active tectonics and quaternary basin formation along the vienna basin transform fault abstract the vienna basin transform fault is an active fault system extending over a distance of some 300 km from the eastern alps through the vienna basin into the west carpathians active sinistral movement is indicated by moderate seismic activity in a ne striking zone paralleling the fault focal plane solutions and recent stress measurements by analogy to the miocene kinematics we propose that the sinistral strike slip fault terminates in the carpathians where horizontal offset is transformed into thin skinned thrust type deformation hypocenter depths mostly well above 12 km are in line with the inferred thin skinned style of deformation with active faults restricted to the overthrust alpine carpathian units mapping of active fault segments in the vienna basin using subcrop data thickness maps of quaternary deposits seismological data and geomorphological features seen in the digital elevation model shows that virtually all active faults are reactivated miocene structures in the southern part of the basin active faulting defines a small scale pull apart structure with an actively subsiding quaternary basin which is filled with up to 140 m fluvial gravel sand and paleosoils for this basin quaternary sinistral displacement was quantified by adopting a geometrical model for thin skinned extensional strike slip duplexes accordingly 1 5 2 km sinistral slip accumulated during deposition of the basin fill in the last 400 ky corresponding to a slip rate of 1 6 2 5 mm y results are in good agreement with published gps data indicating 2 mm slip per year a second group of quaternary basins is related to listric normal faulting rollover and crestal collapse of the reactivated normal faults at the nw basin margin rollover also resulted in tilting and dissecting late pleistocene river terraces of the danube

earthquake scaling laws for creeping and non creeping faults the dependence of the summed moment release on the fault dimension differs between non creeping faults and creeping faults or volcanic regions this can be attributed to different earthquake scaling laws the number n of events with fault length l scales for non creeping faults as n l l 2 and for creeping faults as n l l 3 this difference offers a means for mapping the distribution of creep in the seismogenic crust

neotectonic rotations in the orava nowy targ intramontane basin western carpathians an integrated palaeomagnetic and fractured clasts study abstract the objectives of this contribution are 1 to promote the application of fractured clasts analysis in conglomerates for regional stress reconstructions and 2 to advance reconstruction of the western carpathians structural development our results show that the neogene fill of the orava nowy targ intramontane basin underwent ccw rotation of about 30 we infer that the rotation terminated after 8 ma and was related to shift along nw se to nnw sse trending faults at the ne termination of the sinistral mur ilina fault zone our results show that fractured clasts analysis can be good tool for regional tectonic reconstructions the tool is especially useful when other tectonic tools are scarce or absent results of our palaeomagnetic study and fractured clasts analysis verify and supplement each others in the studied case palaeomagnetic results allow to distinguish between regional stress field rotation and rotation of the orava nowy targ basin neogene fill whereas results of fractured clast analysis help to constrain the age of rotation

late quaternary earthquake related soft sediment deformation along the belgian portion of the feldbiss fault lower rhine graben system abstract trench investigations along the bree fault scarp in belgium in the framework of a first paleoseismological experience in the area of the lower rhine graben system have not only demonstrated the existence of seismogenic faults almost extending to the present ground surface but also exposed several types of soft sediment deformation affecting sandy sediments and soils of inferred late weichselian to holocene age the observed features include asymmetric folding small scale normal faulting possible sand intrusions and small water escape or load structures establishing a seismic origin for the individual features is not always possible based on their sedimentary characteristics only particularly due to the potential confusion with periglacial phenomena but their abundance the close association of different deformational styles and their vicinity to a known active fault all seem to be compatible with an earthquake induced scenario the features are to some extent comparable to those generated during the recent ms 5 3 roermond earthquake at the opposite side of the roer valley graben stratigraphical and mutual geometrical relationships suggest the occurrence of at least three distinct deformational events since probably 30 000 years and one event before that time since nothing is yet known about their regional distribution however estimating the associated paleomagnitudes from these soft sediment deformations is premature

active tectonics and geomorphology of the gaenserndorf terrace in the central vienna basin austria abstract in the central vienna basin the area north of the river danube is dominated by large river terraces consisting mainly of coarse sandy gravels and sand deposited by the danube and the morava river irsl dating for the terrace body yielded minimum ages from about 200 to 300 ka the terrace deposits are locally covered with loess and aeolian sand of the last glacial period revealing osl irsl ages of about 15 ka the terraces are dissected by a system of normal faults one of these faults the aderklaa bockfliess fault was investigated in 2014 by paleoseismological trenching eventually the exact fault location and its vertical offset of 10 m were defined by combining electrical resistivity measurements and the analysis of remote sensing data in addition at the northern part of this so called gaenserndorf terrace high resolution digital terrain models based on lidar measurements show landforms comparable with relief features resulting from permafrost degradation large elongated and clam shaped depressions are interpreted as basins of former thermokarst lakes current dry valleys are interpreted as the pleistocene drainages of the terrace surface the cryogenic morphology is preserved only in the elevated parts of the terrace and therefore in the footwall of the bounding normal faults in contrast quaternary basins of the hanging wall are filled with up to 40 m thick pleistocene and holocene growth strata therefore most characteristics of the recent geomorphology can be interpreted as a result of overlapping neotectonic processes and permafrost degeneration during the pleistocene

