Syn- and post-collisional heat flow in the Cenozoic Eastern Alps

The heat flow evolution of a continental collisional zone is exemplified by the Eastern Alps. Heat flow maps for the syn-collision (Oligocene), syn-extrusion (Early/Middle Miocene), and post-extrusion (Late Miocene, Recent) stages are presented, and are discussed in relation to the orogenic evolution. Continental collision during Paleogene time was characterized by extremely low heat flow (<40 mW/m²) along the orogenetic front, and very high heat flow (>150 mW/m²) a few hundred kilometers south of it. The former was a result of crustal thickening and of thermal blanketing due to rapid sedimentation and nappe stacking. The latter was caused by slab break-off and magmatic activity. The Early/Middle Miocene syn-extrusion stage was characterized by rapid exhumation of metamorphic core complexes (Tauern and Rechnitz Windows), and by magmatic activity (Styrian Basin). Both mechanisms caused extremely high heat flow (>200 mW/m²). In contrast, the orogenetic front remained cold. Thereafter, magmatic activity ended and uplift rates decreased. Thus, Late Miocene heat flow is characterized by low to moderately high values. Heat flow values >75 mW/m² were restricted to the transition zone of the Pannonian Basin characterized by thinned crust, and to the Tauern Window area. Recent temperature data indicate a subtle post-Miocene increase in heat flow.     

Basin formation during the post-collisional evolution of the Eastern Alps: the example of the Lavanttal Basin

The Miocene Lavanttal Basin formed in the Eastern Alps during extrusion of crustal blocks towards the east. In contrast to basins, which formed contemporaneously along the strike-slip faults of the Noric Depression and on top of the moving blocks (Styrian Basin), little is known about the Lavanttal Basin. In this paper geophysical, sedimentological, and structural data are used to study structure and evolution of the Lavanttal Basin. The eastern margin of the 2-km-deep basin is formed by the WNW trending Koralm Fault. The geometry of the gently dipping western basin flank shows that the present-day basin is only a remnant of a former significantly larger basin. Late Early (Karpatian) and early Middle Miocene (Badenian) pull-apart phases initiated basin formation and deposition of thick fluvial (Granitztal Beds), lacustrine, and marine (Mühldorf Fm.) sediments. The Mühldorf Fm. represents the Lower Badenian cycle TB2.4. Another flooding event caused brackish environments in late Middle Miocene (Early Sarmatian) time, whereas freshwater environments existed in Late Sarmatian time. The coal-bearing Sarmatian succession is subdivided into four fourth-order sequences. The number of sequences suggests that the effect of tectonic subsidence was overruled by sea-level fluctuations during Sarmatian time. Increased relief energy caused by Early Pannonian pull-apart activity initiated deposition of thick fluvial sediments. The present-day shape of the basin is a result of young (Plio-/Pleistocene) basin inversion. In contrast to the multi-stage Lavanttal Basin, basins along the Noric Depression show a single-stage history. Similarities between the Lavanttal and Styrian basins exist in Early Badenian and Early Sarmatian times.     

Some thoughts on the pre-Alpine metamorphic history of the austridic basement of the Eastern Alps

Summary In several places of the old crystalline basement of the Eastern Alps a classification of the pre-Alpine metamorphic effects into an older, high-to intermediate-pressure metamorphism (eclogites, kyanite) and a younger, lower-pressure one (and±ky±cord) is recognizable. Some local geological situations allow a sharp chronological distinction to be made between these two events; and the available radiometric age values demonstrate the Caledonian age (500 m.y.) of the older metamorphism and the Hercynian age (320 m.y.) of the younger one. Elements exist showing that the Caledonian metamorphism, belongs to a complex cycle of geological processes which took place substantially during the Ordivician age (?) and has all the ingredients of the orogenic cycles. This evolutional picture represents a possible model for the whole of the Eastern Alps.

