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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 112, B06308, doi:10.1029/2006JB004687, 2007

Crustal structure due to collisional and escape tectonics in the Eastern Alps region based on profiles Alp01 and Alp02 from the ALP 2002 seismic experiment

Ewald Brückl

Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria


Florian Bleibinhaus

Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria


Andrej Gosar

Environmental Agency of Slovenia and Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia


Marek Grad

Institute of Geophysics, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland


Aleksander Guterch

Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland


Pavla Hrubcová

Geophysical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic


G. Randy Keller

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, USA


Mariusz Majdański

Institute of Geophysics, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland


Franjo Šumanovac

Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia


Timo Tiira

Institute of Seismology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland


Jukka Yliniemi

Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland


Endre Hegedűs

Eötvös Loránd Geophysical Institute, Budapest, Hungary


Hans Thybo

Geological Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark


Abstract

Alp01 and Alp02 are the longest profiles recorded during ALP 2002, a large international seismic refraction and wide-angle reflection experiment undertaken in the Eastern Alps in 2002. Alp01 crosses the Alpine orogen from north to south, thus providing a cross section mainly affected by the collision between Europe and the Adriatic microplate. Alp02 extends from the Eastern Alps to the Pannonian basin, supplying evidence on the relation between Alpine crustal structure and tectonic escape to the Pannonian basin. During this experiment, 363 single-channel recorders were deployed along these profiles with an average spacing of 3.2 km. Recordings from 20 inline shots were used in this study. Two-dimensional forward modeling using interactive ray-tracing techniques produced detailed P wave velocity models that contain many features of tectonic significance. Along Alp01, the European Moho dips generally to the south and reaches a maximum depth of 47 km below the transition from the Eastern to the Southern Alps. The Adriatic Moho continues further south at a significantly shallower depth. Moho topography and a prominent south-dipping mantle reflector in the Alpine area support the idea of southward subduction of the European lithosphere below the Adriatic microplate. The most prominent tectonic feature on the Alp02 profile is a vertical step of the Moho at the transition between the Alpine and Pannonian domains, suggesting the existence of a separate Pannonian plate fragment. The development of the Pannonian fragment is interpreted to be a consequence of crustal thinning due to tectonic escape from the Alpine collision area to the Pannonian basin.

Received 9 August 2006; accepted 8 March 2007; published 26 June 2007.

Keywords: Eastern Alps; refraction seismology; tectonics.

Index Terms: 7205 Seismology: Continental crust (1219); 7218 Seismology: Lithosphere (1236); 8011 Structural Geology: Kinematics of crustal and mantle deformation; 8102 Tectonophysics: Continental contractional orogenic belts and inversion tectonics; 9605 Information Related to Geologic Time: Neogene.

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Citation: Brückl, E., et al. (2007), Crustal structure due to collisional and escape tectonics in the Eastern Alps region based on profiles Alp01 and Alp02 from the ALP 2002 seismic experiment, J. Geophys. Res., 112, B06308, doi:10.1029/2006JB004687.