seismic slip rates potential subsurface rupture areas and seismic potential of the vienna basin transfer fault the vienna basin transfer fault vbtf is a slow active fault with moderate seismicity i max 8 9 m max 5 7 passing through the most vulnerable regions of austria and slovakia we use different data to constrain the seismic potential of the vbtf including slip values computed from the seismic energy release during the 20th century geological data on fault segmentation and a depth extrapolated 3 d model of a generalized fault surface which is used to define potential rupture zones the seismic slip of the vbtf as a whole is in the range of 0 22 0 31 mm year for a seismogenic fault thickness of 8 km seismic slip rates for individual segments vary from 0 00 to 0 77 mm year comparing these data to geologically and gps derived slip velocities 1 mm year proofs that the fault yields a significant seismic slip deficit segments of the fault with high seismic slip contrast from segments with no slip representing locked segments fault surfaces of segments within the seismogenic zone 4 14 km depth vary from 55 to 400 km2 empirical scaling relations show that these segments are sufficiently large to explain both earthquakes observed in the last centuries and the 4th century carnuntum earthquake for which archeo seismological data suggest a magnitude of m 6 based on the combination of all data incomplete earthquake catalog seismic slip deficits locked segments potential rupture areas indications of strong pre catalog earthquakes we argue that the maximum credible earthquake for the vbtf is in the range m max 6 0 6 8 significantly larger than the magnitude of the strongest recorded events m 5 7

3 d mapping of segmented active faults in the southern vienna basin abstract in this paper we present novel data on the location and kinematics of seismically active fault segments of the vienna basin transfer fault system in the southern vienna basin spatial mapping of active faults and kinematical analyses are based on commercial 3 d reflection seismic data geomorphological features such as tilted quaternary river terraces and fault scarps the geometry of subsided quaternary basins and published geodetic data accordingly active faulting in the southern vienna basin occurs partly by reactivation of the miocene fault system related to the formation of the vienna pull apart basin between c 17 and 8 ma two domains of quaternary and active faults can be distinguished with 1 predominantly strike slip and 2 mainly normal faulting 1 a seismically active ne striking sinistral strike slip fault zone with large negative flower structures is mapped at the south eastern margin of the basin subsidence within the reflection seismically imaged flower structure is documented by up to 1000 m of throw since pannonian times and the accumulation of up to 150 m thick quaternary gravels at the surface the fault zone is characterized by en echelon faults with some prominent scarps 2 major e dipping normal faults branch off from the transfer strike slip fault system the normal faults extend into the central and western part of the basin as well as into the urban area of vienna close to vienna the normal offset along such a normal fault is at minimum 300 m since pannonian times surface expressions of active normal faulting are tilted quaternary terraces of the danube river and tilted ancient land surfaces in the hanging wall of the normal faults the mapped active normal faults are kinematically linked by a common detachment horizon which is in contact with the seismically active strike slip zone along the south eastern border of the basin northeast of the vienna basin the seismically active zone continues as a straight line indicating a rather linear transfer fault zone than a pull apart step over geometry

active normal faulting in the upper rhine graben and paleoseismic identification of the 1356 basel earthquake we have identified an active normal fault in the epicentral area of the basel switzerland earthquake of 18 october 1356 the largest historical seismic event in central europe the event of 1356 and two prehistoric events have been characterized on the fault with geomorphological analysis geophysical prospecting and trenching carbon 14 dating indicates that the youngest event occurred in the interval 610 to 1475 a d and may correspond to the 1356 basel earthquake the occurrence of the three earthquakes induced a total of 1 8 meters of vertical displacement in the past 8500 years for a mean uplift rate of 0 21 millimeters per year these successive ruptures on the normal fault indicate the potential for strong ground movements in the basel region and should be taken into account to refine the seismic hazard estimates along the rhine graben

velocity field in asia inferred from quaternary fault slip rates and global positioning system observations we perform a joint inversion of quaternary strain rates and 238 global positioning system gps velocities in asia for a self consistent velocity field the reference frames for all geodetic velocity observations are determined in our inversion procedure india in moves relative to eurasia eu about a pole of rotation at 29 78 n 7 51 e 0 353 myr 1 which yields a velocity along the himalaya within india that is 73 76 of the magnitude of the in eu nuvel 1a velocity and a vector azimuth that is 8 10 clockwise of nuvel 1a in eu vector azimuth relative to eurasia south china moves at 9 11 mm yr in the direction 110 120 with a pole position 64 84 n 156 74 e 0 12 myr 1 amurian block motion has a pole position in a similar location but at a slower rate 64 61 n 158 23 e 0 077 myr 1 and most of the amurian eurasia motion is accommodated by extension across lake baikal tarim basin moves relative to eurasia about a pole of rotation at 39 24 n 98 2 e 0 539 myr 1 and 16 18 mm yr of shortening is accommodated across the west central tien shan there is distributed e w extension throughout both southern and north central tibet within southern tibet between the longitudes of 77 e to 92 e the deformation field accommodates 16 19 mm yr of e w extension we compare predicted seismic moment rates with those observed in this century in asia total observed seismic moment rates within the entire area of central and east asia 2 2 107 km2 in this century are 2 26 0 7 1020 n m yr 1 as compared with a predicted total rate of 2 03 0 066 1020 n m yr 1 comparisons between observed and predicted moment rates within 42 subregions reflect the generally unstable process of inferring long term seismic moment rates from a catalog of limited duration 94 years an observation period of 10 000 years would be required to reduce uncertainties in observed seismic moment rate to the same size as the uncertainties in model tectonic moment rates inferred from the joint inversion of gps and quaternary rates of strain we show that in general a better correlation with model tectonic moment rate is inferred from the seismicity catalog by considering the numbers of earthquakes above a cutoff magnitude mb 5 0 for the period january 1 1965 to january 1 1999