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Überlegungen zur Entwicklung der voralpidischen Metamorphose im Ostalpin

Zusammenfassung An mehreren Stellen im altkristallinen Grundebirge der Ostalpen ist eine Gliederung der voralpidischen metamorphen Ereignisse in eine ältere Metamorphose, die einer hoch-bis mitteldruckbetonten Faziesserie (Eklogite, Disthen) angehört und eine jüngere weniger druckbetonte Metamorphose (Andalusit±Disthen±Cordierit) erkennbar. Einzelne lokale geologische Situationen erlauben eine scharfe chronologische Trennung dieser zwei Ereignisse; das Caledonische Alter ( 500m.y.) der älteren und das Hercynische Alter ( 320 m.y.) der jüngeren Metamorphose wird durch radiometrische Altersdaten demonstriert. Es gibt Hinweise, daß die Caledonische Metamorphose zu einem komplexen geologischen Ereignis mit allen Kennzeichen eines orogenen Zyklusses gehört, das im wesentlichen während des Ordoviziums stattgefunden hat. Diese genetischen Vorstellungen scheinen als mögliches Modell für die gesamten Ostalpen annehmbar.

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With 3 Figures     

Accretionary history of the Rhenodanubian flysch zone in the Eastern Alps – evidence from apatite fission-track geochronology

The thermotectonic evolution of the East Alpine Rhenodanubian flysch zone (RDFZ) and the collisional history along the orogenic front is reconstructed using apatite fission-track (FT) thermochronology. The apatite FT data provides evidence for a burial depth of at least 6 km for the samples, which were totally reset. Burial was not deeper than 11 km, since the zircon fission-track system was not reset. The RDFZ represents an accretionary wedge with a complex burial and cooling history due to successive and differential accretion and exhumation. The sedimentary sequences were deposited along a convergent margin, where accretion started before Maastrichtian and lasted until Miocene. Accretion propagated from a central area (Salzburg-Ybbsitz) both to the west and to the east. In the west, accretion lasted from Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene, reflecting underplating of the RDFZ by the European continental margin sediments. In the east, where three nappes (Greifenstein, Kahlenberg and Laab nappes) can be distinguished, the exhumation started between Late Oligocene and Early Miocene. The Kahlenberg and Laab nappes show total resetting of the apatite FT ages, while in the Greifenstein nappe there is only partial resetting. According to a new paleogeographic reconstruction, the Kahlenberg and Laab nappes were placed on top of the Greifenstein nappe by an out-of-sequence thrust.     

Oceanic mafic rocks in the Eastern Alps

The Eastern Alps in Austria have been interpreted as a pile of thrust sheets resulting from the collision of two continental masses. The only remains of the ocean-floor which may once have separated these continents could be the highly deformed greenschists, metasediments and serpentinites found in the lower thrust sheets. To test this hypothesis, a total of sixty mafic rocks from the Großglockner, Mooserboden, Fusch, Hochtor, Matrei Zone and Strobl localities have been analysed for the stable trace elements, Ti, Zr, Y, Nb and Cr, and the less stable elements K, Rb, and Sr. Visual and statistical comparison of the stable elements with known magma types reveals that five of the sample groups classify clearly as tholeiitic ocean-floor basalts, while one group, the Fusch locality, classifies as within-plate (probably ocean island) basalts. It is suggested that the tectonic units containing such rocks comprise a mélange of disrupted oceanic crust, upper mantle and seamounts, pelagic sediments and continental margin sediments. The rocks may have formed in a large ocean basin, rather than a marginal basin behind an island arc.     

Metamorphism and metallogeny in the Eastern Alps

The two Alpine orogenic phases of the Eastern Alps, in the Cretaceous and in the Tertiary, were both accompanied by the formation of mineral deposits. However, subduction-related magmatic belts as well as the typical “Andean” ore deposits are missing. Therefore, the role of metamorphism in East Alpine metallogeny was tentatively explored for more than 60 y, although for a long time without tangible results. Microthermometric, geochemical and isotopic investigations of fluid inclusions from selected Alpine mineral deposits presented allow a preliminary confirmation of the involvement of metamorphic fluids in their origin. Deposits which were formed immediately after the first, Cretaceous orogeny, were produced at high pressures by fluids of very high salinity and high density, and with an isotopic composition of the water falling into the metamorphic field. These fluids are best understood as products of metamorphic de-volatilization of rocks of the subducted South Pennine domain. In contrast to this, the deposits formed after the second, Tertiary orogeny, originated at relatively low pressures from fluids with an appreciable content of CO₂ and of low to moderate salinities. Isotopic compositions of this carbon indicate a deep crustal or even mantle source for CO₂, while the water is isotopically more heterogeneous and may have mixed sources, both surficial and metamorphic. Tectonic control of these mineralizations is late-orogenic trans-tensional faulting, which exposed hot metamorphic rocks to fluid convection along brittle structures. These deposits conform best to the model of metamorphogenic metallogenesis by retrograde leaching, although ponded metamorphic fluids and mantle volatiles may also have been involved. Received: 4 August 1998 / Accepted: 5 January 1999     

Balancing lateral orogenic float of the Eastern Alps

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 Königsee–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.     

