Dawn and dusk of Late Cretaceous basin inversion in central Europe

Abstract. Central and western Europe were affected by a compressional tectonic event in the Late Cretaceous, caused convergence of Iberia Europe. Basement uplifts, inverted graben structures, newly formed marginal troughs are main expressions crustal shortening. Although maximum activity occurred during short period time between 90 75 Ma, exact timing this is still unclear. Dating start end Cretaceous basin inversion gives very different results depending on method applied. On basis borehole data, facies, thickness maps, reorganization was reconstructed for several basins central The obtained data point to synchronous at 95 Ma (Cenomanian), 5 Myr earlier than commonly assumed. difficult pinpoint Europe, because regional uplift salt migration disturb signal shifting troughs. Campanian Paleogene strata deposited unconformably structures indicate slowly declining rates latest Cretaceous. differentiation separate phases does not appear possible present.