Publication

The combined passive and active seismic TRANSALP experiment produced an unprecedented high-resolution crustal image of the Eastern Alps between Munich and Venice. The European and Adriatic Mohos (EM and AM, respectively) are clearly imaged with different seismic techniques: near-vertical incidence reflections and receiver functions (RFs). The European Moho dips gently southward from 35 km beneath the northern foreland to a maximum depth of 55 km beneath the central part of the Eastern Alps, whereas the Adriatic Moho is imaged primarily by receiver functions at a constant depth of about 40 km. In both data sets, we have also detected first-order Alpine shear zones, such as the Helvetic detachment, Inntal fault and Sub-Tauern ramp in the north. apart from the Valsugana thrust, receiver functions in the southern part of the Eastern Alps have also observed a north dipping interface, which may penetrate the entire Adriatic crust [Adriatic Crust Interface (ACI)]. Deep crustal seismicity may be related to the ACI. We interpret the ACI as the currently active retroshear zone in the doubly vergent Alpine collisional belt.

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Kummerow, J.; Kind, R.; Oncken, O.; Giese, P.; Ryberg, T.; Wylegalla, K.; Scherbaum, F. (2004): A natural and controlled source seismic profile through the Eastern Alps: TRANSALP. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 225, 1-2, 115-129.