The lithospheric density structure of the Eastern Alps

The three-dimensional (3D) lithospheric density structure of the Eastern Alps was investigated by integrating results from reflection seismics, receiver function analyses and tomography. The modelling was carried out with respect to the Bouguer gravity and the geoid undulations and emphasis were laid on the investigations of the importance of deep lithospheric features. Although the influence of inhomogeneities at the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary on the potential field is not neglectable, they are overprinted by the response of the density contrast at the crust–mantle boundary and intra-crustal density anomalies. The uncertainties in the interpretations are in the same order of magnitude as the gravity field generated by the deep lithosphere.After including the deep lithospheric geometry from the tomographic model it is shown that full isostatic equilibrium is not achieved below the Eastern Alps. However, calculation of the isostatic lithospheric thickness shows two areas of lithospheric thickening along the central axis of the Eastern Alps with a transition zone below the area of the TRANSALP profile. This is in agreement with the tomographic model, which features a change in lithospheric subduction direction.     

Exhumation of the Tauern window,Eastern Alps

The exhumation of metamorphic domes within orogenic belts is exemplified by the Tauern window in the Eastern Alps. There, the exhumation is related to partitioning of final orogenic shortening into deep-seated thrusts, near-surface antiformal bending forming brachyanticlines, and almost orogen-parallel strike-slip faults due to oblique continental plate collision. Crustal thickening by formation of an antiformal stack within upper to middle crustal portions of the lower lithosphere is a prerequisite of late-stage orogenic window formation. Low-angle normal faults at releasing steps of crustal-scale strike-slip faults accomodate tectonic unloading of synchronously thickened crust and extension along strike of the orogen, forming pull-apart metamorphic domes. Initiation of low-angle normal faults is largely controlled by rock rheology, especially at the brittle-ductile transitional level within the lithosphere. Several mechanisms may contribute to uplift and exhumation of previously buried crust within such a setting: (1) Shortening along deep-seated blind thrusts results in the formation of brachyanticlines and bending of metamorphic isograds; (2) oversteps of strike-slip faults within the wrench zone control the final geometry of the window; (3) unloading by tectonic unroofing and erosional denudation; and (4) vertical extrusion of crustal scale wedges. Rapid decompression of previously buried crust results in nearly isothermal exhumation paths, and enhanced fluid circulation along subvertical tensile fractures (hydrothermal ore and silicate veins) that formed due to overall coaxial stretching of lower plate crust.     

Rb/Sr geochronology in the Eastern Alps

New Rb/Sr data on mineral and whole rock samples from in and around the south-east corner of the Tauern Window are presented. Pennine orthogeneisses yield an Rb/Sr whole rock age of 279±9 m.y., while orthogneiss samples from the Altkristallin Sheet near Innerkrems, Carinthia, yield an age of 381±30 m.y. by the same technique. The apparent mineral age break across the margins of the Tauern Window is investigated in an area of good structural and petrofabric control. The post-Palaeozoic history of the Eastern Alps is then discussed in the context of the available Rb/Sr data. It is argued that the bulk of the Katschberg Phyllites are of pre-Mesozoic age; that the major overthrusting movements of the Austroalpine Units were completed by 60–65 m.y.; and that the Peri-Adriatic intrusives can be little older than middle Tertiary.     

