Compilation of more than 1500 major- and trace-element data points, and 650 Sr-, 610 Nd-, and 570 Pb-isotopic analyses of Mesozoic-Cenozoic (190–0 Ma) magmatic rocks in southern Peru, northern Chile and Bolivia (Central Andean orocline). This compilation was initially published by Mamani et al. (2010) and was based on selected data published up until 2009, combined with new data from that study.
Related key publication: Mamani, M., Wörner, G., & Sempere, T. (2010). Geochemical variations in igneous rocks of the Central Andean orocline (13°S to 18°S): Tracing crustal thickening and magma generation through time and space. GSA Bulletin, 122(1–2), 162–182. https://doi.org/10.1130/B26538.1
The Quaternary Drilling at the Rehhag under the supervision of members of the Institut für Geologie (QDR-RE-IfG) was interested in the unconsolidated sediment infill of a bedrock trough in the Northern Alpine Foreland (NAF). Such bedrock troughs, now hidden beneath their sediment infill and/or in lakes, occur in formerly and currently glaciated areas, and are linked to increased glacial erosion. The base of these bedrock troughs is located beneath today's base level, which puts them beyond fluvial erosion, and this is why they are referred to as over-deepenings. Such overdeepenings can be found in the vicinity of the Alps which includes the NAF. After the formation or re-occupation of such overdeepenings by glacier ice these troughs provide accommodation space for the deposition of sediments. Hence, overdeepenings are likely to preserve sediments through glacial-interglacial cycles. As erosive agents, glaciers re-shape landscapes, and excavate and re-use sediments of previous glaciations which makes the preservation of intact sedimentary sequences through multiple glacial cycles unlikely. These repeated cut-and-fill cycles limit the Quaternary sedimentary record and make the investigation of the number and chronology of Quaternary glacial-interglacial cycles difficult. Overdeepenings, however, can preserve fractionated and probably intact sedimentary sequences throughout multiple glaciations. Hence, accessing the sediment infill of overdeepened bedrock troughs through core drillings provides insight into phases of the Quaternary at locations where formerly little information was available.
To gain new insight into the Mid- to Late-Pleistocene sedimentary record in the Bern area (Switzerland) the drilling QDR-RE-IfG was conducted in Bern-Bümpliz, where a minor branch of the Aare Valley overdeepening is located in which Quaternary sediments at least 150 ka in age were expected. In Bern-Bümpliz, at the Rehhag, the uppermost 30 m of the sedimentary succession are accessible in an abandoned clay pit. The drilling reached 211.5 m driller's depth, recovering 208.5 m of unconsolidated sediment and, below a sharp contact, 3 m of Miocene Molasse bedrock. The recovery of intact core from unconsolidated sediment is challenging. Nevertheless, 92.3% of the core material was recovered in 1 m-long plastic liners in pristine condition. As the drilling reached the bedrock it is the first scientific drilling that recovered the full sedimentary suite in a part of the Aare Valley overdeepening. Within the sedimentary succession two sequences (A = lower, B = upper) were identified. Each of the sequences is initiated by the deposition of glacial till that is overlain by lacustrine or glacio-lacustrine sediments. First luminescence ages indicate a depositional age between 250 and 340 ka for sequence B.
The drill core was transported from the drill site to the Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, where it was analyzed and sampled. The first step in the analysis was scanning the whole core contained in the liners on a Multi Sensor Core Logger (MSCL; Geotek Ltd.) which provided measurements of the core (γ-)density, p-wave velocity and magnetic susceptibility. The liners were then opened under light sensitive conditions, the cores split in half to allow their macroscopic description, and one half was sealed from light and other alterating influences. After the description, the core was documented with a digital line scanner on the MSCL. After the documentation, a vane meter was used to determine the shear strength of the material and samples for pollen analysis, analysis of the carbon content, provenance analysis, and the measurement of cosmogenic nuclides 10Be and 26Al were extracted.
This report provides limited information about the drilling operation, describes the available datasets form scanning and sample analysis, and the results of the first data processing as well as the tools used in the data analysis.
Central Europe is an intraplate domain which is characterized by low to moderate seismicity with records of larger seismic events occurring in historical and recent times. These records of seismicity are restricted to just over one thousand years. This does not reflect the long seismic cycles in Central Europe which are expected to be in the order of tens of thousands of years.
Therefore, we have developed a paleoseismic database (PalSeisDB) that documents the records of paleoseismic evidence (trenches, soft-sediment deformation, mass movements, etc.) and extends the earthquake record to at least one seismic cycle. It is intended to serve as one important basis for future seismic hazard assessments. In the compilation of PalSeisDB, paleoseismic evidence features are documented at 129 different locations in the area of Germany and adjacent regions.
A brief explanation of the folder structure, file list and file contents included in the data publication of PalSeisDB is provided in the data description .A detailed explanation of the data collection, the content of the data files and the table headers is available (Hürtgen et al., 2020). A full list of source references for PalSeisDB is provided in Hürtgen (2017, Appendix 8.3, p. 128 ff) and also included in the zip folder here