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Home , Eastern Alps, Enns (river), Gurktal Alps, Pannonian Basin, Salzach, Southern Alps (Europe)

Abh. Geol. B.-A. e 34 p. 7—98 20 figs., 14 tabl., 1 col. map Wien 1. 5. 1980 26 C. G. I.

Outline of the of

WERNER R. JANOSCHEK and ALOIS MATURA

With 20 figures, 14 tables and a coloured Geological Map of Austria 1 : 1,500.000

CONTENTS

page page Foreword Metamorphism 37 Structure 37 General Remarks . Alpine History 39 Introduction The Windows of Rechnitz, Bernstein and Meltern . 40 The Austro-Alpine Unit 40 The Geological History of Austria 12 The Northern Calcareous 42 The Austrian Part of the Bohemian Massiv . 15 Stratigraphy and Faciès 43 The Moravian Zone 15 Permian 43 The Moldanubian Zone 16 43 The Moldanubian Metamorphic Rocks in the The Hauptdolomit Faciès 43 Waldviertel 16 The Dachstein Faciès .... 44 The Moldanubian Pluton 18 The Hallstatt Faciès 46 The Bavarian Zone 18 46 The Post-Variscan Sedimentary Cover .... 19 -Palaeogene 47 The Gosau Formation 47 The Molasse Zone 19 Internal Structure 48 The Molasse Zone of 20 Regional Description 49 Tertiary Beds of the in the Area of The Area between the Valley in the West Kufstein-Wörgl 21 and the Cross Valley of the Inn in the East . 49 The Molasse Zone between the Rivers and The Area from the Cross Valley of the Inn to Inn and the Area of Amstetten 21 the Weyrer Bögen 51 The Pre-Tertiary Basement 22 The Area from the Weyrer Bögen to the The Tertiary Basin Filling 22 Basin 54 The Molasse Zone of the Area of St. Polten and The Central Zone of the .... 56 Tulln 25 The West of the . 56 The Molasse Zone North of the River . 27 The Region North of the Tauern Window . 59 The Undisturbed Molasse Zone 27 The Region South of the Tauern Window . 62 The Waschberg Zone 28 The Region East of the Tauern Window . 64 The Niedere Tauern Mountains and the Eisen- The Zone (Helvetikum) 28 erz Alps 64 The , the Klagenfurt Basin, and The Zone 31 the Northern Karawanken 66 The Flysdi Zone 31 Eastern and Central . 69 The Penninic Windows . . . . 33 The Northeastern Part of the Central Zone of The Window of Gargellen . . . . . 33 the Eastern Alps 71 33 The Window of Unterengadin The Periadriatic Lineament 73 The Tauern Window . 35 Lithology and Stratigraphy . . . . 35 The 73

Address of the authors: Geological Survey of Austria, Rasumofskygasse 23, A-1031 Vienna, Austria. page page The Neogene Basins 74 Coal and Lignite 84 The 74 Hydrocarbons 84 The Basement 76 Geothermal Energy 85 The Neogene Basin Filling 77 Non-Metallic Mineral Deposits, Refractive and Neogene Basins within the Southern and Eastern Industrial Minerals, and Raw Materials for Parts of the Central Alps 80 Construction Purposes 85 The Styrian Basin ...... 80 The Austrian Parts of the . . 81 References 86 The Basin 81 The Klagenfurt Basin 81 List of Selected Books Dealing with the Regional Geo- Neogene Freshwater Sediments within the Alps . 81 logy of Austria 90 Short Outline of the Glacial History of the Eastern List of Selected Geoscientific Periodicals Issued in Alpine Realm 82 Austria 90 Mineral Deposits 82 Ores 83 Index 91

Foreword

This Outline of the Geology of Austria was produ- Introduction as well as the chapters on the Bohemian ced on the occasion of the 26th International Geologi- Massif, on the Penninic Windows, and on the Central cal Congress in Paris 1980. It is provided with a colou- Zone of the Eastern Alps. red Geological Map of Austria in a scale of 1 : 1,500.000. The authors express their gratitude to I. DRAXLER, Previously published modern reviews of the geology of G. FUCHS, R. GRILL, M. HEINRICH, H. HÖLZER, Austrian available in English are either brief A. KRÖLL, G. MALECKI, R. OBERHAUSER, A. PAHR, (CH. EXNER, 1966) or dealing only with the Eastern Alps B. PLÖCHINGER, S. SCHARBERT, W. SCHNABEL, H. P. (E. CLAR, 1973) or with their central part (E. R. OX- SCHÖNLAUB, and F. STEININGER, for their valuable com- BURGH, 1968). ments, respectively for their permission to use not-yet The chapters dealing with the Molasse Zone, Tertiary published manuscripts. The English manuscripts has been Basins, Helvetic Zone, Zone, Northern Calcare- read by Mrs. A. PARTAN to whom we must give special ous Alps, Southern Alps, Pleistocene, and the Mineral thanks. The figures and tables have mainly been drawn Deposits have been written by W. JANOSCHEK. by O. BINDER, S. LASCHENKO, K. UHER and I. ZACK, A. MATURA has prepared the General Remarks and the to all of whom we are grateful for their careful work.

General Remarks

Austria covers an area of about 84 000 km- in the 3000 m. Eastwards the average height of mountains centre of . It has an extension of about 550 km is gradually decreasing. in east-west direction and of about 300 km in north- Near Vienna the Danube cuts across the smooth south direction. The Eastern Alps and the Danube are spur of the mountain chain. Apart from small regions the most prominent features of the Austrian landscape. at the western and the northern border, the Austrian The Eastern Alps are part of a Tertiary mountain territory is entirely drained by the Danube and its belt, passing in a twisted course through the southern tributaries. Upstream, west of Vienna, the Danube part of Europe and continuing both into and valley takes its course along wide low-lands between . The major part of the Austrian territory is domi- the smooth northern outliers of the Alps in the south nated by the mountainous character of the Eastern and the well-wooded, moderate mountainous region Alps. They extend in a generally east-west direction and in the north (Mühlviertel, Waldviertel). In this section represent the eastward continuation of the . the Danube is mainly supplied by the rivers Inn, Salz- At their eastern end near Vienna the Eastern Alps swing ach and from the northern flank of the Eastern north-eastwards and pass into the Carpathians. The Alps. Not of Vienna the Danube leaves Austrian highest regions in the central part of the Eastern Alps, territory. Along its further course towards the Black in the Hohen Tauern, as well as in the western part Sea it is apart from other tributaries supplied by the are glaciated and the summits exceed an altitude of Drau river which together with the river draines