Finite element models of stress in eastern Austria during the early Miocene

Details Finite element models of stress in eastern Austria during the early Miocene Finite element models of stress in eastern Austria during the early Miocene

Jan 1992

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992pepi...69..281s&link_type=abstract

Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, Volume 69, Issue 3-4, p. 281-293.

Physics

3

Scientific paper

The transition zone between the Alps and the Carpathian mountains in eastern Austria is characterized by a change of strike of the tectonic units from E-W to SW-NE, resulting in the formation of the Alpine-Carpathian arc. This study investigates the effect that a depression of the eastern edge of the Bohemian Massif, filled with Mesozoic and Tertiary sediments, may have had on the advancing Alpine nappes in the early Miocene. Two-dimensional linear-elastic plane stress finite element models were used to simulate the patterns of stress, faults and seismicity resulting from such a situation.
Three different materials were used in the reconstruction of the geological-tectonic setting during the early Miocene: a limestone unit striking east-west, a molasse unit, and a crystalline unit. Whereas the northward movement of the limestone unit in the west is restricted by the crystalline unit, which acts as a buttress, in the east the movement is only slightly retarded by the molasse unit.
Calculations show that following such a situation in the early Miocene, pre-existing zones of weakness in the crystalline unit can be reactivated. East of the point where northward movement of the limestone material is no longer restricted, in the area of the present Vienna Basin, the development of a pull-apart type basin is suggested. The main faults for this process are probably reactivated basement faults. A similar basin is predicted 200 km to the east in the region of the West Danube Basin. The results also predict the establishment of a zone of seismic activity, which seems to be reflected by the pattern of seismicity observed in eastern Austria today.
Overall, the models show that the present seismic and tectonic patterns can be traced back to the events in the early Miocene, when Alpine nappes draped around the Bohemian Massif.

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