Description: The 250 km long profile 3B/MVE (East) was recorded in 1990 as part of the joint seismic reflection venture DEKORP 1990-3/MVE (Muenchberg-Vogtland-Erzgebirge) between the two former German Republics shortly before their unification. The aim of DEKORP 1990-3/MVE was to explore the structure of the crust from the Rhenish Shield through the Bohemian Massif to the Ore Mountains. The entire profile consists of DEKORP 3A, DEKORP 3B/MVE (West) and its prolongation to the east DEKORP 3B/MVE (East). Its total length amounts to about 600 km. 24 short seismic cross lines and associated 3D blocks with single fold coverage were also recorded. The seismic survey of 3B/MVE (East) was conducted to investigate the deep crustal structure of the Saxothuringian Zone of the Central European Variscian Belt along the northern margin of the Bohemian Massif with high-fold near-vertical incidence vibroseis acquisition. The main objectives were to image the deep structures of the Muenchberg Gneiss Complex, to concern the volume of Variscan granites by combining seismic and gravity data as well as to determine the origin and nature of the deep regional NW-trending fault systems. Details of the experiment, preliminary results and interpretations were published by DEKORP Research Group (B) et al. (1994) and Förste, Lück & Schulze (1994). The Technical Report of DEKORP 3B/MVE (East) gives complete information about acquisition and processing parameters. The European Variscides, extending from the French Central Massif to the East European Platform, originated during the collision between Gondwana and Baltica in the Late Palaeozoic. Due to involvement of various crustal blocks in the orogenesis, the mountain belt is subdivided into distinct zones. The external fold-and-thrust belts of the Rhenohercynian and Saxothuringian as well as the predominantly crystalline body of the Moldanubian dominate the central European segment of the Variscides. Polyphase tectonic deformation, magmatism and metamorphic processes led to a complex interlinking between the units. The 3B/MVE (East) line runs in SW-NE direction along the southern margin of the Saxothuringian belt from the Franconian Line, the southwestern boundary fault zone of the Bohemian Massif, to the Lausitz Massif. It traverses the allochthonous Muenchberg Gneiss Complex, the Cambro-Ordovician South Vogtland Syncline Zone, the Eibenstock-Karlovy Vary Granite Complex as well as the Ore Mountains crystalline blocks, the most significant Bouguer gravity low in Central Europe. Besides, the line intersects several NW-fault systems such as the Floeha Zone fault system and the Mid Saxon fault (DEKORP Research Group (B) et al., 1994). The line 3B/MVE (East) is complemented by eight short cross lines. To the west the profile is extended by DEKORP 3B/MVE (West). In the Muenchberg Gneiss Complex the 3B/MVE (East) profile is crossed by DEKORP 4N, which runs parallel to the western border of the Bohemian Massif near the KTB drilling site. Farther to the east the line has an intersection with DEKORP 9501 (GRANU).

Description: The 187 km long line 4N was recorded in 1985 as part of the DEKORP project, the German continental seismic reflection program, and served as a basis for a network of six seismic reflection lines KTB 8501 – 8506, which were performed to investigate the planned target area for the Continental Deep Drilling Program (KTB) in the Upper Palatinate. The aim of the survey 4N was to explore the crustal structure of the central Mid-European Variscides down to the Moho and the uppermost mantle with high-fold near-vertical incidence vibroseis acquisition and, in particular, to scan the suture between the Moldanubian Zone and the northward adjacent Saxothuringian Zone. Details of the experiment, first results and interpretations were published by DEKORP Research Group (1987, 1988). The Technical Report of line 4N gives complete information about acquisition and processing parameters. The European Variscides, extending from the French Central Massif to the East European Platform, originated during the collision between Gondwana and Baltica in the Late Palaeozoic. Due to involvement of various crustal blocks in the orogenesis, the mountain belt is subdivided into distinct zones. The external fold-and-thrust belts of the Rhenohercynian and Saxothuringian as well as the predominantly crystalline body of the Moldanubian dominate the central European segment of the Variscides. Polyphase tectonic deformation, magmatism and metamorphic processes led to a complex interlinking between the units. The Saxothuringian represents the infill of a Cambro-Ordovician basin. The Moldanubian contains blocks of pre-Variscan crust and their Palaezoic cover. During the Variscan orogeny the Moldanubian crust was thrust towards the NW over the Saxothuringian foreland. Both units were welded together by a low-pressure metamorphism accompanied by polyphase deformation (DEKORP Research Group, 1987, 1988). The SE-NW striking line 4N runs along the western border of the Bohemian Massif perpendicular to the main tectonic trend (SW-NE). The profile starts in the Bavarian Forest and runs across the Upper Palatinate Forest. Shortly before the NE-trending Erbendorf Line, which separates the Moldanubian unit from the Saxothuringian unit, the profile runs through the area of the KTB drill site. In the Saxothuringian DEKORP 4N runs through the Fichtel Mountains, the Muenchberg Gneiss Complex and ends in the Franconian Forest. In the Bavarian Forest the line 4N traverses DEKORP 4Q nearly perpendicularly. Farther northwest the profile crosses KTB 8501 – 8503, which were arranged parallel to strike of the orogenic belt, as well as the DEKORP 3-D survey ISO 1989 around the KTB drill hole. In the Muenchberg Gneiss Complex the 4N profile is intersected by DEKORP 3B/MVE (East), which runs along the southern margin of the Saxothuringian belt in a SW-NE direction.

Description: The 36 km long line 4Q was recorded in 1985 as part of the DEKORP project, the German continental seismic reflection program. The aim of the survey was to explore important tectonic structures through the regional tectonic trend of the Bavarian Forest (NW-SE) with high-fold near-vertical incidence vibroseis acquisition. Details of the experiment, first results and interpretations were published by DEKORP Research Group (1987, 1988). The Technical Report of line 4Q gives complete information about acquisition and processing parameters. The European Variscides, extending from the French Central Massif to the East European Platform, originated during the collision between Gondwana and Baltica in the Late Palaeozoic. Due to involvement of various crustal blocks in the orogenesis, the mountain belt is subdivided into distinct zones. The external fold-and-thrust belts of the Rhenohercynian and Saxothuringian as well as the predominantly crystalline body of the Moldanubian dominate the central European segment of the Variscides. Polyphase tectonic deformation, magmatism and metamorphic processes led to a complex interlinking between the units. The Moldanubian unit contains blocks of pre-Variscan crust and their Palaezoic cover. During the Variscan orogeny the Moldanubian crust was thrust towards the NW over the Saxothuringian foreland. Both units were welded together by a low-pressure metamorphism accompanied by polyphase deformation (DEKORP Research Group, 1987, 1988). The SW-NE striking line 4Q runs perpendicular to the gneisses of the Bavarian Forest at the southwestern margin of the Bohemian Massif, a part of the Moldanubian Zone. In the southwest the profile crosses the NW-SE striking Bavarian Pfahl. The 150 km long quartz vein is a dextral shear zone with cataclastic as well as ductile deformation and extensive quartz mineralization (DEKORP Research Group, 1988). In the northeast DEKORP 4Q intersects the Hoher Bogen, an amphibolitic nappe, belonging to the western margin of the Tepla-Taus-Complex which is marked by an important volume of mafic metamorphic rocks (DEKORP Research Group, 1988). The profile 4Q traverses DEKORP 4N at its northeastern end almost perpendicularly.