ZOBODAT - www.zobodat.at Zoologisch-Botanische Datenbank/Zoological-Botanical Database Digitale Literatur/Digital Literature Zeitschrift/Journal: Abhandlungen der Geologischen Bundesanstalt in Wien Jahr/Year: 1980 Band/Volume: 34 Autor(en)/Author(s): Janoschek Werner R., Matura Alois Artikel/Article: Outline of the Geology of Austria 7-98 ©Geol. Bundesanstalt, Wien; download unter www.geologie.ac.at Abb.. Geol. B.-A. 34 p. 7—98 20 figs., 14 tabl., 1 col. map Wien 1. 5. 1980 26e C. G. I. Outline of the Geology of Austria 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 8 Metamorphism 37 Structure 37 General Remarks 8 Alpine History 39 The Windows of Rechnitz, Bernstein and Meltern . 40 Introduction 9 The Austro-Alpine Unit 40 The Geological History of Austria 12 The Northern Calcareous Alps 42 The Austrian Part of the Bohemian Massiv ... 15 Stratigraphy and Facies 43 The Moravian Zone 15 Permian 43 The Moldanubian Zone 16 Triassic 43 The Moldanubian Metamorphic Rocks in the The Hauptdolomit Facies 43 Waldviertel 16 The Dachstein Limestone Facies .... 44 The Moldanubian Pluton 18 The Hallstatt Facies 46 The Bavarian Zone 18 Jurassic 46 The Post-Variscan Sedimentary Cover .... 19 Cretaceous-Palaeogene 47 The Gosau Formation 47 The Molasse Zone 19 Internal Structure 48 The Molasse Zone of Vorarlberg 20 Regional Description 49 Tertiary Beds of the Inn Valley in the Area of The Area between the Rhine Valley in the West Kufstein-Wörgl 21 and the Cross Valley of the Inn in the East . 49 The Molasse Zone between the Rivers Salzach 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 Vienna The Tertiary Basin Filling 22 Basin 54 The Molasse Zone of the Area of St. Polten and The Central Zone of the Eastern Alps .... 56 Tulln 25 The Region West of the Tauern Window ... 56 The Molasse Zone North of the River Danube . 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 Helvetic Zone (Helvetikum) 28 erz Alps 64 The Gurktal Alps, the Klagenfurt Basin, and The Penninic Zone 31 the Northern Karawanken 66 The Flysch Zone 31 Eastern Carinthia and Central Styria ... 69 The Penninic Windows 33 The Northeastern Part of the Central Zone of The Window of Gargellen 33 the Eastern Alps 71 The Window of Unterengadin 33 The Periadriatic Lineament 73 The Tauern Window 35 Lithology and Stratigraphy 35 The Southern Alps 73 Address of the authors: Geological Survey of Austria, Rasumofskygasse 23, A-1031 Vienna, Austria. 7 ©Geol. Bundesanstalt, Wien; download unter www.geologie.ac.at page page The Neogene Basins 74 Coal and Lignite 84 The Vienna Basin 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 Pannonian Basin . 81 References 86 The Lavanttal 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 Alpine Realm 82 List of Selected Geoscientific Periodicals Issued in 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 regions 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, Flysch Zone, Northern Calcare­ read by Mrs. A. PÄRTAN 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 km2 in the 3000 m. Eastwards the average height of mountains centre of Europe. 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 Africa and valley takes its course along wide low-lands between Asia. 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 Swiss Alps. the Danube is mainly supplied by the rivers Inn, Salz- At their eastern end near Vienna the Eastern Alps swing ach and Enns from the northern flank of the Eastern north-eastwards and pass into the Carpathians. The Alps. Not far east 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 Mur river draines 8 ©Geol. Bundesanstalt, Wien; download unter www.geologie.ac.at the major part of the southern flank of the Eastern A. WEGENER, O. AMPFERER, B. SANDER, and L. KOBER Alps. should be mentioned. The eastern and south-easternmost parts of Austria At present research in geology and related sciences is are occupied by wide low-lands which continue east­ carried out by the Geological Survey in Vienna and by wards into the Pannonian plain. several geological departments at the universities in Geological research in Austria has been carried out Vienna, Graz, Innsbruck, Salzburg, and Leoben. Re­ since the early nineteenth century and has developed markable collections and libraries exist at museums in particularly in the second half, notably by A. BOUE, Vienna, Linz, Graz, Innsbruck, Salzburg, and Klagen­ F. v. HAUER, D. STUR, E. SUESS, M. HOERNESS, and E. v. furt. MOJSISOVICS. Systematic geological mapping of wide General geological maps of Austria are available on areas of the former Austrian-Hungarian monarchy on a scale of 1 : 1,500 000, 1 : 1,000 000, and 1 : 500 000, a scale of 1 : 75 000 was initiated by the Geological special geological maps essentially on scales of 1 : 50 000 Survey in Vienna, which was founded in 1849 as one of and 1 : 25 000. A list of periodicals dealing with the the first geological surveys in the world. Among the geology and related sciences in Austria and of the most most well known contributors to classical Austrian important books about the regional geology of Austria geology in the twentieth century F. BECKE, F. E. SUESS, are to be found at the end of the paper. Introduction Austria is subdivided into following units, arranged According to F. E. SUESS the external zone in the from north to south, according to their paleogeographi- eastern part of the Bohemian Massif is called Moravian cal position: Zone. It chiefly consists of the pre-Devonian Thaya pluton and a series of low to medium-grade metamorphic Bohemian Massif ortho- and pararocks. During the Variscan period the Molasse Zone Moravian Zone probably had been overthrust by the Helvetic Zone Moldanubian Zone from west. This assumption, however, Penninic Zone Flysch Zone is not unanimously accepted. Penninic Windows In the western part of the Bohemian Massif in Austria Austro-Alpine Unit *) Central Zone of the extensive migmatisation, metablastesis and locally ana- Eastern Alps texis was caused by the emplacement of an earlier gene­ Northern Calcareous Alps ration of granitic masses of the Variscan Moldanubian Southern-Alpine Unit pluton. This event was accompanied by synintrusive tectonic movements; the older Moldanubian structures vanished in this area and were replaced by new struc­ The northern part of Austria is occupied by the tures with a strict regional strike in northwest-southeast southern margin of the Bohemian Massif.