Morphological analysis of the drainage system in the Eastern Alps

We study the morphology of the major rivers draining the Eastern Alps to test whether the active tectonics of this part of the orogen is reflected in the shape of channel profiles of the river network. In our approach we compare channel profiles measured from digital elevation models with numerically modelled channel profiles using a stream power approach. It is shown that regions of high stream power coincide largely with regions of highest topography and largest uplift rates, while the forelands and the Pannonian Basin are characterised by a significantly lower stream power. From stream power modelling we conclude that there is young uplift at the very east of the Eastern Alps, in the Bohemian Massif and in the Pohorje Range. The impact of the Pleistocene glaciations is explored by comparing properties of rivers that drain in proximal and distal positions relative to the ice sheet during the last glacial maximum. Our analysis shows that most knick points, wind gaps and other non-equilibrium features of catchments covered by ice during the last glaciations (Salzach, Enns) can be correlated with glacial processes. In contrast the ice free catchments of the Mur and Drava are characterized by channels in morphological equilibrium at the first approximation and are showing only weak evidence of the strong tectonic activity within these catchments. Finally, the channel profiles of the Adige and the divide between the upper Rhine and Danube catchments differ significantly from the other catchments. We relate this to the fact that the Adige and the Rhine respond to different base levels from the remainder of the Eastern Alps: The Adige may preserve a record from the Messininan base level change and the Rhine is subject to the base level lowering in the Rhine Graben.     

Jurassic strike slip versus subduction in the Eastern Alps

Late Jurassic formations of the Northern Calcareous Alps (NCA) contain ample evidence of synsedimentary tectonics in the form of elongate basins filled with turbidites, debris flows and slumps. Clasts are derived from the Mesozoic of the NCA; they commonly measure tens of metres in diameter and occasionally form kilometre-size bodies. These sedimentologic observations and the presumed evidence of Late Jurassic high-pressure metamorphism recently led to the hypothesis of a south-dipping Jurassic subduction zone with accretionary wedge in the southern parts of the NCA. We present new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates from the location of the postulated high-pressure metamorphism that bracket the age of this crystallization not earlier than 114–120 Ma. The event is therefore part of the well-documented mid-Cretaceous metamorphism of the Austro-alpine domain. Thus, there is currently no evidence of Late Jurassic high-pressure metamorphism to support the subduction hypothesis. The sediment record of the Late Jurassic deformation in the NCA, including the formation of local thrust sheets, is no conclusive evidence for subduction. All these phenomena are perfectly compatible with synsedimentary strike-slip tectonics. Large strike-slip fault zones with restraining and releasing bends and associated flower structures and pull-apart basins are a perfectly viable alternative to the subduction model for the Late Jurassic history of the NCA. However, in contrast to the Eastern Alps transect, where arguments for a Jurassic subduction are missing, a glaucophane bearing Jurassic high-pressure metamorphism in the Meliatic realm of the West Carpathians is well documented. There, the high-pressure/low-temperature slices occur between the Gemeric unit and the Silica nappe system (including the Aggtelek-Rudabanya units), which corresponds in facies with the Juvavic units in the southern part of the NCA. To solve the contrasting palaeogeographic reconstructions we propose that the upper Jurassic left lateral strike-slip system proposed here for the Eastern Alps continued eastwards and caused the eastward displacement of the Silica units into the Meliatic accretionary wedge.     

Diagenetic evolution of the Carnian Wetterstein platforms of the Eastern Alps

The carbonate platforms of the Wetterstein Formation of the Eastern Alps (Drau Range and Northern Calcareous Alps) show a distinct facies zonation of reefs and lagoons. While some lagoonal areas were episodically emerged and formed lagoonal islands, others remained permanently flooded. The scale of near surface, meteoric or marine diagenesis was related to this lagoonal topography. At shallow burial depth, cementation was dominated by altered marine solutions, which additionally caused recrystallization of metastable constituents of the sediment and earlier marine cements (high magnesian calcite, aragonite) connected with a carbon and oxygen isotopic change to more negative values. Deeper burial cementation shows a succession with two types of saddle dolomite and three types of blocky calcite. Carbon and oxygen isotopic values of these cements show a trend towards more negative values from the first to the last generation, in the following succession: clear saddle dolomite—zoned blocky calcite—cloudy saddle dolomite—post-corrosion blocky calcite—replacive blocky calcite. Fluid inclusion studies of the carbonate cements are interpreted to indicate a deeper burial temperature development that first increases from 175 to 317°C, followed by a temperature decrease to 163–260°C, and subsequent increase up to 316°C, whereby the samples of the Drau Range always show the lowest values. Calculations of the isotopic composition of the water, from which the carbonate cements were precipitated, yielded positive δ¹⁸O values from 6.66 to 17.81%o (SMOW), which are characteristic for formation and/or metamorphic waters. Also, the isotopic compositions of the palaeofluids probably changed during deeper burial diagenesis, following the temperature development.     

