ThThe HeidelbergH id lbggj BasinB i DrillingD illi ProjectP j t – EliExploringpg one of fth the most t complete p lt successions i of fid mid-continentalti t l QuaternaryQy Q t ini CentralC t l EuropeE p –

GabrielGabriel,,g,, GG. EllwangerEllwanger, DD. FrechenFrechen, MM. HoselmannHoselmann, ,, CC. SimonSimon, ThTh. WeidenfellerWeidenfeller, , MM. Wielandt-SchusterSchuster,, UU.

Aim Geophysical Pre -Site Surveys Completeness / Resolution of Sediment Successions ThThe HidlbHeidelberg BiBasin (HDB), ltdlocated iin ththe northernth partt off ththe UUpper RhiRhine GbGraben PiPrior tto ththe researchh bhlboreholes iin ViViernheim h i andd First investigations of the core material confirm (G()(Germany), ) hthosts one off ththe thithickest k t andd mostt completelt successionsi off PliPlio-/Pl/Pleistocene i t HidlbHeidelberg geophysicalhilpre-siteit surveys were perforf - that the depocenter of the basin is located sediments in continental Mid-. Since Late Pliocene / Early PleistocenePleistocene, the River med. In the area off the HDB the strongest negative close to the eastern main fault of the Upper has acted as the only drainage system that connected the Alps with Northern EuropeEurope, gravity anomaly of the entire Graben is Rhine Graben. The pollenp data of the deepestp HDB especially the North Sea. The ongoing subsidence of the Upper Rhine Graben offers a unique observed (top left)), hinting at anomalously thick sedi- borehole ''g (rightg ) revealed a pollenp potential for continuous sediment accumulation and preservation. Especially the Heidelberg ment deposits. Although rough information about assemblageg at 500 m depthp that is interpretedp BasinBasin, as the distal sediment trapp for alpinep sedimentssediments, defines a keyy location to understand Quaternaryy thickness was available from industryy as TiTiglium li . IIn ththe sense off climateli t stratigratti - the glacialg evolution of the Alpsp since Late Pliocene. With the aim to establish a reference seismics (topp rightg )), new reflection seismic profilesp phyh , ththe sedimentdi t successioni seems tto bbe profilep of Quaternaryy stratigraphygpyof the regiong north of the AlpsAlps,p,that must be discussed in the contributed significantlygyto the decision about the completelt. GlGlacials i l andd itinterglacials l il are fdfound contextttoff ththe 4-D bibasin evolutionlti , ththe HidlbHeidelbergg BiBasin iis ititdinvestigatedg bbyy new coredd bhlborehole ltilocations. IIn ththe cityity off HidlbHeidelbergg ffor ththe in superposition along one profile – a unique bhlboreholes att ththree diffdifferent t ltilocations. EhEach bhlborehole iis btbetween 300 m andd 500 m ddeep. fifirst t titime ththe dtdepocentre off ththe HDB, as iditdindicated bby situation for western Europe. The combination additionaldditi l subsidencebid comparedd tto itits surroundings,di of several boreholes in the HDB even impro- was mappedd (bbottom rightih). AAt theh ViViernheim h i lilocation ves the situation. Preliminary estimations of LtiLocation the seismic survey revealed several faults (bottom the sedimentation rate (bottom) suggestsuggest,gg that it I – inneralpine ice stream net during last ice advance left). But these faults are mainly restricted to depths is not constant throughoutg QuaternaryQuaternary,y, but II – landsystem of glacial basins at the alpine margin (blue – covered by ice during greater than 225 m. Basin modeling:PosterA70: Poster A70 after Bartz 1974 alwaysy highg . the last advance; green – Würm maximum; red – Riss maximum; dark brown – most extensive ice advance) III – Hochrhein Valley IV – Upper Rhine Graben respresp. lowlands (green – alpine input; orange – local input; hatched – mainly local, but with alpine signal)

V – classical alpine type region of the Quaternary s ! es BthfiBoth figures: Tertiary elements ale

