Abstract A detailed 3D petroleum system model was constructed for the Schleswig-Holstein area in northern Germany. Salt movement and the Quaternary ice episodes were implemented in order to reconstruct their impact on temperature, maturity and pressure. Burial, temperature and maturity histories were calculated for the Jurassic troughs and the Glueckstadt Graben showing both differences and similarities. For example, all locations reached (almost) deepest burial at present day, whilst subsidence and long-term sedimentation rate was highest in Glueckstadt Graben during the Triassic. The Jurassic troughs received their major subsidence and sedimentation pulse later, and were strongly affected by a later salt movement. The implementation of Quaternary glacial episodes does not have a strong impact on petroleum generation from the major source rock (Lower Toarcian Posidonia Shale). In the case of the Posidonia Shale reaching the stage of petroleum expulsion (outside of the study area), the effect of ‘glacial pumping’(i.e. the development of high pore pressures during glaciation followed by expulsion and subsequent pressure release during deglaciation) can be deduced from the model. Petroleum accumulations in the reservoir layers (Dogger sandstones) are also seen to have been affected. This finding is of interest for exploration, as it might control petroleum composition, biodegradation and leakage through cap rocks.

Abstract Proper two-dimensional and three-dimensional basin modeling relies on accurate seismic processing and interpretation, correct depth conversion of the identified sedimentary layers, reliable modeling of the thermal history of the basin, and understanding of the regional geodynamic setting. Seismic reprocessing using the common reflection surface (CRS) stack technique allows revised interpretation of the structural setting and the evolution of salt plugs in the area of the Glueckstadt Graben, located near the center of the North German Basin (NGB). Reprocessing of seismic data also provides an alternative view of the geodynamic origin of the basin. Reprocessing of data clearly demonstrates the capabilities of the CRS technique to improve the quality of low-fold data. The images display a considerably improved signal-to-noise ratio and much more detail than the common midpoint processing (CMP) of the 1980s. Moreover, a velocity model consistent with the data was built and used to perform prestack and poststack depth migrations. The image of a Jurassic salt plug indicates tectonics similar to observations in the Allertal region at the northern fringe of the inverted Lower Saxony Basin, where overthrusting plays a major role in the evolution of salt structures. Consequently, shortening of the Mesozoic strata was included in the revised interpretation. The reprocessing also provided new insights into the petroleum systems in this area, indicating possible new exploration targets. The results may lead to a new geologic understanding of the area. Instead of a two-story salt plug, steep reverse faults and associated salt structures similar to the features along the Allertal lineament may best explain the investigated seismic line. Furthermore, CRS processing leads to a new view of the shape of the Moho in the center of the NGB. This view supports the assumption that the origin of the NGB may be more related to metamorphic processes during basin initiation than to crustal stretching.

Abstract The Central European Basin System (CEBS) includes the former Northern and Southern Permian Basins together with superimposed Meso-Cenozoic sub-basins and contains a thick layer of Upper Permian (Zechstein) salt. This salt was mobilized in response to several post-Permian tectonic events. In order to analyse the regional relationship between the structural pattern of the Meso-Cenozoic sedimentary cover and the distribution of the Upper Permian salt, a 3D structural model of the CEBS has been constructed. In this model, the Permian salt is resolved as an extra layer for the entire basin system. According to the 3D structural model, the salt layer is strongly deformed as a result of halokinetic activity. The thickest salt is localized within salt walls and diapirs, reaching up to 9 km of thickness. A regional structural 3D analysis of the overburden in relation to underlying ductile salt demonstrates that the geometry of the sedimentary cover is strongly complicated by a variety of salt structures. The withdrawal of the Permian salt appears to have played a key role in both deposition and deformation of Meso-Cenozoic deposits in addition to tectonically forced regional subsidence.

Abstract Subsequent to the Variscan Orogeny, the lithosphere of Central Europe was subjected to a series of tectonic events in the Latest Palaeozoic and Mesozoic which were related to the ongoing breakup of Pangaea. The Early Mesozoic tectonic evolution of Central Europe was determined by its position between the stable Precambrian Baltic-East European Craton in the north and NW and two competing megarift systems in the NW, west and south. In the NW and west, the Arctic-North Atlantic rift systems heralded the later crustal separation of Laurasia while in the south, the opening of both the Tethyan oceans and the central Atlantic Ocean led to stress changes in the Central European lithosphère. During the late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic, ongoing rifting resulted in crustal separation in the North Atlantic, whereas the successive closure of the Tethyan oceanic basins and continental collision between Africa and Eurasia caused compression in Central Europe. This superposition of plate-boundary-induced stresses led to the development of a complex structural pattern with subsidence and subsequent inversion of numerous sub-basins and uplift of structural highs. These sub-basins are the sites where the preserved geological record can be used to reconstruct the Mesozoic tectonic history. The aim of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of the tectonic evolution of Central Europe in the period following the Variscan Orogeny, as well as to discuss the tectonic implications for the region resulting from the various plate movements involved. Detailed accounts of the palaeogeography and geology for the region are contained within the relevant Mesozoic chapters. Additionally, excellent palaeogeographic compilations are available for the Tethyan and peri-Tethyan domain (e.g. Decourt et al. 1992 , 2000 ; Golonka 2004 ; Stampfii and Borel 2004) , for the North Sea (e.g. Coward et al. 2003 ; Evans et al. 2003 ; Mosar et al 2002a, ft) and for the Norwegian Greenland Sea (e.g. Brekke 2000 ; Mosar et al. 2002a , ft; Torsvik et al. 2002 ). Our palaeotectonic maps are based on the works of Baldschuhn et al. (1996) , Coward et al. (2003) , Dadlez (1997 , 2003 ), Dadlez et al. (1998 , 2000 ); Decourt et al. (1992 , 2000) , Doré et al. (1999) , Evans et al. (2003) , Golonka (2004) , Kockel (1995) , Kockel et al. (1996) , Lokhorst (1998) , Mosar et al. (2002b) , Stampfii & Borel (2002) and Ziegler (1990 , 1999). These works are supplemented for some of the presented time slices with regional information detailed in the respective chapters.

Abstract The inversion of a sedimentary basin could be associated with compressional reactivation of basin-forming normal faults, upwards movement of the basement blocks and partial or complete erosion of its sedimentary infill. Basin inversion might be also related to whole-basin uplift that is not linked to the reactivation of basement faults, and results in the development of regional stratigraphic gaps and unconformities. Both types of basin inversion have been documented in SE Poland using seismic data. Regional NW–SE seismic profiles illustrate earliest Late Jurassic (earliest Oxfordian) and earliest Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) regional unconformities related to regional basin-scale uplifts in the SE segment of the Polish Basin. Late Cretaceous (Turonian?–Maastrichtian) progressive uplift of the Mid-Polish Swell has been documented along the NE border zone of this regional anticlinal structure. The Upper Cretaceous inversion-related sedimentary succession is characterized by an overall progradational character directed from the SW towards the NE. Buried contourite drifts that were detected within the Upper Cretaceous succession using seismic data indicate the existence of contour currents encircling inversion-related intrabasinal morphological barriers. A new tectonic scenario of the Mesozoic evolution of SE Poland would have a significant impact on the modelling of tectonic subsidence and the history of petroleum systems.