new empirical relationships among magnitude rupture length rupture width rupture area and surface displacement source parameters for historical earthquakes worldwide are compiled to develop a series of empirical relationships among moment magnitude m surface rupture length subsurface rupture length downdip rupture width rupture area and maximum and average displacement per event the resulting data base is a significant update of previous compilations and includes the additional source parameters of seismic moment moment magnitude subsurface rupture length downdip rupture width and average surface displacement each source parameter is classified as reliable or unreliable based on our evaluation of the accuracy of individual values only the reliable source parameters are used in the final analyses in comparing source parameters we note the following trends 1 generally the length of rupture at the surface is equal to 75 of the subsurface rupture length however the ratio of surface rupture length to subsurface rupture length increases with magnitude 2 the average surface displacement per event is about one half the maximum surface displacement per event and 3 the average subsurface displacement on the fault plane is less than the maximum surface displacement but more than the average surface displacement thus for most earthquakes in this data base slip on the fault plane at seismogenic depths is manifested by similar displacements at the surface log linear regressions between earthquake magnitude and surface rupture length subsurface rupture length and rupture area are especially well correlated showing standard deviations of 0 25 to 0 35 magnitude units most relationships are not statistically different at a 95 significance level as a function of the style of faulting thus we consider the regressions for all slip types to be appropriate for most applications regressions between magnitude and displacement magnitude and rupture width and between displacement and rupture length are less well correlated and have larger standard deviation than regressions between magnitude and length or area the large number of data points in most of these regressions and their statistical stability suggest that they are unlikely to change significantly in response to additional data separating the data according to extensional and compressional tectonic environments neither provides statistically different results nor improves the statistical significance of the regressions regressions for cases in which earthquake magnitude is either the independent or the dependent parameter can be used to estimate maximum earthquake magnitudes both for surface faults and for subsurface seismic sources such as blind faults and to estimate the expected surface displacement along a fault for a given size earthquake

seismotectonic and refraction seismic investigations in the border region between the eastern alps and the pannonian basin focal solutions of four strong earthquakes and p signals of twenty four smaller shocks of the active mur murz valley the semmering pass and the vienna basin an equivalent slip rate of 0 03 this feature agrees with the model of a subsiding pannonian basin an equivalent slip rate of 0 03 cm year is roughly estimated from earthquake data 1903 1978 this rate does not include the creep rate but it gives an idea of the magnitude of speed of geological processes in this area

challenges in constraining ages of fluvial terraces in the vienna basin austria using combined isochron burial and pirir225 luminescence dating abstract burial dating with terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides and luminescence dating techniques have become two powerful tools to temporally constrain quaternary deposits a combination of both methods at the same geological setting has rarely been realized to date although their viable time frames overlap by several tens of thousands of years when middle pleistocene sediments with depositional ages ranging around ca 120 ka to ca 300 ka are targeted both methods are employed but come towards their lower and upper limits respectively a combined dating approach can be worthwhile at this age range and allows not only exploring the edges of both methods but holds the opportunity to do a cross check of results at an age spectrum where both dating techniques are at risk to become fuzzy here we present a case study where numerical ages of two middle pleistocene terraces located in the vienna basin were generated by combining burial and luminescence dating a variety of processes such as changing sediment input rates erosion and tectonics controlled the formation of fluvial terraces in the basin and shaped its complex modern surface age correlation of the evolved mosaic of blocks and dislocated sediment bodies is challenging and requires quantitative geochronological information in order to establish a coherent terrace stratigraphy luminescence and burial samples originating from two fluvial terraces the lower gaenserndorf terrace gdt and the higher schlosshof terrace sht were analyzed and evaluated luminescence and burial ages at the gdt site are in good agreement and suggest a depositional age of 140 170 ka bracketed by pirir225 luminescence ages ranging from 120 10 ka to 260 30 ka luminescence samples at the sht site are in saturation but provide minimum ages which are coherent with the burial dating result of 340 170 ka the new numerical ages indicate that the vertical offset between the gdt site and the sht site was not purely caused by fault activity but suggest two independent episodes of sediment accumulation besides providing new insights into the stratigraphic and morphological configuration of the central vienna basin area the cosmogenic nuclide data set is compelling from a methodological point of view at the gdt site several samples exhibited 26al 10be nuclide ratios exceeding the surface production ratio of 6 75 even though affected samples were excluded from burial age calculations a detailed investigation on possible scenarios which could have caused an upwards shift of 26al 10be ratios was carried out

