut, Universitt Freiburg. He has a doctorate from the University of Oxford. His research interests are evolution of active plate margins (e.g., Chile, Lesser Antilles) and collisional mountain belts (Alps, Hercynian orogen). He has recently studied the kinematics and dynamics of continental (Rhine graben) and back-arc rifting (Woodlark basin). He also has professional experience in gold exploration.
Oliver Herrmann received a Diploma in geology from the Universitt Freiburg in 2002. His interests are in structural geology and geo-computing. He is an engineering geologist with Terrasond GmbH (G
nzburg, Germany) and works on tunneling projects in southern Germany.
Mathias Horstmann received a Diploma in geology from the Universitt Freiburg in 2002. He is interested in hydrocarbon geology, reservoir 
modeling
, and structural geology. He is currently a drilling service engineer for Schlumberger Drilling and Measurements.
David Tanner is researcher at GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (Germany). He received a B.Sc. in geology from Liverpool University, an M.Sc. from Imperial College, London, and a doctorate from Universitt Giessen, Germany. He has worked on deformation of high-grade metamorphics and problems of melt segregation and transfer, and now specializes in 3-D kinematic and physical modeling of complexly deformed terrains.
Guillaume Bertrand is postdoctoral researcher at Geologisches Institut, Universitt Freiburg. He graduated in geology from Universit
Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, and completed a doctoral study at Ecole Normale Suprieure, Paris. His first postdoctoral research position was at the University of Houston. He has worked on the neotectonics and thermochronology of Burma, and now investigates the dynamics of the European rift system.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank P. Hennings and R. Groshong for their thoughtful reviews. We are grateful to Landesamt fr Geologie, Rohstoffe und Bergbau, Freiburg for opening their vaults of unpublished data and making this study possible. Discussions with G. Wirsing, D. Ellwanger, and W. Brstle at this institution and with M. Lutz (Freiburg), M. Ford (Nancy), and P. Ziegler (Basel) were instrumental in shaping our ideas. W. Brstle kindly made 1995 earthquake source data available. A. Hoelzl (Freiburg) created "horizont.pl", a computing routine that helped us to easily refer all depth data to sea level. Our study forms part of the international EUCOR (European Confederation of Upper Rhine Universities) URGENT (Upper Rhine Graben Evolution and Neotectonics) project and benefited from financial and logistical support of the European Union-funded ENTEC (Environmental Tectonics) research and training network. All digital data describing the stratigraphic surfaces and the fault system may be obtained from the authors upon request or may be retrieved from the EUCOR URGENT database after signature of a confidentiality agreement.
ABSTRACT
The Upper Rhine graben is a north-northeast–trending, small-displacement, crustal-scale rift of Tertiary age. Retrodeformation of its southeastern part demonstrates that it is a product of sinistral oblique rifting. Early extension was toward 80
. Later, the major stretching axis changed to a 60 direction. The modeling
results suggest that the eastern Main Border fault developed first, and that faulting later propagated into the evolving graben interior. Considerable along-strike variations in heave, throw, and displacement are evident. Displacement partitioning causes warping of the rift floor with a 30–35-km wavelength. We consider this to be a characteristic of oblique rifting. Contact deformation of the wall rocks to the major faults may have caused widespread smaller scale faulting and brecciation and may be the location of later movements. Close spatial coincidence of the depth projections of some of the faults studied and the hypocenters of recent small earthquakes indicates continuing activity of the fault system. Apparently, three fault segments in the Freiburg area are currently active and may be an increased earthquake risk.
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