Mesozoic vertebrate fossils within glacially transported deposits of Pleistocene age are rare. Here, we examine five isolated, strongly eroded vertebrae of Mesozoic marine reptiles, most probably plesiosaurs, from glacigenic sediments of northern Germany. In addition, three consecutive plesiosaur vertebrae, having already been described in previous publications, are briefly reconsidered. For one heavily eroded specimen, litho- and biostratigraphical analyses of associated sediment, including thin sectioning and calcareous nannofossil investigations, confirm a mid-Cretaceous age. The internal morphology of the five isolated vertebrae in focus, investigated with the help of microCT, reveals the presence of (neuro)vascular cavities within the respective centra. Unexpectedly, we found diverse internal cavity patterns which have only one feature in common: a medial pair of foramina on the floor of the neural canal that is connected to deep-reaching canals.

We present a detailed study of an alluvial fan accumulated in a piggyback basin syn-kinematically to the emergence of a Weichselian glacitectonic complex (Jasmund peninsula, SW Baltic Sea). Although sediments formed contemporaneously with glacitectonic events have already been documented, a systematic approach is missing so far. Facies, architecture and distribution of alluvial-fan deposits are identified here as key features for analyzing glacitectonic complexes.The deposition of those syn-kinematic deposits was controlled by the progradation of thrust-faults and the resulting morphologic changes of both the thrust-bounded ridges and the adjacent piggyback basins. Another controlling factor is the episodic high runoff of meltwater discharge (glacial lake outburst flood, jo spacing diaeresis kulhlaup) from lakes near the ice front. Sheetflood and debris-flow processes dominated the sedimentation and gave way to alluvial-fan, fan-delta and glacifluvial deposits. A stepwise rotation of the depositional plain within the piggy-back basin is indicated by internal unconformities and the distinct converging stratal geometry. Based on three luminescence ages the development of the syn-kinematic alluvial-fan sequence and consequently of the glaci-tectonic complex took place between 21 and 19 ka during a late Weichselian readvance of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet. The overall results are summarized in a seven-stage genetic model, beginning with the initial glacitectonic phase and ending with the overfilled piggyback basin and subsequent overriding of the structure by the glacier front. With the presented criteria, the successive growth of the alluvial-fan deposits can be linked directly with the emergence of a glacitectonic complex formed during an ice advance.

Abstract Based on reprocessed offshore seismic lines acquired during oil and gas exploration in the 1980s, we reconstruct the formation and reactivation of major fault systems in the southern Baltic Sea area since the late Paleozoic. The geological evolution of different crustal blocks from the Caledonian Avalonia–Baltica collision until the Late Cretaceous–Paleogene inversion tectonics is also examined. The detected fault systems occur in the northern part of the Trans-European Suture Zone (TESZ) and belong either to the late Paleozoic Tornquist Fan or to the complex Western Pomeranian Fault System (WPFS) generated during Mesozoic extensional movements. While the NW–SE-trending deep Wiek Fault separates the Arkona High from the Middle Rügen Block, the NNW–SSE-trending Agricola Fault demarcates the Middle Rügen Block to the Falster Block in the west. Together with the Plantagenet Fault and numerous younger faults in the Mesozoic cover, it forms the Agricola Fault System. Furthermore, structural analyses of the Prerow Fault Zone above the Prerow salt pillow and the Werre Fault Zone crossing the Grimmen High indicate a complex fault history.

Die sich in N–S-Richtung erstreckende Insel Hiddensee (Abb. 1) liegt westlich vor der Insel Rügen. Sie setzt sich aus einem nördlich gelegenen, pleistozänen Inselkern, dem Dornbusch, und holozänen Bildungen im mittleren und südlichen Bereich zusammen. Die morphologische Entwicklungsgeschichte wurde maßgeblich geprägt durch das skandinavische Inlandeis des Weichselglazials und durch den postpleistozänen Meeresspiegelanstieg im Verlauf des Holozäns (Katzung 2004). An der Erdoberfläche sind auf Hiddensee ausschließlich quartäre Ablagerungen aufgeschlossen. Die Basis des Quartärs reicht bis in eine Teufe zwischen 50–70 m u. NN. Im Liegenden folgen unter Ausfall des Paläogens und des Neogens Sedimente des Untermaastrichts in Schreibkreide-Fazies. Der Hiatus zwischen Quartär und Kreide beträgt ca. 65 Millionen Jahre, wobei dieser Zeitraum zum größten Teil Festlandperioden in diesem Gebiet darstellt. Im Laufe des Pleistozäns erfolgten wiederholte Vorstöße des Skandinavischen Inlandeises, welches glaziale (stadiale) und interglaziale (interstadiale) Sedimente im Raum Hiddensee ablagerte (Möbus 2000). Der Dornbusch selbst ist Teil einer Stauchendmoräne, welche sich im Verlauf des Mecklenburger Stadiums (Weichsel-Glazial) durch eine Richtung Südosten vorrückende Gletscherzunge herausbildete (Möbus 2004).