Abstract The Rhenodanubian Flyschzone stretches for 500 km from the Rhine River at Lake Constance to the Danube at Vienna. In Bavaria, it comprises a 1500-m-thick turbidite succession that was deposited from the Hauterivian/Barremian to the Maastrichtian, which is the subject of this field trip. The two stratigraphic columns for the northern Sigiswang and the southern Oberstdorf Facies reflect a pronounced facies variation across strike. The Hauterivian/Barremian Tristel Formation is a carbonate turbidite succession with abundant shallow-water bioclastic components that require a carbonate shelf source. The siliciclastic Aptian-Albian Rehbreingraben Formation (Flysch Gault) indicates a switch from a tropical shelf environment to intense subtropical-humid weathering conditions affecting the shelf platform that had at least been partially stripped of its carbonate cover. Both formations occur in the Oberstdorf Facies. Paleocurrent directions were uniformly from W to E but switched to E to W during deposition of the Cenomanian-Turonian Reiselsberg Sandstone, which occurs both in the Sigiswang and Oberstdorf facies but is considerably thicker in the former (up to 600 m) than in the latter (50 m and less). Its mica-rich sandstones probably had a southern source and are texturally and mineralogically relatively immature, different from the mature glauconitic quartzarenites of the Flysch Gault, which may be first-cycle quartzarenites. The middle Coniacian to lowermost Campanian Piesenkopf Formation is a thin-bedded, fine-grained carbonate turbidite unit of distal character, both in the Sigiswang and Oberstdorf facies belts. It is followed by the lower to middle Campanian Kalkgraben Formation, the middle to upper Campanian Hällritz Formation and the upper Campanian to Maastrichtian Bleicherhorn Formation. These three carbonate turbidite formations with a western source occur in the Sigiswang Facies. Differentiation among them is by the thickness ratio of calcarenitic turbidites to their pelitic marlstone caps. The stratigraphic equivalent of the three Late Cretaceous carbonate turbidite formations in the Oberstdorf Facies is the Zementmergel Formation, in which the thickness of the pelitic marlstone caps outweighs that of their calcarenitic turbidite hosts. The Rhenodanubian Flysch is an allochthonous tectonic unit whose original paleogeographic position can be traced back via the Falknis and Tasna nappes to the middle Penninic Briançonnais Platform at least 100 km south of the Ultrahelvetic paleographic unit it may have originally been in contact with. Its internal tectonic structure and geodynamic evolution will be discussed during the field trip.

Abstract The Alps and Western Carpathians constitute that part of the Alpine-Mediterranean orogenic belt which advances furthest to the north into Central Europe. They were formed by a series of Jurassic to Tertiary subduction and collision events affecting several Mesozoic ocean basins, continental margins, and continental fragments. The Western Alps form a pronounced, westward-convex arc around which the strike of the tectonic units changes by almost 180° ( Fig. 18.1 ). The Western Carpathians are a northward-convex arc of similar size but with minor curvature. The two arcs are connected by an almost straight, WSW-ENE striking portion including the Eastern Alps Stresses produced by tectonic processes in the Alps also influenced the tectonics of large parts of central and northern Europe, leading, for example, to basin inversion and strike-slip faulting. In this chapter, we will discuss the present-day structure of the different tectonic units in the Alps and Western Carpathians in relation to their palaeotectonic history in order to illustrate the plate tectonic evolution using geological data. Many tectonic problems of the Alps and Western Carpathians are still unsolved, although dramatic progress has been made, especially over the last c. 20 years. Therefore, some of the interpretations presented below are still controversial and do not always express the opinion of all three authors. Given that the main theme of this book is Central Europe, the Southern and Western Alps are discussed in less detail than those parts of the Alps which belong to Central Europe: the Central Alps, the Eastern Alps and the Western Carpathians.