On the distribution of the electrical conductivity below the Eastern Alps

Along a profile Chiemsee—Hohe Tauern/Zillertaler Alpen-Drautal magnetotelluric measurements have been made at 65 sites and geomagnetic depth sounding has been made at 21 sites. From these registrations the distribution of the electrical conductivity at greater depths can be deduced by determining the distribution of the induced electric currents. We were mainly interested in the transition zone molasse basin/Calcareous Alps and in the conductivity distribution below the Hohe Tauern and the Zillertaler Alpen.The different rock units of the Calcareous Alps have on the average a low electrical conductivity. They are underlain by well conducting sediments (probably molasse) until 10 km south of the morphological border of the Alps. The well conducting sediments below the Calcareous Alps are rather thick. We assume a thickness of 3–4 km. The sediments decrease at the assumed southern border of the molasse basin within a short distance.The distribution of the electrical conductivity below the central eastern Alps has been investigated, to find perhaps an indication for an increased temperature in this area. A clear increase of the conductivity and as a consequence also of the temperature could not be found below the central eastern Alps. A small increase of the electrical conductivity, however, could be found in some areas as for example below the Hohe Tauern and below the upper valleys of the rivers Drau and Rienz. As the number of stations was too small in this area, no detailed information can be given about the extension and the depth range of these local conductivity anomalies.

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Zusammenfassung Entlang eines Profils vom Chjemsee über die Hohen Tauern und Zillertaler Alpen bis zum Drautal wurden an 65 Orten die zeitlichen Variationen des erdelektrischen Feldes und an 21 Orten die zeitlichen Variationen des erdmagnetischen Feldes registriert. Aus diesen Registrierungen kann die Verteilung der im Untergrund induzierten Ströme und daraus die Verteilung von Gesteinseinheiten unterschiedlicher elektrischer Leitfähigkeit abgeleitet werden. Besonders interessierte der Übergangsbereich Molassetrog—Nördliche Kalkalpen sowie der tiefere Untergrund unter den Hohen Tauern und den Zillertaler Alpen.Die — im Mittel gering leitfähigen — Gesteine der Kalkalpen sind im Bereich des Profils bis 10 km südlich des morphologischen Alpenrandes von gut leitfähigen Sedimenten (wohl überwiegend Molasse) unterlagert. Diese Sedimente sind unter den Kalkalpen noch mehrere km mächtig.Die Verteilung der elektrischen Leitfähigkeit unter den zentralen Ostalpen wurde untersucht, um vielleicht einen Hinweis auf eine erhöhte Temperatur in dem Gebiet zu erhalten. Eine deutliche Erhöhung der Leitfähigkeit und damit auch der Temperatur wurde unter den zentralen Ostalpen nicht gefunden. Eine geringe Erhöhung der elektrischen Leitfähigkeit ist jedoch in einigen Gebieten vorhanden, so z. B. unter den Hohen Tauern sowie unter dem Oberlauf der Flüsse Drau und Rienz. Genauere Angaben über die Ausdehnung und Tiefenlage dieser Anomalien können aber wegen der zu geringen Anzahl von Stationen noch nicht gemacht werden.

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Résumé Afin de déterminer les courants électriques induits et la distribution de la conductivité électrique, on a, le long d'un profil s'étendant du Chiemsee jusqu'à la vallée de la Drau, enregistré les variations temporelles du champ tellurique en 65 localités et les variations du champ magnétique en 21 localités.Pour la région de transition entre la Molasse et les Alpes Calcaires du Nord les résultats indiquent la présence de couches sédimentaires à bonne conductivité sous les Alpes Calcaires, dont les roches ont une conductivité généralement faible. Ces couches qui s'étendent jusqu'à 10 km au sud du bord morphologique des Alpes, ont une épaisseur de plusieurs km et sont probablement constituées surtout de Molasse.Pour la région centrale des Alpes Orientales les résultats ne donnent pas d'indication pour un accroissement général de la conductivité et par conséquent de la température. Sous les Hohe Tauern et sous les cours supérieurs de la Drau et de la Rienz des accroissements locaux relativement faibles ont été trouvés. Des résultats quantitatifs concernant ces anomalies ne peuvent pas encore être fournis à cause de la trop faible densité des stations d'enrégistrement.

