Molasse basin

Molasse basin

Diagenesis and Properties of Sedimentary Rocks

Published in Aurèle Parriaux, Geology, 2018

The most abundant rock in the molasse basin is molasse, petrographically speaking: it is a sandstone rich in feldspar grains, with calcareous cement. It often contains green minerals, which give the rock a gray-green color. It occurs in meter-thick layers, with upwardly fining grain size. For many centuries, molasse was the only building stone available on the Swiss Plateau. This stone the cities of Fribourg and Bern their typical architectural style. Molasse was the material located closest material to work sites and it was easy to work. After the development of mechanized transport, it is not used much anymore because its high porosity makes it sensitive to freezing and its calcareous cement is not resistant to the acids created by atmospheric pollution.

The Ross–Delamerian Orogen in the southwest Pacific and Antarctica: an active plate boundary for Gondwana in the late Neoproterozoic and Cambrian

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Published in New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 2023

John D. Bradshaw

The argument for a distinct jump in basement crustal ages inferred from Sm–Nd ratios (Stump et al. 2006) is shown by Goodge et al. (2012) to be a gradual gradient from west to east. No exotic element is inferred. Goodge et al. propose four tectonic stages: (1) a passive margin until 590 Ma, (2) 590–515 Ma continental margin arc, (3) 515–505 uplift and molasse basin development, (4) 505–480 subduction zone retreat. Stages 1–3 involve a simple convergent margin and subduction zone with subduction zone retreat at stage 4.

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Diagenesis and Properties of Sedimentary Rocks

The Ross–Delamerian Orogen in the southwest Pacific and Antarctica: an active plate boundary for Gondwana in the late Neoproterozoic and Cambrian