On the nature of the Teisseyre-Tornquist Zone

Abstract

The Teisseyre-Tornquist Zone (TTZ) is the longest European tectonic and geophysical lineament extending from the Baltic Sea in the NW to the Black Sea in the SE. This tectonic feature defines a transition zone between the thick crust of the East European Craton (EEC) and the thinner crust of the Palaeozoic Platform to the SW. The TTZ is evident from the seismic data as a perturbation of the Moho depth as well as from magnetic and gravity anomaly maps and heat flow distribution. For over a century, the TTZ has been considered a fossil plate boundary of the EEC corresponding to the limit of early Palaeozoic palaeocontinent Baltica. The results of quantitative interpretation of gravity and magnetic data, integrated with data from the new reflection seismic profiles crossing the TTZ, indicate the continuation of the Precambrian basement of the EEC and its lower Palaeozoic cover toward the SW underneath the Palaeozoic Platform. Potential field modelling also suggests the occurrence of a crustal keel underneath the TTZ. These results imply the location of a Caledonian tectonic suture, marking the site of the collision between Avalonia and Baltica, not along the TTZ, but farther SW, in NE Germany and SW Poland.