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Provenance of Oligocene synorogenic sediments of the Ligurian Alps (NW Italy): inferences on belt age and cooling history

Mineral chemistry, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology on white micas and Apatite Fission Track Thermochronology (AFTT), are applied here to study the provenance of the synorogenic Molare Formation (lowermost unit of the Tertiary Piedmont Basin clastic sequence). The Molare Formation was deposited during transgression onto the Ligurian Alps nappe stack in the Early Oligocene. Depositional facies show that clastic distribution remained transversal, with local sources located just landward from the coastline. Phengite mineral chemistry together with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data clearly shows two distinctive source areas, each one mirroring the composition of the basement directly beneath the clastic sequence. Amphibole mineral chemistry allows second order provenance distinctions within each sector, reflecting heterogeneous metamorphic evolution of the bedrock complexes. Integrated ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating and AFTT suggest that, following a fast cooling/exhumation episode of the Ligurian Alps during the Oligocene, very little net uplift has since occurred. This is due to a period of general subsidence from the Oligocene–Late Miocene followed by comparable uplift from Late Miocene–Pliocene to the present. In general our data provide an image of the Ligurian Alps during the Oligocene, which is very similar to the present-day one.This revised version was published online in September 2003.     

Pre-Alpine eclogites in the Pennine Basement Complex of the Eastern Alps

An occurrence of quartz-eclogite is described from the Inner Schieferhülle unit of the Pennine Basement Complex in the SE Tauern Window, Austria.
Field relations strongly suggest a pre-Alpine age for the primary eclogitic mineral assemblage (garnet + omphacite + quartz + rutile). This implies that there was no connection between the formation of these eclogites and the late Cretaceous and Tertiary tectonic evolution of the Eastern Alps. The quartz-eclogite mineral assemblage crystallized under conditions of 620 ± 100°C and at pressures in excess of 12 kbar, and suffered amphibolitic overprinting of Alpine and possibly Hercynian age.
A four-stage polymetamorphic history is proposed for the Inner Schieferhülle:     

Plate tectonic processes that governed the mineralization of the Eastern Alps

The notably limited post-Hercynian mineralization of the Eastern Alps is shown to be a direct function of the particular plate tectonic history of the region. The Alpine orogeny can be viewed as consisting of two separate, although overlapping events. Formation and then destruction of a "Penninic Ocean" of Jurassic age left a root of subduced oceanic crust in the Asthenosphere. Cyprus style copper deposits and submarine exhalative tungsten and base metal ore-bodies are the main mineralization episodes that can be related to this Penninic event. In the second stage of the Alpine orogeny the northward subducing Tethyan ocean floor collided with the Penninic remnant causing steepening and deflection of the Benioff-zone. The Alps were thus insulated by the Penninic root from many of the thermal events typical of normal subduction induced orogenies. Minor transport of earlier disseminated mineralization into faults formed in the Alpine tectonism is the dominant manifestation of the limited Alpine thermal event. However, although the geometry of the Alpine orogeny favoured only minor metallization it is also noted that earlier orogenies of the Alpine region are metal poor compared to many orogenic regions. It is suggested therefore that inheritance of the metallogenetic character of the preceeding basement may also play a role in the metalliferous nature of later orogenic episodes.     

On the Characteristics of Heavy Multiple-Day Snowfalls in the Eastern Alps

Based on the daily fresh-snowrecordings of a set of 81 stations of the AustrianHydrographic Service, covering a 19-year period,various aspects of extraordinarily long-lasting severesnowfalls are investigated. Starting from an exactdefinition of periods of Heavy Snowfall Events (HSE),some of the discussed items include the annual andseasonal frequencies of intense snowfall episodes, thelocation and migration paths of the storm centers andthe volume of snow dropped by the individual storms.Another part of the study, designed to visualize thebig variability of snow-related parameters over Alpineterrain, determines for all involved sites maximalobserved and theoretical extreme fresh-snowaccumulations for periods of variable length. Heavythree-day snowfall events are analyzed with specialregard of the resulting avalanche threat.     

