Tunnel valleys are among the deepest erosional structures in formerly glaciated areas. Our project aims to provide a synoptic model of the distribution, dimensions and evolution of Pleistocene tunnel valleys and their infills in northern Germany. The results will be used to assess the potential for future tunnel valley formation, which may pose a threat to the long-term (i.e., the next 1 Ma) safety of a radioactive waste repository.

In the first phase of our project, we produced a new overview map of the Pleistocene tunnel-valley network. From this map, we extracted the tunnel-valley thalwegs and classified them into zones of similar maximum depths. Zones of deep erosion (>400m) follow the large-scale geometry of the North German Basin. The map of maximum depth zones can be used as a planning tool for long-term safety assessments.

The next phase of our project includes a regional analysis of the tunnel valley network and local case studies. The regional analysis will compare the trends observed in the tunnel-valley network with regional geological features such as faults, salt structures and basin-fill architecture. The correlation between tunnel-valley trends and faults is ambiguous. Parallel trends occur mainly where ice advance directions were parallel to fault trends.

As a first case study, we use high-resolution 3D seismic data from the German North Sea that image two intersecting tunnel valleys. Initial results show at least three distinct seismic units correlating with different sediment types and patterns, and possible multiple use of the tunnel valley.

Paleoseismic investigations in Hamburg and Peissen document paleo-earthquake structures, e.g. large clastic dykes, infill structures, complicated folds, fault-systems and vertical injections as larger structures. Smaller structures include special forms of diapirs, seismically induced soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDS), special flame structures, shear bands, among others. Plastic deformation is dominant in Hamburg, brittle deformation dominates in Peissen. The seismic deformations can be attributed to different mechanisms, e.g. compression as a result of seismic shock or sediment intrusion, liquefaction, fluidization, strain, shear stress, volume loss and subsequent collapse as a result of blowout activity. The observed structures show certain properties that allow a distinction from non-seismic forms (e.g. glacitectonic and periglacial deformation). Dyke structures are partly of Holocene age.

We discuss the structures associated with the Eichsfeld-Altmark-Swell (EAS) in Central Germany, using observations from published cross-sections, outcrops, few boreholes and reflection seismics in a some 200 kilometres long swath in Central Germany. The EAS is well-documented as an approximately NNE-SSW-trending Permo-Triassic intrabasinal high, expressed by reduced thickness, facies changes and unconformities. It was accompanied by depocenters trending parallel to its axis, which changed in position and magnitude during geologic epochs. North of the Harz Mountains an approximately 10 km wide strip of the EAS´s western flank is strongly structured by faults of the Braunschweig-Gifhorn-Fault Zone (BGFZ). There, local thickness reductions of several hundred meters, in places culminating in complete absence of Lower and Middle Buntsandstein and apparently often associated with salt tectonics, are documented by seismics and well data, contrasting with the regional thickness reductions in the range of tens of meters typically attributed to the EAS. In Keuper time areas with large Buntsandstein hiatuses turned into depocenters. The spatial relationships of these depocenters with bordering normal faults and associated salt structures indicate that the western flank of the EAS was influenced by strong extension (up to 5 km) along low-angle normal faults detaching in Zechstein evaporites. No prominent basement offsets are observed, although they become prominent along trend of the BGFZ in the aligned westward terminations of the Flechtingen High, Harz and Thuringian Forest basement blocks. We discuss solutions for the mismatch of strong thin-skinned extension and apparently little deformed basement.

The Einstein-Telescope (ET), a next-generation gravitational wave-detector, is a triangular shape underground facility with 10 kilometres long arms to be constructed at a depth of 200-300 meters below surface. A potential location is the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion. The success of such mega-project requires a comprehensive understanding of regional geology in terms of lithology, lithological variations and dominant structures. A solid regional geology study, combining literature review, reconnaissance study, surface and subsurface mapping, sample collection, geophysical data collection, and remote sensing methods to identify the rock units and structures present, is part of assessing the feasibility of the area. The lithology consists of soft Upper Cretaceous sediments resting unconformable on Silesian, Dinantian and Famennian units. The Dinantian carbonates and the Famennian sandstones are the preferred target units for the cavern construction. A major goal is to understand the spatial distribution of the different rock units that may be encountered during construction of caverns and tunnel. Structurally, the region shows a complex pattern of NE- SW striking Variscan folds and thrusts and (N)NW –(S)SE striking faults linked to the Lower Rhine Embayment. Changes in the lithology due to folds and thrust are important in terms of tunnel planning. The (N)NW – (S)SE structures provide pathways for fluids and are potentially seismic active and hence may affect the construction and the operation of the ET severely. Understanding the regional geology allows for optimization of the location and orientation of the ET infrastructure and identifies the potential impacts during construction and operation of the ET.