South German Platform

Representation and status

Color CMYK

N/A

Color RGB

R: 241 G: 239 B: 237

Rank

tectonic subdomain

Validity

Unit is in Use

Status

valid

Scs Note

TK500 >>> DE: Tafel, FR: Plateau, IT: Altipiano (montagne) plutôt que Pianoro (géographie), EN: Platform

Nomenclature

Deutsch

Süddeutsche Tafel

Français

Plateau d'Allemagne méridionale

Italiano

Piattaforma della Germania meridionale

English

South German Platform

Historical Variants

Südwestdeutsches Schichtstufenland, Südwestliche Mittelgebirge, Schwäbisch-Fränkische(s) Schichtstufenland(schaft), Süddeutsche(s) Schichtstufenland(schaft), South German Scarplands, South German Platform (Gouffon et al. 2024)

Hierarchy and sequence

Subordinate units

• Hegau-Bodensee Graben
• Schwarzwald Massif

Geography

Geographical extent

Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, Hessen, Thüringen (inkl. Schwabenalb, Frankenalb, Randen, ...).

Palaenography and tectonic

Paleogeography

North Alpine Foreland Basin

References

Definition

Gouffon Yves (Editor) (2024) : Tectonic Map of Switzerland 1:500000, Explanatory notes. Federal Office of Topography swisstopo, Wabern

p.21: Located east of the Rhine Graben, the South German Platform occupies the eastern part of the northern border of the map area. A major normal fault, the Schwarzwald Fault, separates both units. East of this fault, the Schwarzwald Massif exposes the basement of the South German Platform, which consists mainly of metamorphic and plutonic rocks (Schaltegger 2000), with some remnants of Late Paleozoic sediments (Nitsch 2018). The massif is characterized by WNW–ESE striking brittle faults, some of which can be traced further southeast into the Mesozoic overburden where they formed important precursor structures during Neogene deformation events (Egli et al. 2017).
The autochthonous Mesozoic–Cenozoic sedimentary cover of the South German Platform shows a clear segmentation into tectonically distinct regions. The small western region, between Basel and Frick, is marked by a strong segmentation defined by normal faults. As most of these normal faults are NNE–SSW oriented, the region is considered as the eastern shoulder of the similarly oriented Upper Rhine Graben. Laubscher (1982, 2003, 2004) postulates that a large number of the normal faults were already formed in the Eocene with a decoupling in the evaporites of the Muschelkalk and a multiphase extensive deformation in different directions. He further assumes that the related tectonic processes came to a halt in the Early Miocene, as many of the normal faults are unconformably overlain by younger Molasse sediments. In contrast, Pfirter et al. (2019) assume that the normal faults are rooted in the crystalline basement. Some compressional structures also occur in this area, such as generally W–E oriented thrusts and the narrow Adlerhof Anticline (Meyer 2001) in the Pratteln–Liestal area. While Pfirter et al. (2019) interpret these structures to be an expression of a Late Miocene compressional tectonic overprint at the northern margin of the Detached North Alpine Foreland, Laubscher (1973, 1982) argues that they formed due to gravitational sliding of the sedimentary envelope from the uplifted crystalline Schwarzwald Massif further to the north. Whatever the case, this area is regarded as part of the South German Platform in the tectonic map as the main compressional movements of Late Miocene age ended along better-defined thrust faults further south.
Further east, north of the Mandach Thrust that is considered as the northern boundary of the Detached North Alpine Foreland (Malz et al. 2020; see § 3.2), the S-vergent Mettau Thrust is also subject of controversy (gravitational or tectonic structure, see discussion above; Wildi 1975, Laubscher 2003). This structure is thus regarded as belonging to the South German Platform. East of the lower Aare Valley, the tectonic characterization of this platform is comparatively vague. Notable structural features include a series of WSW–ESE trending monoclines around Döttingen and Zurzach (Bitterli et al. 2000, Bittleri-Dreher et al. 2007). The southern boundary of the South German Plattform toward the Detached North Alpine Foreland is defined by contractional structures identified in seismic reflection profiles. However, east of Eglisau, there is no evidence for this boundary (Naef et al. 1995, Birkhäuser et al. 2001; see chap. 3).