Lower Palaeozoic volcanism of the Eastern Alps and its geodynamic implications

A geodynamic model for the lower Palaeozoic evolution of the Eastern Alps (upper Ordovician to middle Devonian; Gurktal Nappe, Styrian Greywacke Zone, Palaeozoic of Graz) is discussed, based on new field work and numerous geochemical analyses of volcanic rocks. It is suggested that in the upper Ordovician there existed on the one hand a passive continental margin or continental rift flooded by the sea, where mildly-alkaline basalts erupted (Magdalensberg-Series/Carinthia; Kaser-Series/Gurktaler Alpen). On the other hand, a convergent plate boundary in the form of an active continental margin or island arc or in the form of an orogen formed by continent-continent collision which can be recognized by the eruption of calc-alkaline volcanic rocks, probably also existed in the upper Ordovician (Blasseneck »Porphyroid«/Styrian Greywacke Zone; NockSeries/Gurktaler Alpen). In the lower Silurian a reorganization of the plate boundaries took place, resulting in the disintegration of the upper Ordovician collision zone along deep-reaching faults. Further extensional movements during the Silurian and Devonian led to the disintegration of a broad shelf platform and to the eruption of alkaline within-plate basalts. The extensional movements were responsible for the thinning of the continental crust and a general subsidence, which probably lasted until Lower Carboniferous time.

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Zusammenfassung Für das Alt-Paläozoikum der Ostalpen (oberes Ordoviz bis Mittel-Devon; Gurktaler Decke, Steirische Grauwak-kenzone, Grazer Paläozoikum) wird ein geodynamisches Modell diskutiert, das sich auf neue Kartierergebmsse und zahlreiche geochemische Analysen von Vulkaniten stützt. Es wird angenommen, daß im oberen Ordovizium einerseits ein passiver Kontinentalrand oder ein vom Meer überflutetes kontinentales Dehnungsfeld bestand, in welchem schwachalkalische Intraplattenbasalte gefördert wurden (Magdalensberg-Serie/Kärnten; Kaser-Serie/Gurktaler Alpen). Andererseits existierte im oberen Ordovizium wahrscheinlich auch eine konvergierende Plattengrenze in Form eines aktiven Kontinentalrandes oder Inselbogens oder m Form eines durch Kontinent-Kontinent-Kollision entstandenen Orogens, welche sich durch die Förderung kalkalkalischer Vulkanite bemerkbar machte (Blasseneck-»Porphyroid«/Steirische Grauwackenzone; Nock-Serie/Gurktaler Alpen). Im unteren Silur kam es zu einer Reorganisation der Plattengrenzen, in deren Folge die oberordovizische Kollisionszone an tiefreichenden Störungen zerbrach. Weitere Dehnungsbewegungen führten im Silur und Devon zur Zerbrechung einer breiten Schelfplattform und zur Förderung von alkalischen Intraplatten-Basalten. Die Dehnungsbewegungen waren für eine Ausdünnung der kontinentalen Kruste und eine damit verbundene generelle Absenkung der Sedimentations-Becken verantwortlich, die wahrscheinlich bis zum Unterkarbon anhielt.

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Résumé L'auteur présente un modèle géodynamique relatif au Paléozoïque inférieur des Alpes orientales (Ordovicien supérieur à Dévonien moyen; nappe de Gurktal, Zone des Grauwackes de la Styrie, Paléozoïque de Graz). Ce modèle se base sur de nouvelles investigations de terrain et sur un grand nombre d'analyses géochimiques de roches volcaniques. Il propose l'existence pendant l'Ordovien supérieur:- d'une part d'une marge continentale passive ou d'une zone de distension continentale submergée accompagnée d'émission de basaltes intraplaques faiblement alcalins (série du Magdalensberg/Carinthie; Série du Kaser/Gurktaler Alpen);- d'autre part d'une limite de plaques convergentes qui revêt la forme d'une marge continentale active, ou d'un arc insulaire, ou d'un orogène formé par une collision continent-continent, comme en témoigne l'éruption de roches volcaniques calco-alcalines à l'Ordovicien supérieur (»Porphyroïd« du Blasseneck/Zone des Grauwackes de la Styrie; Série du Nock/Gurktaler Alpen). Pendant le Silurien inférieur, les limites de plaques sont réorganisées, entraînant la désintégration de la zone de collision ordovicienne le long de fractures profondes. De nouveaux mouvements distensifs au cours du Silurien et du Dévonien mènent à la désintégration d'une vaste plateforme continentale et à l'éruption de basaltes alcalins intraplaques. Les mouvements distensifs sont responsables d'un amincissement de la crôute continentale et d'une subsidence généralisée qui ont probablement duré jusqu'au Carbonifère inférieur.

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