ThThe ltilocation off ththe HDB providesid mostt suitableit bl conditionsditi : ca warm loving trees (dry soils) sc

t s Heidelberg • ananyy location jstjustj north of the Alpsp proprovidesp ides fefew potentialp warm loving trees (wet() soils) en

re AbiAbies

ffor sedimentdi t preservationti fer Tsuga iff

• any ltilocation closel tto ththe NthNorth SSea iis stronglytlaffectedff t d d

! Conifers bby multiplelti l sea lllevel changesh A/S ratio: Herbs • the Heidelberg Basin serves as most distal trap for fine sedimentationdi t ti rates t in i mm/a / Poster A73 Ericales sediments of alpine origin in the Upper Rhine Graben ViernheimViernheim,, 350 m HeidelbergHeidelberg,g 500 m Core Material Future Activities At all ll ththree bborehole h l locationsl ti core recovery and d core quality lit are good d.More. MMore fifine sediments di t The new core material and the complementingpggeoscientificg data will be investigatedg byy an were foundf d than th expected t d prior i to t theth drillings.d illi Therefore,Th f a sufficient ffi i t amount t of f appropriate i t itinterdisciplinary diilipyapproachpp h ththat t combinesbi methodsth d ffrom geology,ggy,l geophysics,gpy,hi geochronology,ggy,hl materialili is available ilblf for detailedd ildlb laboratory investigations. investigationsi i i palynology,ll sedimentologydi t l etct . as it was (liiil)(preliminarily) alreadyldsuccessfullyfll ddone withith ththe Sediment pp properties: Poster A71 cores off ththe LdLudwigshafen i hf P34 bhlborehole (bttbottom). ThThese effortsff t willill resultslt iin a referencef 3030.7 m: 56.262 m: 180180.5 m,, 199199.7 – 200200.3 3 m,, 42121 m: profilefil ffor theh QQuaternary northh off theh AlAlps thath can bbe didiscussed d iin theh context off theh 4-D HidlbHeidelberg diamicton peat (Waalian) Buntsandstein, coarse / fine (Tiglium) P34 basin evolution and the control of sedimentation by climate and tectonics. Ludwigshafeng P35 LdLudwigshafen i hf P34 LdLudwigshafen i hf P36 each 300 m NASA satellite image g ldlegend heavy minerals

Referencesef/ e e ces / Further u t e readings ead gs BARTZ, J. (1974): Die Mächtigkeit des Quartärs im Oberrheingraben. – In: ILLIES, J.H. & FUCHS, K. (edts.): Approaches to Taphrogenesis: 78 - 87; (Schweizerbart). BUNESS, H., GABRIEL, G. & ELLWANGER, D. (2008): The Heidelberg Basin drilling project: Geophysical pre-site surveys. – Quaternary Science Journal (Eiszeitalter und Gegenwart)), 57 (3/4): 338-366. 28 – 32 m: PlPleistocene, i t, coarse sediments di t 40 – 44 m: PlPleistocene, i t, fine fi sediments di t ELLWANGER, D., GABRIEL, G., SIMON, T., WIELANDT-SCHUSTER, U., GREILING, R.O., HAGEDORN, E.-M., HAHNE, J. & HEINZ, J. (2008): Longg sequenceq Viernheim of Quaternary Rocks in the Heidelberg Basin Depocentre. – Quaternary Science Journal (Eiszeitalter und Gegenwart)), 57 (3/4): 316-337. HAGEDORN, E.-M. (2004): SSedimentpetrographiepgpund Lithofaziesf der Jungtertiäreng und QQuartären SSedimente im OOberrheingebietg . – PhD thesis, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät, University CologneCologne, 248 pp. HOSELMANN, C. (2008): ThThe PliPliocene andd PlPleistocene i t flfluvial i l evolutionlti iin ththe northernth UUpper RhiRhine GbGraben bdbased on resultslt off ththe researchh borehole at Viernheim (Hessen, Germany). – Quaternary Science Journal (Eiszeitalter und Gegenwart), 57 (3/4): 286-315. KNIPPING, M. (2008): EarlEarly and Middle Pleistocene pollen assemblages of deep core drillings in the northern Upper Rhine Graben, GermanGermany. – Netherlands Journal of Geosciences,, 87/1: 51-65. ROLF, C., HAMBACH, U. & WEIDENFELLER, M. (2008): Rock and palaeomagnetic evidence for the Plio-/ Pleistocene palaeoclimatic change recorded in Upperpp Rhine GGraben sediments ((core Ludwigshafeng f -Parkinsel). – Netherlands Journal off GGeosciences, 87/1: 41-50. WEIDENFELLER, M. & KNIPPING, M. (2008): Correlation of Pleistocene sediments from boreholes in the Ludwigshafen areaarea, western Heidelberg Discussion: Poster A71 BiBasin. – QtQuaternary SiScience JlJournal (EiEiszeitalter it lt undd GtGegenwart)), 57 (3/4): 270-285.

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