present day stress field and deformation in eastern austria we analysed fault plane solutions and borehole breakouts in the eastern part of the eastern alps and found a heterogeneous stress field which we interpret as a transition zone of three different stress provinces the western european stress province with nw to nnw sh orientation and mainly strike slip faulting regime the adriatic stress province with a radial stress pattern and thrust faulting to strike slip faulting regime and the dinaric pannonian stress province with ne sh orientation and strike slip faulting regime the western pannonian basin seems to be a part of the transition zone with wnw to nw sh orientation a stress regime stimulating strike slip faulting prevails in the eastern alps the south bohemian basement spur as a major tectonic structure with a high rheological contrast to surrounding units has a strong influence on the stress field and exhibits the highest seismicity at its tip due to stress concentration from a constructed vertical stress orientation profile we found stress decoupling of the northern calcareous alps from the underlying european foreland both the molasse and the flysch helvetic zone are considered as candidates for decoupling horizons due to stress orientation observations and due to their rheological behaviour from seismological and rheological data we suggest a horizontal stress decoupling across the eastern alps caused by a weakened central alpine lithosphere

build up and dismembering of the eastern northern calcareous alps the structural geometry and kinematics of a segment of the classical fold and thrust belt of the northern calcareous alps nca is analyzed by map mesoscale fault slip and calcite twin data the most distinct feature of the eastern nca is the miocene semp salzachtal ennstal mariazell puchberg lineament which extends 400 km wsw ene from the northern tauern window in the west to the vienna basin in the east it forms an orogen parallel strike slip zone constitutes the major left lateral wrench corridor accommodating eastward lateral extrusion of crustal wedges along the central eastern alps and crosses the nca as an anastomosing zone of distributed shear the semp line and related structures dismember a fold and thrust belt formed during early transpressional and subsequent orthogonal contraction most early miocene structures are reversed in the late miocene accommodating little strain distinct strain fields are calculated based on fault slip and calcite deformation twin data they are regionally consistent in orientation and relative age and correlate with the following deformation stages 1 late cretaceous to early tertiary top to nw nappe stacking and right lateral wrenching along nw trending tear transfer faults as an expression of the build up of the austroalpine orogenic wedge e3 317 17 e1 058 28 e1 e2 e3 principal strains 2 early tertiary top to n stacking and conjugate strike slip faulting reflecting the change from transpressional to frontal contraction within the nca e3 356 12 e1 088 10 3 early to middle miocene large scale left lateral wrenching including early transpression and late transtension as expression of eastward displacement of the southern part of the nca e3 019 22 e1 109 27 4 post middle miocene e w contraction reactivating strike slip and normal faults e3 092 10 e1 004 12 the distributed nature of the lateral extrusion deformation and the anastomosing faulting along the semp line reflect the rheological heterogeneity inherited by the lithology and multiple deformations of the nca a combined extension and stress deflection model possibly accounts best for the pattern of northward concave faults branching off the semp line

do seismic slip deficits indicate an underestimated earthquake potential along the vienna basin transfer fault system seismic slip rates of about 0 2 mm yr 1 calculated from cumulative seismic moments of earthquakes along the vienna basin transfer fault vbtf between the alps and the carpathians are very low compared to geologically and geodetically determined slip rates of 1 2 mm yr 1 proving a significant seismic slip deficit additional seismic slip calculations for arbitrarily selected fault sectors reveal large differences along strike ranging from c 0 02 to 0 5 mm slip yr 1 as the earthquake frequency distribution suggests seismically coupled deformation these variations might indicate locked fault segments results suggest that 1 the seismic cycle of the vbtf exceeds the length of available seismological observation and 2 larger earthquakes than those recorded may occur along the fault thus current local seismic hazard estimates which are solely based on this historical database probably underestimate the earthquake potential of the fault system

active crustal deformation in two seismogenic zones of the pannonian region gps versus seismological observations abstract the seismicity and the associated seismic hazard in the central part of the pannonian region is moderate however the vulnerability is high as three capital cities are located near the most active seismic zones in our analysis two seismically active areas the central pannonian and mur murz zones have been considered in order to assess the style and rate of crustal deformation using global positioning system gps and earthquake data we processed data of continuous and campaign gps measurements obtained during the years 1991 2007 velocities relative to the stable eurasia have been computed at hgrn cegrn and epn gps sites in and around the pannonian basin uniform strain rates and relative displacements were calculated for the investigated regions gps data confirm the mostly left lateral strike slip character of the mur murz vienna basin fault system and suggest a contraction between the eastward moving alpine north pannonian unit and the carpathians the computation of the seismic strain rate was based on the kostrov summation the averaged unit norm seismic moment tensor which describes the characteristic style of deformation has been obtained from the available focal mechanism solutions whereas the annual seismic moment release showing the rate of the deformation was estimated using the catalogues of historical and recent earthquakes our analysis reveals that in the central pannonian zone the geodetic strain rate is significantly larger than the seismic strain rate based on the weakness of the lithosphere the stress magnitudes and the regional features of seismicity we suggest that the low value of the seismic geodetic strain rate ratio can be attributed to the aseismic release of the prevailing compressive stress and not to an overdue major earthquake in the mur murz zone although the uncertainty of the seismic geodetic strain rate ratio is high the seismic part of the deformation seems to be notably larger than in the case of the central pannonian zone these results reflect the different deformation mechanism rheology and tectonic style of the investigated zones

