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Abstract

This data collection provides digital access to data and publications of the KTB (German Continental Deep Drilling Program) project. KTB was a very detailed, long-term Earth science investigation on the structure, dynamics and formation of the Central European crust in Northeastern Bavaria, Germany (Harms, Kück 2016). With geophysical sounding and ultra-deep drilling it elucidated a crustal block at the border of a micro-continental collision zones amalgamated during the Caledonian and Variscan orogenies. Major research themes were: i) the nature of geophysical structures and phenomena, ii) the crustal stress field and the brittle-ductile transition, iii) the thermal structure of the crust, iv) crustal fluids and transport processes, and v) structure and evolution of the central European Variscan basement. KTB started in 1982 with pre-site selection studies and scientific objective definition followed in 1985 by site selection studies including shallow boreholes. From 1987 to 1990 a pilot borehole of 4000 m depth was drilled and fluid tests and borehole studies were conducted. In 1990 started drilling of a so-called superdeep main borehole of 9101 m depth that was reached in 1994. Again, the final drilling phase was concluded with large-scale fluid and seismic experiments. The rocks drilled comprise metamorphic series of mafic volcanic, volcano-clastics as well as minor gabbroic to ultramafic rocks that are intercalated with leucocratic meta-sedimentary gneisses. They represent most likely a deeply subducted accretionary wedge mélange with a complex P-T-t history. The undisturbed bottom hole temperature is ~265°C.