Open AccessMajor palaeohydrographic changes in Alpine foreland during the Pliocene ‐ Pleistocene
Author(s) -
PETIT CHRISTOPHE,
CAMPY MICHEL,
CHALINE JEAN,
BONVALOT JACQUES
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
boreas
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.95
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1502-3885
pISSN - 0300-9483
DOI - 10.1111/j.1502-3885.1996.tb00841.x
Subject(s) - graben , geology , foreland basin , massif , molasse , pleistocene , paleontology , early pleistocene , late miocene , tectonics , horst and graben , chronology , structural basin
The changing palaeogeographical pattern of Alpine deposits across the European forelands can be traced by identifying mineral assemblages and establishing the chronology of Pliocene‐Pleistocene deposits in Alpine foreland. In the late Miocene, the upper courses of the Rhine and the Aar flowed east from the Swiss molasse plain towards the Danube. In the early Pliocene (Brunssumian, 5‐3.2 Ma), these same rivers headed north wards towards the Rhine Graben of Alsace. In the early Reuverian, these streams were captured south of the Rhine Graben by the Doubs. They ceased their northward flow and headed west to feed the Bresse Graben. This phase is dated to the Lower and Middle Reuverian (3.2‐2.6 Ma). From the Upper Reuverian (2.6 Ma) to the present day, the Rhine has adapted approximately its present course towards the North Sea, south to north along the Rhine Graben and across the Rhine Schist Massif to feed the Dutch Grabens. This changing pattern of capture and alteration of the hydrographic system of the upper reaches of the Rhine and the Aar can be explained by local tectonic movements.