evolution of the pannonian basin system 1 tectonics the carpathian arc formed during cretaceous to miocene time by continental collision between europe and smaller continental fragments following southward and westward subduction of ocean floor during the last stages of thrusting in the outer carpathians a set of discrete basins formed behind the carpathian loop these basins are regions of middle to late miocene extension and are connected to each other and to areas of coeval shortening in the outer carpathian thrust belt by a system of strike slip faults sinistral northeast trending and dextral northwest trending sets of conjugate shears reflect overall east west extension of the intra carpathian region during middle to late miocene time palinspastic reconstruction of the basins indicates about 100 50 km of east west extension across the intra carpathian region during this time we interpret the vienna basin which is superimposed partly on the flysch nappes of the outer west carpathians as the result of thin skinned extensional tectonics above a shallow detachment surface within the crust extension of upper crustal rocks above this detachment was probably accomodated by thrusting of the outermost nappes of the west carpathians over the european platform extension of basins farther inside the carpathian loop probably involved rocks at deeper crustal levels and within the upper mantle the most internally situated basins formed by extensional processes that involved the entire lithosphere thus the depth to which extension occurred seems to be closely related to the proximity of each basin to the active thrust front in the carpathians this can be related to the geometry of the subduction zone extension within the intra carpathian basins began first in the northernmost basins and migrated southward and eastward over a ten million year period palinspastic reconstruction of the basins at three different times during the miocene 17 5 16 5 and 13 0 ma predicts eastward migration of the zone of thrusting and shortening within the carpathian mountains to accomodate the synchronous eastward and southward migration of areas of extension from these reconstructions about 120 60 km of east west shortening is predicted across the outer east carpathians from about 17 5 ma until present both predictions are in good agreement with the timing and magnitude of shortening in the carpathian thrust belt as determined directly from rocks within the belt from this we infer a close relationship for middle to late miocene extension of the intra carpathian region and middle to late miocene crustal shortening within the outer carpathians during middle and late miocene time deformation of the pannonian fragment was dominated by extensional and wrench tectonics except along a narrow zone in the outer carpathian thrust belt middle and late miocene thrusting in the carpathians is interpreted as the result of simple shear caused by relative motion between europe and the overriding pannonian fragment at the subduction boundary rather than of regional compression of lithospheric rocks at depth the initiation of extensional tectonics within the intra carpathian region in middle miocene time can be related to reorganization of major fragment boundaries of the eastern european alpine system

middle to late pleistocene multi proxy record of environmental response to climate change from the vienna basin central europe austria abstract tectonic basins can represent valuable archives of the environmental history presented here are the stratigraphy and multi proxy analyses of two adjacent alluvial fans in the quaternary active parts of the vienna basin situated at the interface of the atlantic european continental and mediterranean climate deposits comprise a sequence of coarse grained fluvial deposits intercalated by laterally extensive horizons of pedogenically altered fine sediments to establish palaeoenvironmental reconstructions fine grained sequences from a drill core and outcrop data were analysed according to its malacofauna palaeopedology susceptibility and sedimentology the chronological framework is provided by 38 luminescence ages and supported by geomagnetic polarity investigations distinct warm periods each associated with a geomagnetic excursion are recorded in three pedocomplexes formed during the last interglacial and two earlier interglacial periods indicted to correlate with marine isotope stage mis 9 and mis 11 respectively environmental conditions during the early last glacial period mis 5 c 100 70 ka are reconstructed from mollusc shell rich overbank fines deposited along a former channel belt covered by massive sheetflood deposits during mis 2 analysed warm phases suggest strong variations in humidity ranging from steppe to forest dominated environments the study presents one of the few numerically dated middle pleistocene multi proxy records and one of the most comprehensive malacological datasets covering the early phases of last glacial period of continental europe

climate as main factor controlling the sequence development of two pleistocene alluvial fans in the vienna basin eastern austria a numerical modelling approach abstract tectonics climate base level and source lithology are the main controlling factors on alluvial fan development and evolution in this study a numerical model approach was used to investigate climate induced aggradation and degradation cycles the influence of tectonic subsidence and the impact of an axial main river on austria s largest pleistocene alluvial fan setting the mitterndorf basin eastern austria a simulation time frame of 25 ka was applied climatic variations were mainly modelled through variations in sediment supply whereas the impact of subsidence was modelled through variations in slip rates along faults incision and aggradation tendencies of the axial main river were modelled by rising or lowering of the water level the sequence development and geometry of mitterndorf basin s alluvial fans are mainly controlled by pleistocene climate oscillations cold periods generally led to a decrease in vegetation cover and to an increase of periglacial weathering processes which is associated with abundant sediment release and aggradation on fan surface in contrast decreasing sediment supply and increasing precipitation during warmer periods led to fan degradation our models indicate that the alluvial fan development is primarily affected by the distinct sediment supply pulses during phases of short climatic perturbations subsidence becomes the determining factor again when models approach a steady state behaviour similarly the impact of the axial main river becomes more important during simulated warm periods when sediment release to the drainage basin is low the overall basin slope additionally controls the evolution of fan and drainage variations in sediment supply and subsidence do also significantly control the long term evolution of the drainage network during simulated warm periods and thus control the sequence preservation potential of fans and therefore its long term sequence evolution

