The Franconian Platform in Northern Bavaria, Germany – A Drone supported, large Scale 3D Fault Model

Northern Bavaria in Southeast Germany is mainly covered by sedimentary rocks which form the Franconian Platform (mainly sandstones, mudstones and limestones). These continental to shallow marine sediments of the Permo-Mesozoic age overlay the Variscan basement and are regionally affected by Syn-Variscan compression (Freudenberger and Schwerd, 1996). Additional tectonic overprint including the Permo-Mesozoic basin extension, Cretaceous inversion and Cenozoic intraplate deformation resulted in a complex fault system (e.g., Wiest et al., in review). Structural tessellation – an amalgamation of similar fault systems to tectonically homogenous blocks, provides an effective tool for the development of the large-scale 3D model. Drone photogrammetry 3D reconstructions from regional limestone and sandstone quarries help to compensate the locally sparse drill core data and the lack of outcrops owing to large agricultural and forestry cultivation. The high-resolution drone photogrammetry models are used to transfer small to medium scale structural observations into the large-scale fault model. A combination of geological maps, all available drill core data, rare seismics and the regional drone photogrammetry provides enough data input to create a realistic tectono-stratigraphic model of Northern Bavaria. The finished 3D model of the Franconian Platform will be made publicly available through the Bavarian State Office for the Environment LfU (www.lfu.bayern.de).

 

References

Freudenberger, W., and Schwerd, K., 1996, Erläuterungen zur Geologischen Karte von Bayern 1:500 000, München, Bayerisches Geologisches Landesamt, 329 p.

Wiest, J.D., Köhler, S., Köhn, D., Stollhofen, H., Dengler, K., and Fazlikhani, H., A novel multi-scale approach to fault network analysis and visualization: test case Franconian Platform (SE Germany), in review.