lower miocene structural evolution of the central vienna basin austria abstract the tectonic evolution of the vienna basin overlying the alpine carpathian fold and thrust belt includes two stages of distinct basin subsidence and deformation the earlier phase contemporaneous with thrusting of the alpine carpathian floor thrust is related to the formation of a wedge top basin piggy back which was connected to the evolving foreland basin lower miocene c 18 5 16 ma this stage is followed by the formation of a pull apart basin middle to upper miocene c 16 8 ma sediments of the latter unconformably overly wedge top basin strata and protected them against erosion analyses of subcrop data from the central part of the basin focus on the complex stratal geometries and tectonics of the lower miocene wedge top basin during that period the overriding allochthon is characterised by syntectonic subsidence and sedimentation out of sequence fold thrusting normal faulting and sinistral wrenching all types of faults are dated as lower miocene by the occurrence of growth strata and the age of overlying post tectonic sediments related to the pull apart basin stage faults mapped in 3d seismic are compared to faults along the sw margin of the vienna basin they prove that complex lower miocene deformation occurred in large parts of the austroalpine overriding nappes concurrent with thrusting at the alpine floor thrust and in the molasse unit the structural analysis of 3d seismic data shows that lower miocene sediments of the ottnangian and karpatian stage unconformable overly the alpine carpathian thrust nappes with a thickness of up to 1500 m geometries include onlaps to the basin floor internal unconformities and toplaps to the overlying middle miocene sediments these toplaps are the results of tilting and subsequent erosion of the sediment pile by out of sequence thrusting in the central part at the karpatian badenian transition c 16 3 ma prior to the onset of pull apart deformation

seasonal to interannual variability of the eddy field in the labrador sea from satellite altimetry sea level anomalies measured by the altimeters aboard the topex poseidon and ers satellites for the periods 1993 2001 and 1997 2001 respectively are used to investigate the eddy field in the subpolar north atlantic and in the labrador sea a quadratic correction of the obtained eddy kinetic energy eke with respect to significant wave height is applied that led to an increased correlation between moored and altimetric eke in the central labrador sea the mean eke field shows higher levels associated with the main currents and a strong seasonality in the labrador sea the annual cycle of the eke shows a propagation of west greenland current wgc eke into the central labrador sea with a mean southward propagation speed of about 3 cm s 1 while the eke maximum in the labrador current is well separated from the interior by local eke minima the interannual variability of the eke in the labrador sea shows distinct regional differences in the wgc region strong early winter maxima are found during 1993 and 1997 1999 in the central labrador sea maxima are found during march april 1993 1995 and 1997 variations in the annual cycle of the wgc eke are observed while there is a weak annual cycle in the wgc region during 1994 1996 with more continuous eke generation during 1997 2000 there is a strong seasonal cycle with maximum eke during january and particularly low eke during summer the propagation of wgc eke into the central labrador sea is enhanced during 1997 2000 leading to a long persistence of eke in the central labrador sea during 1993 1995 and 1997 the central labrador sea eke almost instantaneously increased during march april followed in the earlier years by a relatively fast destruction of the winterly generated eke

tectonic implications of the gps velocity field in the northern adriatic region 1 continuous and episodic gps observations between 1991 and 2004 show that adria moves independently of both stable eurasia and nubia adria moves nne at 3 4 5 mm yr increasing from n to s relative to eurasia and may be fragmenting along the gargano dubrovnik seismic zone the observed 2 3 mm yr of n s adria eurasia convergence is taken up by contraction across a narrow 70 km zone in the eastern alps and concomitant extrusion of the alpine north pannonian unit the adria central dinarides boundary is a broader collisional zone with intense 1 1 5 mm yr shortening near shore and 2 mm yr spread across the dinarides the remaining 1 2 mm yr motion e of the alps and ne of the dinarides is absorbed by the inverted contracting pannonian basin leaving no significant deformation above 0 5 mm yr in the western and northern carpathians and european platform

eddy kinetic energy of the north atlantic subpolar gyre from satellite altimetry the surface eddy kinetic energy field of the north atlantic subpolar gyre 40 65 n 5 60 w is studied using the altimetric satellites geosat 1987 1988 and ers 1 1992 1993 this is on the whole an area of low eddy activity previous studies of the north atlantic have usually concentrated on the highly variable gulf stream system we review what is known of the surface circulation of the region we confirm that there is a close relationship between the eddy kinetic energy and the mean currents and that it is strongly constrained by the topography the eddy field occurs in deep water and follows the contours particularly around the flemish cap high eddy kinetic energy is seen on the flanks of topography and is higher where the slope is steeper this is particularly clear on both east and west flanks of the rockall plateau interannual changes in the currents are revealed by the differences between the geosat and ers 1 eddy kinetic energy maps in some years 1988 and 1992 1993 the northern core of the north atlantic current nac usually assumed to be tied to the charlie gibbs fracture zone 52 n is considerably weaker and may not exist at all while in 1987 there is a distinct core here in 1988 and 1992 1993 the main eddy region shifts farther to the south to about 49 n in 1988 and 50 n in 1992 1993 in 1987 there is also a current core even farther south centered at about 47 n implying that in that year the nac is arranged into two distinct branches

fault behavior and characteristic earthquakes examples from the wasatch and san andreas fault zones paleoseismological data for the wasatch and san andreas fault zones have led to the formulation of the characteristic earthquake model which postulates that individual faults and fault segments tend to generate essentially same size or characteristic earthquakes having a relatively narrow range of magnitudes near the maximum analysis of scarp derived colluvium in trench exposures across the wasatch fault provides estimates of the timing and displacement associated with individual surface faulting earthquakes at all of the sites studied the displacement per event has been consistently large measured values range from 1 6 to 2 6 m and the average is about 2 m on the basis of variability in the timing of individual events as well as changes in scarp morphology and fault geometry six major segments are recognized along the wasatch fault on the basis of the most likely number of surface faulting events 18 that have occurred on segments of the wasatch fault zone during the past 8000 years an average recurrence interval of 400 666 years with a preferred average of 444 years is calculated for the entire zone geologic data on the distribution of slip associated with prehistoric earthquakes and slip rates along the south central segment of the san andreas fault suggest that the m 8 1857 earthquake is a characteristic earthquake for this segment comparisons of earthquake recurrence relationships on both the wasatch and san andreas faults based on historical seismicity data and geologic data show that a linear constant b value extrapolation of the cumulative recurrence curve from the smaller magnitudes leads to gross underestimates of the frequency of occurrence of the large or characteristic earthquakes only by assuming a low b value in the moderate magnitude range can the seismicity data on small earthquakes be reconciled with geologic data on large earthquakes the characteristic earthquake appears to be a fundamental aspect of the behavior of the wasatch and san andreas faults and may apply to many other faults as well

the tectono sedimentary evolution of a major seismogenic zone with low slip rate activity a geochronological and sedimentological investigation of the dobra voda depression western carpathians abstract seismically active fault zones receive a great deal of attention due to their potential for quantification of seismic hazards zones with low slip rates pose a challenge however since their poor topographic expression is related to difficulties in the quantification of fault movement this study focuses on the dobra voda depression an area with the highest level of seismic activity in the western carpathians the quaternary tectono sedimentary evolution of the small intramontane basin was investigated with the use of facies analysis of cores dated with the use of cosmogenic nuclide depth profiles 10be 26al and 36cl together with 26al 10be burial dating and radiocarbon dating a set of archived boreholes and geoelectric survey data was used for the correlation of results with those from new boreholes across the depression four facies associations were distinguished fa1 colluvial deposits that comprise subaerial debris flows and mudflows fa2 fluvial deposits with high sediment supply accommodation ratio composed mostly of sandy gravelly channel fill facies fa3 fluvial deposits with low sediment supply accommodation ratio consisting mostly of floodplain muds overbank heterolithic facies and minor sandy gravelly channel fills and fa4 swamp deposits which are mostly made up of peat geochronological results suggest that the studied part of fa3 was deposited before 1 0 ma due to a rise in the base level following a major incision event overbank dominated deposits of fa3 covered an incision surface resulted in a difference of ca 65 m of elevation of these strata which represents the minimal thickness of fa3 the second phase of incision was related to reactivation of miocene normal faults resulting in further topographic differentiation the initiation of fault activity is recorded by the deposition of colluvial fa1 before ca 250 ka fa2 accumulated between ca 160 and 100 ka mostly at the toes of slopes bounding the fault scarps on the basin margins the last documented phase of evolution represents an increase of accommodation which was connected to the deposition of holocene peat in swamps as well as floodplain muds of fa4 above fa2 the observed settings imply that variation between incision and accumulation in a scale of hundreds of thousands of years is characteristic for low relief tectonically active zones the presented research demonstrates the significance of sedimentological analysis for reconstruction of tectonic evolution in areas with low slip rate activity

the lassee segment of the vienna basin fault system as a potential source of the earthquake of carnuntum in the fourth century a d the vienna basin fault system is a slow moving 1 2 mm y active sinistral fault extending from the alps through the vienna basin into the carpathians it comprises an array of ne striking sinistral strike slip segments which differ both by their kinematic and seismologic properties among these the lassee segment 30 km east of vienna is of particular interest for seismic hazard assessment as it shows a significant seismic slip deficit the segment is located about 8 km from the roman city of carnuntum for which archaeological data indicate a destructive earthquake in the fourth century a d local intensity about 9 ems 98 mapping of the lassee segment using 2d seismic gpr tectonic geomorphology and pleistocene basin analysis shows a negative flower structure at a releasing bend of the vienna basin fault the hanging wall of the flower structure includes a quaternary basin filled with up to 100 m thick pleistocene growth strata faults root in the basal detachment of the alpine carpathian floor thrust at about 8 km depth the active faults east of the flower structure offset a middle pleistocene terrace of the danube river forming an up to 20 m high composite fault scarp high resolution gpr 40 500 mhz mapped at least four distinct surface breaking faults along this scarp including three faults which are covered by about 2 m of post tectonic strata the youngest fault offsets these strata and coincides with a 0 5 m high scarp this scarp may be interpreted as the product of a single surface breaking earthquake provided that the mapped fault offset formed during coseismic surface rupture data indicate that the lassee segment may well be regarded the source of the fourth century earthquake the interpretation is in line with local attenuation relations indicating a source close to the damaged site observed fault dimensions and the fault offsets recorded by gpr and morphology

present crustal movement and strain distribution in central europe inferred from gps measurements in 1992 an international collaboration was initiated to study the present day geodynamics of central europe the primary tool of this research is the global positioning system gps therefore the central european gps geodynamic reference network was established in 1994 the network extends from the south in the eurasian african plate boundary zone to the east european pre cambrian platform in the northeast during the first phase of the project four gps campaigns were organized between 1994 and 1997 analysis of gps data provided rms repeatabilities around 2 mm in the horizontal and 5 6 mm in the vertical component for each campaign the velocities of gps sites situated on the eurasian plate were compared with those predicted by the nnr nuvel 1a plate velocity model the intraplate velocity field shows that the northern part of central europe seems generally stable with velocities under 2 mm yr however the southern sites close to the plate boundary zone show higher values and abrupt changes of velocities indicating the existence of narrow deformation zones the primary feature revealed by the strain calculation in the alpine pannonian dinaric system is the dominant north south contraction resulting from the collision of the african and eurasian plates transmitted by the adriatic microplate however the direction of contraction in the alpine pannonian dinaric junction zone changes from nw se at the northeastern boundary of the adriatic microplate to ne sw toward the bohemian massif the magnitudes of these strain rates are similar 8 0 5 3 ppb yr and 8 6 2 5 ppb yr respectively over 200 350 km subnetworks we observe e w oriented 93 13 right lateral shear 12 5 ppb yr between the alpine north pannonian unit and the southernmost sites in the dinarides and southern alps along with left lateral shear 97 7 10 2 ppb yr relative to the stable bohemian massif in the north both the strain field and the intraplate velocities presented show that the alpine north pannonian unit is presently crushed out to the east with 2 mm yr velocity on average along two main fault zones as a consequence of the compression caused by the adria alpine collision

balancing lateral orogenic float of the eastern alps abstract oligocene to miocene post collisional shortening between the adriatic and european plates was compensated by frontal thrusting onto the molasse foreland basin and by contemporaneous lateral wedging of the austroalpine upper plate balancing of the upper plate shortening by horizontal retrodeformation of lateral escaping and extruding wedges of the austroalpine lid enables an evaluation of the total post collisional deformation of the hangingwall plate quantification of the north south shortening and east west extension of the upper plate is derived from displacement data of major faults that dissect the austroalpine wedges indentation of the south alpine unit corresponds to 64 km north south shortening and a minimum of 120 km of east west extension lateral wedging affected the eastern alps east of the giudicarie fault west of the giudicarie fault north south shortening was compensated by 50 to 80 km of backthrusting in the lombardian thrust system of the southern alps the main structures that bound the escaping wedges to the north are the inntal fault system ca 50 km sinistral offset the konigsee lammertal traunsee klt fault 10 km and the salzach ennstal mariazell puchberg semp fault system 60 km these faults as well as a number of minor faults with displacements less than 10 km root in the basal detachment of the alps the thin skinned nature of lateral escape related structures north of the semp line is documented by industry reflection seismic lines crossing the northern calcareous alps nca and the frontal thrust of the eastern alps complex triangle zones with passive roof backthrusts of middle miocene molasse sediments formed in front of the laterally escaping wedges of the northern eastern alps the aim of this paper is a semiquantitative reconstruction of the upper plate of the eastern alps most of the data is published elsewhere

strike slip tectonics and quaternary basin formation along the vienna basin fault system inferred from bouguer gravity derivatives 1 the vienna basin at the transition between the alpine and carpathian belt hosts a number of large pleistocene sub basins forming along an active continental scale strike slip fault vienna basin strike slip fault we utilize first order derivatives from industrial bouguer gravity data to unravel the impacts of pleistocene kinematics on the vienna basin and to compensate for the lack of near surface fault data anomalies have been evaluated by independent geophysical and geological data and were integrated to build up a tectonic model factors influencing the wavelength and the amplitude of anomalies were additionally investigated by 2 d models to better interpret field data subsidence and related accumulation of quaternary sediments in the vienna basin produce significant gravity signals related to the activity of the strike slip fault the constrained fault patterns and structures highlight tight and elongated transtensional pull apart basins with typically associated features like separated depocenters and riedel fractured sidewalls in an en echelon alignment further pleistocene basins are highlighted as tectonic grabens developing along branches of the master fault the vienna basin is additionally affected by minor deformation represented by both subsidence along major miocene sidewalls and nw se faulting resulting in distinct topographic features which manifests kinematics on a regional scale the clear density contrasts between miocene marine and quaternary terrestrial sediments as well as the exceptional database provide a unique framework to demonstrate advantages of incorporating gravity derivatives for near surface fault analysis

climate and tectonic controls on pleistocene sequence development and river evolution in the southern vienna basin austria abstract the impact of climate and tectonism on sedimentation and lithofacies development is demonstrated for austria s largest pleistocene sedimentary basin situated within the vienna basin the coarse grained massive facies is associated with high energetic flood events reflecting a distinct seasonality effect of discharge during glacial times in contrast fine grained well stratified sediments mark periods of rather high discharge to sediment supply ratios during warmer periods preservation of depositional sequences was facilitated by subsidence rates of approx 0 5 1 mm a high subsidence rates in the basin preserve a relatively large record of sequences compared to fluvial terraces which reflect mainly sediments deposited during and shortly after glacials 14c and relative ages demonstrate the strong impact of oscillations in climate on fluvial stratigraphy covering times from the upper period of mis 3 to mis 1 abundant sediment supply and the associated increase in accumulation space as well as tectonic factors affect not only the sequence development but also the geomorphology of two mountain front alluvial fans which toe out into the mitterndorf basin high discharge to sediment supply ratios leads to fan incision and to abandonment of fan surfaces during phases of reduced sediment supply the effect of subsidence results in headcut erosion and if sufficient time is available may lead to complete through trenching abandoned fan surfaces are exposed to widespread soil formation which mark sequence boundaries to the following coarse grained massive facies reflecting high sediment supply to discharge ratios